Special Report

50 Worst Movies Based on True Events

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

When filmmakers say a movie is based on true events, they are trying to give the motion picture a stamp of legitimacy. For the most part, moviegoers understand that they are going to see a story based on a real event and not a documentary, and they are willing to allow some creative latitude. Even so, the public knows when a film is crassly exploiting what really happened, particularly when the event involves the dark side of humanity.

In this list that 24/7 Tempo compiled of the worst movies based on true events, many of the films included explore our amoral actions and as well as tragedies. Some of the topics of these films include murder and homicide stories, as in “The Black Dahlia.” Others are haunting tales based on alleged incidents, as in “The Haunting in Connecticut” and “Fire in the Sky.” None of those films resonated with audiences.

Not all of these failed true-event treatments are grim. Biopics are a Hollywood staple, but many did not find favor with audiences and critics alike. One such film is “Amelia,” despite Golden Globe and Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank in the title role.

Click here to see the 50 worst movies based on true events.

To determine the worst movies based on true stories, 24/7 Tempo ranked films within the biography genre and those tagged on IMDb as being “based on a true story.” For each movie, we considered the Rotten Tomatoes average critic rating, Rotten Tomatoes’ average audience rating, and IMDb average user rating. To be considered, each film had to have at least 10,000 user ratings on both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes and 10 approved Tomatometer critic reviews. We averaged the user ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb and weighted by the number of votes for each. The combined user rating was then averaged with the Rotten Tomatoes critic rating. Box office data came from IMDb and is not adjusted for inflation.

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

50. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)
> Favorable reviews: 51% of audiences
> Director: Jake Szymanski
> Starring: Zac Efron, Adam Devine, Anna Kendrick

This comedy about two brothers who place an ad to find dates for a wedding is loosely based on true events. Reviewing this film for Rogerebert.com, critic Christy Lemire wrote that it “confuses repetitive raunchiness with daring humor [and] hammers us over the head with the same handful of jokes in hopes of beating us into submission.” A 36% score on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer suggests that Lemire wasn’t the only one who wasn’t amused.

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Courtesy of Dimension Films

49. Wolf Creek (2005)
> Favorable reviews: 49% of audiences
> Director: Greg McLean
> Starring: Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi

Australian slasher film “Wolf Creek” takes inspiration from two real life figures — murderer Bradley John Murdoch, who killed a backpacker in the early aughts, and serial killer Ivan Milat, who tortured and killed hitchhikers in the early 1990s. Only 52% of critics and 49% of audiences gave the violent movie a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

48. Fire in the Sky (1993)
> Favorable reviews: 57% of audiences
> Director: Robert Lieberman
> Starring: D.B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick, Craig Sheffer

Whether or not the supposed alien abduction at the heart of this movie is true is besides the point as while more than half the audience reviews recorded on Rotten Tomatoes were favorable, the critics nudged the site’s Tomatometer only up as far as 39%.

Courtesy of The Samuel Goldwyn Company

47. Goya’s Ghosts (2006)
> Favorable reviews: 57% of audiences
> Director: Milos Forman
> Starring: Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård

“Goya’s Ghosts” is based on the story of a model of the Spanish painter Francisco Goya and the Inquisition, although many aspects may be historically inaccurate. Despite a strong cast featuring Javier Bardem and Natalie Portman, the film only managed to accumulate positive reviews from 30% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

46. Flyboys (2006)
> Favorable reviews: 66% of audiences
> Director: Tony Bill
> Starring: James Franco, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker

“Flyboys” is a fictionalized take on World War I fighter pilot squadron Lafayette Escadrille. This adventure movie cost an estimated $60 million to produce, but a year after its release it had recorded a worldwide cumulative gross of only just under $18 million. “Why make such a corny and incredibly predictable film?” asked critic Richard Roeper.

Courtesy of MGM Distribution Co.

45. Windtalkers (2002)
> Favorable reviews: 50% of audiences
> Director: John Woo
> Starring: Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare

“Windtalkers” is based on the Navajo code talkers the Marines used in World War II, although the film has been criticized for straying from this central premise. The movie bombed at the domestic box office, grossing just over $40 million against its $115 million production budget.

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Courtesy of Screen Gems

44. Deliver Us from Evil (2014)
> Favorable reviews: 42% of audiences
> Director: Scott Derrickson
> Starring: Eric Bana, Edgar Ramírez, Olivia Munn

This action-horror flick is based on a book by a real-life cop who joins forces with a Catholic priest specializing in exorcisms. The movie made money but failed to impress critics, who panned “the random, far-fetched storytelling” (Time Out) and called it “a routing procedural with unremarkable frights” (Chicago Sun-Times).

Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

43. Copying Beethoven (2006)
> Favorable reviews: 56% of audiences
> Director: Agnieszka Holland
> Starring: Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Matthew Goode

“Copying Beethoven” portrays the master composer at the end of his life as he writes his Ninth Symphony. The film also introduces some fictional aspects such as a love interest for Beethoven. Only 28% of critics gave the movie a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

42. The Informant! (2009)
> Favorable reviews: 44% of audiences
> Director: Steven Soderbergh
> Starring: Matt Damon, Tony Hale, Patton Oswalt

Critics liked this comedy-drama about an agribusiness whistleblower — Rotten Tomatoes praised its “consistently ironic tone” and the “charismatic turn by star Matt Damon,” and it received an 80% score on the Tomatometer. Audiences, however, were considerably less impressed. A mere 44% of them gave it a thumbs up.

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Courtesy of Cannon Film Distributors

41. Bloodsport (1988)
> Favorable reviews: 74% of audiences
> Director: Newt Arnold
> Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Leah Ayres

The Jean-Claude Van Damme-starring martial arts film “Bloodsport” is based on Frank Dux, who participated in an international fighting tournament that supposedly took place in the Bahamas. Dux has been accused of telling tall tales, however. Regardless, the film is described as cliched and “virtually plotless” in Rotten Tomatoes’ critics consensus.

Courtesy of Open Road Films

40. Jobs (2013)
> Favorable reviews: 40% of audiences
> Director: Joshua Michael Stern
> Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad

Only 28% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes liked this ironically unimaginative biopic of Steve Jobs, one of the most imaginative innovators in recent history. Critics quoted by the site call it “bland and bloated,” “the equivalent of a feature-length slow clap,” and “a missed opportunity.”

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Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

39. Not Without My Daughter (1991)
> Favorable reviews: 71% of audiences
> Director: Brian Gilbert
> Starring: Sally Field, Alfred Molina, Sheila Rosenthal

“Not Without My Daughter” is based on Betty Mahmoody’s memoir detailing her and her daughter’s escape from Iran. While 71% of audiences on Rotten Tomatoes liked the movie, only half of critics did.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

38. Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
> Favorable reviews: 59% of audiences
> Director: Shekhar Kapur
> Starring: Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush

Cate Blanchett was nominated for an Academy Award for this costume drama about England’s Queen Elizabeth I and her struggles with the Spanish — and the movie won an Oscar for Costume Design. The New York Times, however, found it to be “A kitsch extravaganza aquiver with trembling bosoms, booming guns and wild energy” and “distorted and deliriously far-fetched” — and its Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes is a mere 34%.

Courtesy of Focus Features

37. Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)
> Favorable reviews: 31% of audiences
> Director: Roger Michell
> Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams

“Hyde Park on Hudson” tells the story of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s relationship with his cousin Margaret “Daisy” Suckley. While the performances of the film’s lead actors were praised, only 37% of critics approved of the overall film as did just 31% of audiences, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

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Courtesy of Miramax

36. Prozac Nation (2001)
> Favorable reviews: 58% of audiences
> Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg
> Starring: Christina Ricci, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jessica Lange

Critics were apparently turned off (to the tune of a 28% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes) by this film version of Elizabeth Wurtzel’s best-selling memoir of the same name because they found the main character so unsympathetic. Rotten Tomatoes quotes critics who call her “a whiny, navel-gazing Harvard student,” a “self-centered brat,” and “a first class a-hole.”

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

35. Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
> Favorable reviews: 66% of audiences
> Director: Penny Marshall
> Starring: Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Adam Garcia

The 2001 Drew Barrymore comedy “Riding in Cars with Boys” is based on the autobiography of writer Beverly Donofrio. Many critics felt that the movie didn’t quite pull off its mix of comedy and darker elements.

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Courtesy of CBS Films

34. Extraordinary Measures (2010)
> Favorable reviews: 53% of audiences
> Director: Tom Vaughan
> Starring: Brendan Fraser, Keri Russell, Harrison Ford

This tearjerker about a couple trying to save their children from a rare and deadly genetic condition with the help of a brilliant but short-tempered medical researcher was panned by Roger Ebert as “an ordinary film with ordinary characters in a story too big for it.” A paltry 29% of critics found that it had merit, according to the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

33. 47 Ronin (2013)
> Favorable reviews: 48% of audiences
> Director: Carl Rinsch
> Starring: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ko Shibasaki

The 3-D film “47 Ronin” is based on the true Japanese story of a group of samurai who set out for revenge following the wrongful death of their lord. The movie was panned by critics and did terribly at the domestic box office, grossing just over $38 million after costing $175 million to produce.

Courtesy of IFC Films

32. Burke and Hare (2010)
> Favorable reviews: 35% of audiences
> Director: John Landis
> Starring: Bill Bailey, Tom Wilkinson, Michael Smiley

With a 32% critics score and a 35% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, this comedy thriller about murder and grave-robbing was described as “a macabre British period piece that’s nowhere near as funny as it thinks” by the Boston Globe, which also said, “Rarely has the ratio of quality talent to dismal returns been as high…”

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Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

31. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
> Favorable reviews: 58% of audiences
> Director: Luc Besson
> Starring: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Rab Affleck

Director Luc Besson and star Milla Jovovich filmed “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc” after working on the successful “The Fifth Element” together. The movie was criticized for — among other things — being heavy handed, and it flopped at the box office, grossing $14.3 million domestically against a reported $85 million budget.

Courtesy of Strand Releasing

30. Party Monster (2003)
> Favorable reviews: 75% of audiences
> Director: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
> Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Wilson Cruz, Seth Green

“Party Monster” is based on the true story of a New York City club kid who killed his drug-dealing roommate and then bragged about it on TV. This low-budget crime drama (it was reportedly made for about $5 million) tanked at the box office — it took in about $743,000 domestically — and rated 29% among critics, according to the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. Audiences were considerably more generous, though, giving it a 75% score.

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Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

29. Factory Girl (2006)
> Favorable reviews: 60% of audiences
> Director: George Hickenlooper
> Starring: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen

“Factory Girl” tells the story of Andy Warhol muse Edie Sedgwick. The film has an abysmal 19% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, although some, like Richard Roeper, praised Sienna Miller’s performance as Sedgwick.

Courtesy of The Weinstein Company

28. The Libertine (2004)
> Favorable reviews: 58% of audiences
> Director: Laurence Dunmore
> Starring: Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton, John Malkovich

Despite the best efforts of skilled scenery-chewers Johnny Depp and John Malkovich, the critics were largely unimpressed with this biographical portrait of John Wilmot, the decadent 17th-century English poet also known as the Earl of Rochester. The Toronto Star denounced it as a “bilious murk” and “a sad picture,” and to Movies.com it was a “Big dull drag of a movie.”

Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

27. At First Sight (1999)
> Favorable reviews: 46% of audiences
> Director: Irwin Winkler
> Starring: Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino, Kelly McGillis

“At First Sight” is based on a case study by neurologist Oliver Sacks in which an adult blind man regains his sight. While the premise is unique, critics such as Roger Ebert took issue with the film’s formulaic studio plot.

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Courtesy of Grindstone Entertainment Group

26. Rise of the Footsoldier (2007)
> Favorable reviews: 83% of audiences
> Director: Julian Gilbey
> Starring: Ricci Harnett, Terry Stone, Craig Fairbrass

It certainly happens that audiences like a movie while critics don’t, but rarely is the gap this great. The audience rating for this grim retelling of the story of real-like English football thug-turned-gangster Carlton Leach may be 83%, but the critics score is a paltry 14%.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

25. The Replacements (2000)
> Favorable reviews: 66% of audiences
> Director: Howard Deutch
> Starring: Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton

Formulaic comedy “The Replacements” is based on the experiences of replacement football players that were hired during the 1987 NFL strike. Only 41% of critics approved of the movie, according to Rotten Tomatoes. The film just broke even at the worldwide box office.

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Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

24. Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
> Favorable reviews: 62% of audiences
> Director: John Moore
> Starring: Gene Hackman, Owen Wilson, Gabriel Macht

A military thriller set during the Bosnian War, this film managed no more than a 37% score on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. The critics consensus was that the plot was “more jingoistic than credible,” and Richard Roeper cut to the chase, calling it “A piece of junk.”

Courtesy of Focus Features

23. Taking Woodstock (2009)
> Favorable reviews: 47% of audiences
> Director: Ang Lee
> Starring: Demetri Martin, Henry Goodman, Edward Hibbert

“Taking Woodstock” is a dramatic comedy based on the memoir “Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert and a Life” by Elliott Tiber and Tom Monte on the origin of the Woodstock music festival. Critics and audiences were generally underwhelmed by the movie, which grossed less than $10 million worldwide against a reported production budget of $30 million.

Courtesy of Codeblack Films

22. All Eyez on Me (2017)
> Favorable reviews: 53% of audiences
> Director: Benny Boom
> Starring: Demetrius Shipp Jr., Danai Gurira, Kat Graham

This is the story of talented and influential rapper Tupac Shakur, from his early days in New York City to his tragically early death. Though more than half the audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were favorable, an astonishingly small 18% of critics found the film had merit.

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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

21. 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
> Favorable reviews: 50% of audiences
> Director: Ridley Scott
> Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Armand Assante, Sigourney Weaver

Ridley Scott’s “1492: Conquest of Paradise” centers on Christopher Columbus, who is played in the film by Gérard Depardieu. The 142-minute epic was a flop with critics, only 33% of whom enjoyed it, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Courtesy of Capitol Films

20. The Edge of Love (2008)
> Favorable reviews: 43% of audiences
> Director: John Maybury
> Starring: Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Matthew Rhys

Legendary Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and two women he loved are the focus of this romantic drama. Managing only a 37% critics score on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, the movie seems to disappoint reviewers rather than offend them. Though it never completely falls apart, according to a review in the San Francisco Chronicle, “it’s ultimately not the movie it might have been.”

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Courtesy of IFC Films

19. Savage Grace (2007)
> Favorable reviews: 38% of audiences
> Director: Tom Kalin
> Starring: Julianne Moore, Eddie Redmayne, Stephen Dillane

“Savage Grace” — which stars Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne — tells the true story of wealthy married couple Barbara Daly and Brooks Baekeland and their son Tony. Only 38% of both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes liked the film, which is filled with unlikable characters.

Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

18. Pearl Harbor (2001)
> Favorable reviews: 66% of audiences
> Director: Michael Bay
> Starring: Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett

According to Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus, “Pearl Harbor tries to be the Titanic of war movies, but it’s just a tedious romance filled with laughably bad dialogue.” Its Tomatometer score is 24%, thanks to opinions like that of the Wall Street Journal, which found this depiction of the event that brought the U.S. into World War II to be “a blockheaded, hollow-hearted industrial enterprise.”

Courtesy of Relativity Media

17. Masterminds (2016)
> Favorable reviews: 35% of audiences
> Director: Jared Hess
> Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson

The 2016 comedy is based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery that took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. Many moviegoers and critics found the film — which has the same director as 2004’s “Napoleon Dynamite” — to be a little too wacky.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

16. Two for the Money (2005)
> Favorable reviews: 47% of audiences
> Director: D.J. Caruso
> Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Al Pacino, Rene Russo

An injured quarterback becomes an adviser to gamblers, and no good comes of it in this uneven drama. Empire Online called it “A preposterous, steroidal mess” with “an incoherent script.” Less than half the audience approve of the movie, according to Rotten Tomatoes, while the Tomatometer score is an even lower 22%.

Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

15. Dangerous Minds (1995)
> Favorable reviews: 64% of audiences
> Director: John N. Smith
> Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, George Dzundza, Courtney B. Vance

“Dangerous Minds” is based on a 1992 book by LouAnne Johnson, “My Posse Don’t Do Homework.” A former Marine Corps officer and U.S. Navy journalist, Johnson’s book details her experiences teaching at-risk teens in Belmont, California. A mere 28% of critics gave the movie a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

14. The Red Baron (2008)
> Favorable reviews: 43% of audiences
> Director: Nikolai Müllerschön
> Starring: Matthias Schweighöfer, Lena Headey, Til Schweiger

An “overly sentimental script and a number of historical inaccuracies” help bring this German effort about the World War I flying ace (and Snoopy nemesis) Baron Manfred von Richthofen down to a 20% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

13. Running With Scissors (2006)
> Favorable reviews: 56% of audiences
> Director: Ryan Murphy
> Starring: Joseph Cross, Annette Bening, Brian Cox

“Running With Scissors” is based on writer Augusten Burroughs’ memoir of the same name. While the book was a #1 New York Times Bestseller, the movie was received less warmly, with a 31% positive critics rating.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

12. Sanctum (2011)
> Favorable reviews: 37% of audiences
> Director: Alister Grierson
> Starring: Rhys Wakefield, Allison Cratchley, Christopher James Baker

A 3-D action thriller about a team of cave divers trapped underground by a flash flood, produced by blockbuster-maven James Cameron, didn’t score much better with audiences than it did with critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes. According to DVD Talk, it runs “through every cliché movie line from the last century-plus of cinema.”

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Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

11. Walking Tall (2004)
> Favorable reviews: 59% of audiences
> Director: Kevin Bray
> Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Scott, Johnny Knoxville

“Walking Tall” is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name. Both are based on the life of Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser, yet while the original received positive reviews from 75% of critics accounted for on Rotten Tomatoes, the 2004 version only impressed 26%.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

10. Annabelle (2014)
> Favorable reviews: 36% of audiences
> Director: John R. Leonetti
> Starring: Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis, Alfre Woodard

“What about this movie is supposed to scare us?” asks Grantland of this derivative horror movie. Even the positive reviews are lukewarm, with Time magazine suggesting that “Quality is often irrelevant in a horror movie; shock is the key” and the Village Voice praising it for “occasionally being scary.”

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

9. Patch Adams (1998)
> Favorable reviews: 73% of audiences
> Director: Tom Shadyac
> Starring: Robin Williams, Daniel London, Monica Potter

“Patch Adams,” which stars Robin Williams in the titular role, is based on the life of a real doctor with the same name. While the movie was a financial success — it was the 10th highest grossing film of 1998 — it was liked by only 22% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes, who found the movie “syrupy.”

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

8. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2005)
> Favorable reviews: 70% of audiences
> Director: Jim Sheridan
> Starring: 50 Cent, Joy Bryant, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Based on the life of rapper 50 Cent, who stars in the movie, this “distinctly tedious piece of work” (according to Reel Film Reviews) obviously resonated with its audience, but its Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score is an abysmal 16%.

Courtesy of Lionsgate

7. The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
> Favorable reviews: 45% of audiences
> Director: Peter Cornwell
> Starring: Virginia Madsen, Martin Donovan, Elias Koteas

Horror film “The Haunting in Connecticut” is based on the alleged experiences of the Snedeker family, who hired “demonologists” to cleanse their haunted New England abode. Novelist Ray Garton first recounted the events in his 1992 book “In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting,” but later admitted that he had fabricated numerous parts.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

6. The Black Dahlia (2006)
> Favorable reviews: 27% of audiences
> Director: Brian De Palma
> Starring: Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson

A strong cast and a notable director couldn’t save this true-life historical crime drama from a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 27% and Tomatometer ranking of 33%. “It suffers,” according to the critics consensus, “from subpar performances, a convoluted story, and the inevitable comparisons to other, more successful films of its genre.”

Courtesy of New Line Cinema

5. Domino (2005)
> Favorable reviews: 56% of audiences
> Director: Tony Scott
> Starring: Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, Edgar Ramí­rez

“Domino” was inspired by the life of Domino Harvey, a former model, bounty hunter, and daughter of actor Laurence Harvey. The movie failed to inspire critics, with only 19% giving it a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Courtesy of Lionsgate

4. The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (2013)
> Favorable reviews: 44% of audiences
> Director: Tom Elkins
> Starring: Abigail Spencer, Chad Michael Murray, Katee Sackhoff

With a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of 19%, this sequel to the original “Haunting in Connecticut” (see No. 7) was very slightly better liked than its predecessor, which only managed a 17% score. It is, however, “Ultimately nothing more than a decrepit vehicle for the moldiest of scary-movie clichés,” according to Time Out.

Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

3. Amelia (2009)
> Favorable reviews: 31% of audiences
> Director: Mira Nair
> Starring: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor

“Amelia” is based on the life of famed pilot Amelia Earhart, who is portrayed by Hilary Swank in the film. Only 20% of critics and 31% of audiences gave the movie a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes. It also failed to gross even one-half of its reported $40 million budget worldwide.

Courtesy of Freestyle Releasing

2. An American Haunting (2005)
> Favorable reviews: 35% of audiences
> Director: Courtney Solomon
> Starring: Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Rachel Hurd-Wood

Based on the true story of witchcraft and sexual abuse in 19th-century Tennessee, “An American Haunting” was nominated as Least Scary Horror Movie in the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. It managed no more than a 13% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

1. Primeval (2007)
> Favorable reviews: 31% of audiences
> Director: Michael Katleman
> Starring: Dominic Purcell, Orlando Jones, Brooke Langton

Crocodile-horror film “Primeval” is based on the Burundi crocodile — rumored to measure up to 20 feet long and to have eaten hundreds of men. The movie is a failure in the eyes of both critics and audiences, receiving 18% and 31% positive reviews from each, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics consensus is that it’s of low quality and “inane political messages.” The movie mixes “Hotel Rwanda” atrocities with an animated crocodile — a losing combination.

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