Rotten Tomatoes is one of the most trusted movie review sites on the internet, where critics score films from 0% to 100%. Getting a 0% means every single critic who reviewed the film gave it a thumbs down — which is actually pretty rare.
Over the years, a surprising number of movies have hit this unfortunate milestone, from big-budget flops to low-budget disasters. Get ready to explore some of the most universally panned films in cinema history.
1. Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)
By the fourth entry in the Police Academy franchise, critics had completely run out of patience. Described as “utterly, completely, thoroughly and astonishingly unfunny,” this installment follows graduates training civilian volunteers to patrol the streets.
The jokes felt recycled, the energy was flat, and audiences who loved the original were largely let down. Earning 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, it proved that sometimes a franchise overstays its welcome by several movies.
2. Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Few sequels have crashed and burned quite as spectacularly as Jaws: The Revenge. The original Jaws is considered one of the greatest films ever made, so following it up with this entry was a painful fall from grace.
The plot involves a shark seemingly seeking personal revenge against the Brody family, which critics found laughably absurd. Even star Michael Caine admitted he never saw it, though he did enjoy the house he bought with his paycheck.
3. Problem Child (1990)
Problem Child arrived in 1990 as a broad comedy about an adopted troublemaker named Junior who terrorizes everyone around him. Critics found it mean-spirited, crude, and unfunny in ways that crossed the line from edgy to just plain unpleasant.
Despite the critical drubbing and its 0% Rotten Tomatoes score, the film actually made decent money at the box office. That success spawned sequels, proving that audiences and critics do not always agree on what makes a movie worth watching.
4. Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)
A remake of the 1980 romantic adventure, Return to the Blue Lagoon starred a young Milla Jovovich and Brian Krause as castaways growing up together on a deserted island. The premise sounds like it could be dreamy, but critics found it tedious and hollow.
Jovovich, who would later become an action icon in the Resident Evil franchise, has probably tried to forget this one existed. Its 0% score reflects just how little the film had to offer beyond pretty scenery.
5. Folks! (1992)
Tom Selleck starred in this 1992 comedy about a man whose life spirals out of control while trying to care for his aging parents. What could have been a warm, relatable story about family instead came across as uncomfortable and mean-spirited toward elderly characters.
Critics were not amused, and the film earned zero positive reviews. Selleck was riding high on his Magnum P.I. fame at the time, making this misfire all the more surprising for fans who expected better from him.
6. Simon Sez (1999)
Dennis Rodman, the flamboyant NBA star known for his rainbow hair and wild personality, tried to launch an action movie career with Simon Sez. Set in Europe with a spy thriller plot, the film leaned heavily on Rodman’s celebrity rather than any actual filmmaking craft.
Critics found it painfully amateurish from start to finish. Rodman had previously appeared in Double Team with Jean-Claude Van Damme, but Simon Sez proved he was better suited for basketball courts than movie sets.
7. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever holds a truly remarkable record — it earned the most negative reviews of any film sitting at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 119 critics all giving it a thumbs down. Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu starred as rival agents in a plot nobody could follow.
Critics called it “startlingly inept” with “overblown, wall-to-wall action without a hint of wit, coherence, style, or originality.” It remains the gold standard of cinematic failure in the 2000s action genre.
8. Pinocchio (2002)
Roberto Benigni, the beloved Italian actor who won an Oscar for Life is Beautiful, took on the ambitious project of writing, directing, and starring in a live-action Pinocchio adaptation. The result was a critical catastrophe that confused audiences worldwide.
Benigni, who was in his late 40s at the time, played the child puppet Pinocchio himself, which many critics found deeply strange. The film earned 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and became a cautionary tale about Oscar winners swinging too far outside their comfort zone.
9. Redline (2007)
Redline is a 2007 action film about illegal street racing among the ultra-wealthy, bankrolled by a car enthusiast who reportedly spent his own fortune producing it. The movie featured real exotic cars worth millions of dollars and genuinely impressive automotive footage.
Unfortunately, critics found everything outside the car sequences — including the story, acting, and dialogue — to be absolutely terrible. Spending money on expensive cars does not guarantee a good movie, and Redline’s 0% rating proves that point perfectly.
10. One Missed Call (2008)
One Missed Call is an American remake of a Japanese horror film, following people who receive voicemails from their own future selves at the moment of their deaths. The J-horror genre had already produced American hits like The Ring and The Grudge, raising expectations that this film spectacularly failed to meet.
Critics hammered it for bland performances and recycled scares that felt shopworn even by 2008 standards. Its 0% score reflects just how thoroughly the remake missed the eerie atmosphere of the original.
11. Homecoming (2009)
Homecoming is a 2009 thriller about a disturbed young woman who becomes dangerously obsessed with her ex-boyfriend after he returns to town with a new girlfriend. The setup sounds like it could be a tense psychological ride, but critics found the execution clunky and unintentionally funny.
Mischa Barton played the unhinged antagonist, delivering a performance that critics described as more campy than chilling. The film earned 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, though it has since attracted a small cult following who enjoy it as unintentional comedy.
12. Transylmania (2009)
Transylmania is a vampire comedy that follows a group of American college students studying abroad in Romania, where they encounter actual vampires. Critics described it as “utterly, completely, thoroughly and astonishingly unfunny,” which is about the worst thing you can say about a movie trying to be a comedy.
The film bombed badly at the box office too, earning just a fraction of its modest budget back. Its 0% rating cements it as one of the most completely rejected horror comedies ever released in theaters.
13. Beneath the Darkness (2011)
Dennis Quaid plays a respected small-town mortician hiding murderous secrets beneath his charming exterior in this 2011 horror thriller. The premise of a beloved community figure being a cold-blooded killer had real potential for creepiness, but critics found the film wasted every opportunity.
The teenage protagonists who suspect Quaid’s character felt like horror movie clichés rather than real people. Landing at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, Beneath the Darkness proved that even a capable actor like Quaid cannot save a fundamentally broken script.
14. Dark Tide (2012)
Halle Berry, an Academy Award winner, starred in this shark thriller as a marine expert who returns to the ocean after a traumatic accident. Critics described Dark Tide as “shallow and brackish,” a watery pun that perfectly captured how empty the film felt despite its impressive underwater photography.
The shark sequences lacked genuine tension, and the human drama felt equally lifeless. Earning 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, it stands as one of the more puzzling career choices from an actress with Berry’s proven talent and range.
15. A Thousand Words (2012)
Eddie Murphy plays a motor-mouthed literary agent who discovers a magical tree that loses a leaf every time he speaks — and when the last leaf falls, he dies. The concept cleverly positioned Murphy’s comedic strength as a liability, which critics felt completely blundered what makes him funny.
Murphy is at his best when unleashed with sharp dialogue, and silencing him undercut the entire appeal. The film sat on the shelf for years before release and earned 0% on Rotten Tomatoes upon its belated arrival.
16. Left Behind (2014)
Nicolas Cage starred in this religious thriller based on the popular Left Behind book series, which depicts the biblical Rapture event where Christians are suddenly taken to heaven. Cage plays an airline pilot whose passengers begin vanishing mid-flight, leaving chaos at 30,000 feet.
Critics found the film preachy, poorly made, and a waste of Cage’s eccentric talents. Even fans of the original book series were largely disappointed.
Its 0% Rotten Tomatoes rating made it one of the most high-profile critical failures of 2014.
17. The Ridiculous 6 (2015)
Adam Sandler’s first film for Netflix was a Western comedy parody featuring an all-star cast of Sandler’s usual collaborators. The Ridiculous 6 follows a man who discovers he has five half-brothers as they search for their outlaw father across the Old West.
Critics found the humor lazy, offensive, and completely unfunny, calling it a step down even by Sandler’s post-2010 standards. Despite its 0% critical rating, Netflix reported it was one of their most-watched films that year, showing the massive gap between critic and audience reception.
18. Cabin Fever (2016)
The 2016 Cabin Fever is a near shot-for-shot remake of Eli Roth’s 2002 cult horror film, which itself was not universally loved but earned a devoted following. Remaking a cult film with almost identical scenes but none of the original’s raw energy was a decision critics found genuinely baffling.
There was no new perspective, no fresh take, and no reason for this version to exist according to every reviewer who watched it. Earning 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, it became the rare remake that managed to be worse than a film that was already considered imperfect.
19. The Disappointments Room (2016)
Kate Beckinsale stars in this 2016 haunted house thriller about a family who moves into a crumbling old mansion and discovers a hidden room with a horrifying history. The concept of a secret room holding dark secrets is genuinely creepy territory, but critics found the execution thoroughly bungled.
The scares were predictable, the story logic fell apart quickly, and the film felt unfinished. With 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Disappointments Room lived up to its title in the most literal way possible.
20. Max Steel (2016)
Based on a Mattel toy line and animated series, Max Steel follows a teenager who discovers he can generate a powerful energy force when bonded with a small alien named Steel. The superhero origin story felt generic and cheap compared to the Marvel and DC blockbusters dominating cinemas at the time.
Young audiences who loved the cartoon were largely disappointed, and adult critics had absolutely nothing kind to say. Its 0% Rotten Tomatoes score made it one of the most forgettable superhero films of a decade absolutely overflowing with them.
21. Stratton (2017)
Stratton is a British action thriller based on a series of novels about an elite Special Boat Service operative named John Stratton. Dominic Cooper played the lead in a film that critics found bland, unimaginative, and desperately trying to launch a new spy franchise without earning it.
Comparisons to James Bond were inevitable and deeply unflattering to Stratton. The action sequences lacked energy, and the story offered nothing audiences had not seen done better elsewhere.
Its 0% rating reflected universal critical agreement that this particular spy had no business being on screen.
22. Gotti (2018)
John Travolta played infamous New York mob boss John Gotti in this biographical crime film that critics found drowning in gangster clichés. Despite Travolta’s obvious enthusiasm for the role, reviewers felt his performance was more caricature than character study.
The film had a notoriously chaotic production history, switching distributors and release dates multiple times before finally arriving. After earning 0% from critics, the filmmakers responded by calling the reviews a conspiracy — which only added to the film’s bizarre legacy as one of 2018’s most talked-about disasters.
23. The Queen’s Corgi (2019)
The Queen’s Corgi is a Belgian animated film about one of Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved corgis who gets lost and must find his way back to the palace. The premise sounds absolutely charming, and yet critics found the film lazy, poorly animated, and disappointingly unfunny despite its adorable concept.
Children’s movies can get away with a lot, but even young audiences reportedly found this one dull. Its 0% Rotten Tomatoes score made it one of the rare animated films to achieve total critical rejection, proving that cute dogs alone cannot carry a movie.
24. John Henry (2020)
Terry Crews, best known for his comedic roles and Brooklyn Nine-Nine fame, took a dramatic turn in John Henry as a former gang member trying to protect two undocumented immigrant children from dangerous criminals. The film had noble intentions and a genuinely compelling premise rooted in community and redemption.
Critics found the execution rough and the storytelling underdeveloped, leaving Crews’s considerable screen presence without enough support. Earning 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, it was a disappointing showcase for a performer many felt deserved much better material.