With Netflix’s The Last Days of American Crime joining the ranks of the worst-reviewed movies ever — sitting (un)pretty at 0% on the Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ spectrum — it’s the perfect time to take a look at all forty plus movies that are a part of RT’s esteemed Zero Percent Club.
Now, to be fair, there are countless awful movies out there. So you might be wondering why there are only a little over forty films on this list. Well, for one, sometimes even the worst movies get one or two positive reviews. Secondly, for Rotten Tomatoes to qualify a film for this list it has to have been reviewed at least 20 times by separate outlets. So while some other garbage films out there might not have any positive reviews, they just don’t have enough reviews under their belt to register.
So strap in and get ready for an Adam Sandler, a Dennis Rodman, a handful of John Travoltas, and numerous needless sequels. These projects were panned hard and put away wet. And now they’ve got a new member added to their clique.
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Staying Alive (1983)
This forgettable follow-up to 1977’s Saturday Night Fever, directed by Sylvester Stallone, saw John Travolta return as dance-till-you-drop Tony Manero. Reviewers hailed it/nailed it as laughably tacky and lacking the realism of the first film.
Bolero (1984)
With enough erotic content to warrant an “X” rating, Bo Derek’s awful “Adventure in Ecstasy,” Bolero, was eventually released with no rating and strict guidelines not to admit anyone under 17. In hindsight, given the reviews, the studio should have expanded that restriction to include anyone of any age.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
The fourth Jaws movie killed Roy Scheider’s police chief Martin Brody off-screen (heart attack), leaving his widow, Lorraine Gary’s Ellen (plus an errant Michael Caine) to tangle with the ornery one-ton terror and all the rotten and rushed special effects that came with it.
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)
Apparently the Police Academy films didn’t bottom out, review-wise, until the fourth installment, which featured Steve Guttenberg in his final appearance as Mahoney and David Spade in his first-ever film role.
Mac and Me (1988)
Basically a giant commercial for both McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, Mac (get it?) and Me was a dreary E.T. knockoff which is only remembered today because of a running bit where Paul Rudd would show a clip for it, no matter what film he was plugging, whenever he’d appear as a guest on Conan O’Brien’s various late night shows.
Problem Child (1990)
John Ritter and Amy Yasbeck (who met and fell in love while working together) starred in this unpleasant, laugh-free comedy about a 7-year-old hellion and the chaos he unleashes.
Highlander 2: The Quickening (1991)
This early ’90s sequel to Highlander brought back Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod and tasked him with trying to solve…Earth’s dissipating ozone layer problem? Bonus bad points here for Sean Connery playing a fellow immortal named Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez.
Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)
This confounding box office bomb reboot-quel to 1980’s The Blue Lagoon, starring Milla Jovovich and Brian Krause, was a savagely dull coming-of-age tale about two kids growing up on a deserted island and falling in love.
Folks! (1992)
A mustache-less Tom Selleck starred in this dismal flick (which tried to mine humor from dementia) about a man whose life gets turned upside down when he’s forced to take in his parents.
Look Who’s Talking Now! (1993)
The third and final installment in the Look Who’s Talking series managed to bring back both John Travolta and Kirstie Alley but not Bruce Willis, Roseanne Barr, or any of the other actors who voiced the babies in the previous films. Instead it focused more on the family’s new dogs, voiced by Danny DeVito and Diane Keaton. An abysmal outing.
A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994)
Keenen Ivory Wayans wrote, directed, and starred in this action-comedy about a suave P.I. named Andre Shame going after a menacing drug lord he thought was killed years earlier. At the time, the film was picked apart for being riddled with cliches and for Wayans not being believable as an action star.
Wagons East (1994)
Released just a few months after John Candy’s death, Wagons East was a woefully witless Western send-up starring Richard Lewis as a hapless settler who couldn’t hack it out on the frontier and Candy as the guide hired to take him back home.
Shadow Conspiracy (1997)
Charlie Sheen, Donald Sutherland, and Linda Hamilton starred in this egregiously bad, simple-minded political thriller about a plot to assassinate the president.
Simon Sez (1999)
This slapdash mess of an action vehicle for “The Worm” Dennis Rodman featured the NBA star as an Interpol agent trying to rescue a kidnapped girl with the help of some dancing “cyber monks.”
3 Strikes (2000)
Brian Hooks, David Alan Grier, and Faizon Love starred in this regrettable screwball comedy about an ex-con determined to go straight because of California’s controversial Three Strikes Law.
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
As inept and awful as its title, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever saw Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu’s rival secret agents form an uneasy alliance in order to take down a common enemy.
Derailed (2002)
As the first official direct-to-DVD film on the list, Jean-Claude van Damme’s Derailed was a preposterous, cliche-filled actioner about a government agent assigned to protect a scientist from terrorists on a train.
Killing Me Softly (2002)
This mercilessly misguided erotic thriller starred Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes in the story of an American Web designer who falls for a mysterious mountain climber.
Merci Docteur Rey (2002)
Merci Docteur Rey, from Merchant Ivory, is a languid and feeble French farce featuring pointless characters and cringe-worthy sight gags.
Pinocchio (2002)
The English-dubbed version of Roberto Benigni’s live-action Pinocchio — featuring the voices of Breckin Meyer, Glenn Close, and Kevin James — received scathing reviews and was called a “creepy vanity project.”
National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers (2003)
This clueless comedy, about two young men (Will Friedle and Chris Owen) who marry elderly women in order to inherit their wealth, was buried under an avalanche of reviews calling it “cheap” and “mean-spirited.”
Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004)
The nightmarish Baby Geniuses franchise (which narrowly escaped the Zero Percent Club with its first film by reviving a 2%) chugged along with a story about the baby heroes thwarting the plans of a criminal mastermind (the returning Jon Voight) to brainwash the world.
Constellation (2005)
Called an unfocused and schmaltzy Hallmark movie by critics, Constellation starred Billy Dee Williams, Hill Harper, Zoe Saldana, and Gabrielle Union in the story of an estranged family forced to confront its painful past.
Redline (2007)
This silly street racing cash grab (which grabbed no cash whatsoever) starred Eddie Griffin and Nathan Phillips in an poor attempt to piggyback onto the Fast and Furious franchise.
Scar (2007)
As the first-ever 3D video-on-demand film, released for 3D televisions, Scar is a notably nasty and useless entry into the “Torture Porn” pocket of the Aughts.
One Missed Call (2008)
The lamest J-horror adaptation ever was One Missed Call, starring Shannyn Sossamon and Edward Burns in the laughable story of a cell-phone call from the future that foreshadows one’s own death. (Read IGN’s One Missed Call review.(
Homecoming (2009)
Mischa Barton, Matt Long, and Jessica Stroup star in this tacky and trashy thriller about a crazy teen who “Misery”s her ex-boyfriend’s new lover.
Stolen (2009)
Featuring Jon Hamm, during his first years on Mad Men, this low-budget, leaden murder mystery was described as a “rough slog.” Josh Lucas, James Van Der Beek, and Jessica Chastain also starred.
Transylmania (2009)
A sequel to National Lampoon’s Dorm Daze 2: College @ Sea (oh…kay?), Transylmania followed a group of college students who embark on a wild and sexy semester abroad in Transylvania. Naturally, it’s 90 minutes of idiocy.
The Nutcracker in 3D (2010)
Criticized for its story, deviations from the ballet, overall performances, and twisted visuals, this 3D adaptation of The Nutcracker featured an all-star cast and a no-star slate of reviews.
Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star (2011)
From Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions, Bucky Larson was meant to be the headlining comedy vehicle for Nick Swardson. Instead it’s considered to be one of the worst films of all time.
Dark Tide (2012)
Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez top-lined this toothless tale about a traumatized “shark whisperer” who accepts a job in the world’s deadliest feeding ground – Shark Alley. Yup.
A Thousand Words (2012)
Let’s be honest. Placing motor-mouthed Eddie Murphy in a role where he’s a “gift of gab” literary agent who magically loses his ability to speak was a bad idea from the get-go.
The Ridiculous 6 (2015)
Adam Sandler’s first movie, as part of his landmark Netflix deal, was also his worst. The Ridiculous 6 is a lazily offensive and aggressively awful attempt at a Western comedy. (Read IGN’s The Ridiculous 6 review.)
Cabin Fever (2016)
Soooo…there was a remake of Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever back in 2016? Okay. Well, apparently it was terrible. And starred Teen Wolf’s Gage Golightly, Shadowhunters’ Matthew Daddario, and Watchmen’s Agent Petey, Dustin Ingram.
Dark Crimes (2016)
As one of Jim Carrey more pointedly misguided forays into gritty drama, Dark Crimes was about a detective investigating a murder who comes to realize his case holds similarities to a published mystery book. It tried to copy the gruesome appeal of True Detective but instead was labeled as misogynistic and depressing. (Read IGN’s Dark Crimes review.)
The Disappointments Room (2016)
The very capable and usually fun D. J. Caruso directed this stinker of a psychological horror film starring Kate Beckinsale and Mel Raido as a couple whose house contains a hidden room with a haunted past.
Max Steel (2016)
The hit toy line Max Steel came to life in a live-action adventure that was the epitome of the worst cut-and-paste superhero dreck around. (Read IGN’s Max Steel review.)
Precious Cargo (2016)
The straight-to-video Precious Cargo, starring Bruce Willis and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, was mauled by critics. Those who saw the hack thriller, about a crime boss seeking revenge on the thief who betrayed him, called it “sloppily written” and “stupid.”
Stratton (2017)
This British shoot-em-up, directed by Con Air’s Simon West, starred Dominic Cooper and Tyler Hoechlin as soldiers tracking a terrorist cell. It was widely panned as a predictable, rushed collage of cliches.
Gotti (2018)
For a while, a decade ago, Gotti had names like Pacino and Pesci attached to it. Now it’s nothing more than John Travolta’s Zero Percent Club hat trick as he played notorious New York City mobster John Gotti in a travesty of a movie. Entourage’s Kevin Connolly directed.
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London Fields (2018)
Based on the darkly comedic and beloved British mystery novel, London Fields showcased a stellar cast (Billy Bob Thornton, Amber Heard, Jim Sturgess, and more) but landed with a thud when critics called it a boring and garish chore.
The Last Days of American Crime (2020)
Based on a graphic novel, Netflix’s The Last Days of American Crime is an empty and dull heist movie that takes place in the midst of a police state America that’s about to unleash a signal on its captive citizens that will rob them of their free will. (Read IGN’s The Last Days of American Crime review.)
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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Source: IGN.com All the Movies With 0% on Rotten Tomatoes