The Worst Movies of All Time

A family on a road trip through the desert ends up in the clutches of a bizarre cult. The plot revolves around the father’s attempts to pry his wife and daughter from the cult’s master. Will he succeed? Because it’s a horror film and not a family movie, you can pretty much guess the ending.

In this science fiction thriller, a drilling operation hits a bit too close to the earth’s core, setting off volcanic eruptions and earthquakes across the globe. The Chinese government and nuclear weapons also figure in the convoluted story.

“Hangmen” marks the screen debut of Sandra Bullock, who fortunately went on to better roles than this spy thriller about a rogue CIA assassination unit and a team of former Special Operations soldiers determined to bring them down. The film also features former boxer Jake LaMotta (immortalized in the Martin Scorsese film “Raging Bull).

In this mashup of science fiction and horror, government scientists find a portal to another dimension. Through this portal escapes a hungry alien creature. If the plot sounds familiar to the vastly superior “Alien” it’s probably because it is.

A supernatural detective played by Christian Slater learns that an ancient band of demons plan to return to life in the 21th century. The detective, his ex-girlfriend, and another friend stand at the gates of hell (you read that right) to stop them.

An American mourning the death of girlfriend wanders through Europe only to come upon a village where Dracula preys on the villagers. Teaming up with legendary vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, the American tries to kill the vampire before he kills an innkeeper’s daughter.

Loosely based on the 1912 novel “The Lost World” by Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame, this is the story of a group of travelers who crash in a remote area. They soon find themselves attacked by large creatures, including a giant ape.

Action and horror combine in this movie about a 50-foot crocodile set loose on U.S. cities. A bomb eventually kills the massive creature — but the ending hints that the crocodile laid an egg (which is what this movie did in theaters).

In a space-age updating of the Dracula story, a band of space travelers in the far future meet up with a mysterious Court Orlock, who is really a vampire. The vampire wants to return to earth. Will the crew let him?

Billed as both a romantic comedy and a mystery, “Peak Experience” details the adventures of a group of extreme skiers and snowboarders at a remote lodge in the High Sierras. One of the skiers is said to have visions after an avalanche traps her at the lodge. Obviously, this movie couldn’t figure out what exactly it was trying to be.

A horror film set in Kazakhstan, “The Cavern” follows a group of cavers trying to escape a mysterious beast. Spoiler alert: The beast wins in the end.

In this psychological thriller, an injured woman confined to her home stumbles upon a murderer online. This update of the Hitchcock classic “Rear Window” wasted the talents of some pretty well-known actors and musicians including Nastassja Kinski, Roger Daltrey, and Huey Lewis.

Proving that even epic war pictures can bomb at the box office, this film details the pivotal Korean war battle of Inchon. Despite the prestige of Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur and a stellar cast, the film lost $41 million.

Also billed as “National Lampoon’s Pledge This,” the comedy follows the exploits of a group of so-called misfit sorority sisters who search for a new home after the toilet in their house explodes. They attempt to join a sorority led by Paris Hilton, who tries to keep them out but in the end relents and lets them in.

An author (played by Hugh Grant) travels to Venice to drop off his latest manuscript on European Neo-Nazism. Along the way he meets a stranger who causes him to lose his memory, and nearly gets killed.

A woman (Mischa Barton) moves into an apartment where the previous occupant killed herself. Strange things begin to happen and she eventually ends up dead herself, as do several other people in this supernatural horror film.

An Indian Malayalam-language film, “By the People” deals with a group of students fighting corruption at the highest levels of education and government. It is the second in a series, along with “4 the People” (2004) and “Of the People” (2008).

A group of hobgoblins — small, evil creatures — escape from a vault at a movie studio. The demons have the power to make your dreams come true, but you’ll pay a price. The movie was roundly dinged for poor quality and similarities to the superior “Gremlins.”

A doctor takes his newlywed wife on a honeymoon in a cave. (How romantic!) A bat bites him and he transforms into a man/bat creature and goes on a killing spree.

Two guys and three girls go on a boat trip and end up on an island inhabited by zombies. They meet up with more of their college friends, and — what else? — death and mayhem ensue.

A crew aboard a spaceship searches for a land to colonize. But the chief of security wants to hijack the ship and steer it toward the Corona Borealis system. His plan is foiled by a group who want to wrest control of the ship from him.

A horror film with sadomasochist overtones, “Hellraiser: Revelations” involves two college friends who unleash the murderous Cenobites led by Pinhead. As you might have guessed, many characters haven’t survived by the end of the movie.

The plot of this action film involves the crash landing of a plane in the ocean and a satellite system that can destroy missiles before they hit their target. Before the baddies can use the system to blow things up, the good guys stop them.

A group of female gladiators played by Playboy playmates vie in a Roman arena. The movie went straight to video — never the sign of a good movie.

A group of children hide in the woods from a Bigfoot-like creature called “Big Bay-Ty.” A hurricane hits, but the children are saved from the raging waters by the beast who is actually rather nice. Break out the tissues.

In this 1940s-era film, a teenager accused of manslaughter blames his neglectful parents for his crime. The film’s message is for parents to take care of their children, or the kids will end up as criminals.

A serial killer is released from a Nevada prison and immediately goes on a killing spree in Las Vegas. His crimes become known as the “Glitter Gulch Holocaust.” What happened in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas this time.

In this romantic fantasy, a widower believes he is the reincarnation of a German resistance fighter. He then believes his daughter’s fiancé is actually his gay lover from a past life. Then he realizes his daughter is actually a ghost. In the end, the two men marry. Got it?

A vampire wants to break free of his immortal life with the help of a doctor. However, the doctor works for a nefarious group that wants to harvest the vampire’s genes for immortality. The group jets off into space in the end while the now-cured vampire and the doctor’s daughter begin a life together.

Two soldiers — one played by R&B singer Dobie Gray (“The In Crowd”), billed as Clifton Brown — desert during the Vietnam War and end up involved in criminal activities in Europe. “Mean Mother” is an early example of the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s.

A defecting Soviet scientist is transformed into a killing beast after witnessing a nuclear test in the desert. An innocent family becomes involved in the proceedings in this movie that plays to the fears of the 1960s Cold War.

On a remote island, a distant relative of Dr. Frankenstein attempts to turn some marooned balloonists into zombies. A group of bikini-clad Amazon jungle girls who are descended from aliens also figure in this idiotic story.

Adam Sandler has built a solid career as a comedian, but this one was a misfire. He plays a struggling comic who gets his big break on a cruise ship. And in a ridiculous turn, he also saves the ship from terrorists by promising to put them in a movie.

A murderous police officer gets what’s coming to him when his victims come back to life as zombies. The zombies dine on a few other humans before giving the officer his comeuppance.

In this comedic action film, Batwoman enlists the help of Batgirls to fight corruption and a villain aptly named “Rat Fink.” In the end, a Batgirl and one of the villain’s henchmen fall in love. Does that make it a woman’s film?

A missing astronaut is turned into a radioactive monster. Or is he an alien impersonating the astronaut? And how did he end up in a Chicago sewer? The movie doesn’t answer any of those questions, which is probably at least partly why it bombed.

In one-time glamorous movie star Veronica Lake’s final screen appearance, she plays a scientist developing maggots that devour human flesh. Her ultimate goal is to create a clone of Adolf Hitler so she can kill him. A sad ending for one of the screen’s most beautiful sirens.

A rare computer-generated animated film on the worst list, “Foodfight!” follows the exploits of a cereal brand mascot and his followers known as “Ikes” as they combat an evil “Brand X” that wants to take over their supermarket. In the end, the good guys win and Brand X is defeated in a movie that’s a boon to product placement.

The plot of this movie sounds interesting: a retired diplomat avenging the death of his son and a Los Angeles detective follow a killer to Moscow, where they become enmeshed in the Russian underworld. Unfortunately, the movie didn’t live up to its promising premise.

Four scientists travel to a planet inhabited by giant insects and prehistoric mammals. While there, they encounter King Dinosaur, an iguana who stands on his hind legs. In the end, the planet is blown up in a nuclear explosion — a common plot device in many 1950s era films.

Biker films were a staple in the 1960s, but this one failed to rev up the box office. A returning Army veteran infiltrates a narcotic-smuggling female biker gang to find his brother’s killer. He’s aided in this endeavor by his dead brother’s girlfriend.

In this musical fantasy, Santa enlists a group of children to free his sleigh from the Florida sand — adding up to a rare holiday film that failed to get audiences into the Christmas spirit.

This biographical film portrays the early life of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (“Reis” is Turkish for “Chief”). It covers his time as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998 and his brief imprisonment in 1999. The film has no apparent purpose except to burnish strongman Erdoğan’s reputation.