You’ve been waiting all month, possibly all year. It’s finally released. You go to the theatre, all a-tingle with anticipation. The lights dim, the movie starts and you’re there for a good hour or two. And after it’s over you feel the disappointment set in.
Sometimes it’s not even really the movie’s (or book’s or game’s) fault. It can be a victim of bad marketing. Sometimes it’s a victim of over-hype. And sometimes it is the movie’s fault.
This list is about those times. The times you’ve finished a movie, book, or game and felt disappointed. Felt a bit (or a lot) let down.
The Kali Krew tells you about the times it’s happened to us.
Avengers: Endgame
Chosen by Lilyn
“Because it is apparently impossible for Hollywood to not make the white male savior thing happen. They had opportunities to do so much with that final battle and to make a statement and they still needed their rich little dweeb messiah in the end. Fucknuggets.” – Lilyn
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Chosen by Bill
“I found it boring and insufferable.” – Bill
The Blair Witch
Chosen by Gracie
“I was really looking forward to Blair Witch. I liked Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 but I was super excited to see a new found footage entry in the series and it was such a let-down. The characters were unlikable, made no sense, and what they tried to retcon just sucked.” – Gracie
Check out Gracie’s review of The Blair Witch
Bloodshot
Chosen by Lilyn
“Because they stuck the entirety of the story in the trailer and then went and used up all their CGI money in the beginning so that by the time you got to the big fight scene at the end it looked like CGI from the 90s.” – Lilyn
The Bye Bye Man
Chosen by Lilyn
“Because what the actual fuck were they thinking making that P.O.S.?” – Lilyn
Check out V.s review of The Bye Bye Man
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Chosen by Bill
“So damn long and uninteresting – how did it keep on going book after book?” – Bill
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Guide Primer by Neal Stephenson
Chosen by Bill
“After reading Snowcrash anything would be a letdown, and this was.” – Bill
Godzilla (2014)
Chosen by Gracie
“This should have been So. Damn. Cool. And it would have been if there had been way less people and much more Godzilla. Thank goodness Godzilla: King of the Monsters fixed it.” – Gracie
Insidious
Chosen by Cory
“I was fed so much hype that I put off watching it for years when my relative who never gets scared by horror movies said they couldn’t sleep with paranoia the night they watched it and was convinced it had subliminal messages in it messing with their brain. And then I watched it and it was a boring jumpscare movie with great value Freddy Krueger.” – Cory
In the Quick by Kate Hope Day
Chosen by Sam
“It had so much potential and I’d heard it compared to both Event Horizon and Jane Eyre so I was suuuuuper pumped about it. It only delivered on one of those comparisons and not in a very interesting way so..boo.” – Sam
IT: Chapter Two
Chosen by Lilyn
“Watch IT: Chapter One, then watch IT: Chapter Two. If you can’t tell the serious quality difference, ridiculousness, and general fuckfoolery involved in the making of that movie. I can’t help you.” – Lilyn
Jaws: Unleashed
Chosen by Gracie
“I was hoping for an amazing round of chomping divers and smashing boats. Instead, I collected license plates as a fearsome shark.” – Gracie
The Justice League
Chosen by Bill
“Do I need to explain?” – Bill
The Last House on the Left
Chosen by Cory
“Normally I can find something in a Wes Craven movie to enjoy and there’s a level of myth around that movie but there was really nothing good in it.” – Cory
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Chosen by Gracie
“Mortal Kombat was cheesy goodness. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was none of that. How dare they do Raiden like that. And I generally like Eric Roberts.” – Gracie
Outlast II
Chosen by Cory
“The first one was so iconic and scary and then the second one really felt phoned in and lowest common denominator.” – Cory
Paranormal Activity
Chosen by Gracie
“I thought at first that this was partly a victim of over-hype but after watching it a few times I still find it tedious and boring. And I cut a lot of slack towards found footage movies.” – Gracie
The Passage
Chosen by Bill
“Totally predictable.” – Bill
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
Chosen by Bill
“I’ve just never found anything by Miéville that could engage me.” – Bill
Ready Player 2 by Ernest Cline
Chosen by Shawn
“I was a defender of the first one back when it came out but this one is so far up its own ass I couldn’t handle it.” – Shawn
Check out Shawn’s review of Ready Player Two
Relic
Chosen by Sam
“It took ages for it to release in Canada and there was sooo much hype behind it, it was destined to disappoint. The concept was fine, but Hereditary did it first and did it better.” – Sam
Check out Sam’s review of Relic
The Ring Two
Chosen by Shawn
“A series that went from a movie a friend wanted to walk out of due to sheer fright, to a sequel we wanted to walk out of because of sheer suck.” – Shawn
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
Chosen by Bill
“Not a bad book but so disappointing after reading The Historian.” – Bill
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
Chosen by Bill
“Was suppose to be the horror for people who like “literature”. Was a solid and quick DNF for being boring.” – Bill
What have you been a disappointed by before? Or recently? Let us know down below!
GracieKat was the first co-host of Sci-Fi & Scary, Lilyn’s partner-in-crime, and sub-head of the Kali Krew. She reviews horror books, movies, and games for the site. She also does a weekly Focus on the Frightful feature, and is the site list-maker. She is also in control of the Sci-Fi & Scary podcast which will relaunch soon.
I’m OK with Perdido Street Station, though I admit it’s a mess; Embassytown was better.
In general, sequels tend to be a bit of a letdown, but we know that. V.E. Schwab’s “Vengeful,” while good, didn’t equal its predecessor, and Seanan McGuire’s “The Girl in the Green Silk Gown” went a step worse and seemed contrived. And these are authors I have generally liked. And sometimes it’s that last novel that you wish had stayed unwritten; Bram Stoker’s last, “The Lair of the White Worm,” and Iain Banks’ last, “The Hydrogen Sonata,” were attempts to go back to the well one too many times.
Agreed – it’s a rare case when the sequel lives up to the original. And I’d go so far as to say in a trilogy, the second book is always the worst.