It has been quite a struggle to find the ten worst films in what has generally been quite an impressive year for cinema. However, we have come to quite a varied list of ten turkeys – from needless reboots to globe-trotting pillocks, here are the worst films of 2014.
10 Horns
Despite an impressively dark lead turn from Daniel Radcliffe, Horns never quite seemed to find a suitable direction. With some potential in its underdeveloped supernatural angles and twisted gothic fantasy – Aja’s film ultimately settles on a contrived whodunnit route that never gets going. It’s a messy hodgepodge of unfulfilled ideas that ultimately abandons the originality of its source novel.
9 The Double
The Double is ninety-three minutes of sheer joylessness. In his brazen focus to homage David Lynch, writer-director Richard Ayoade simply bores. Jesse Eisenberg is at his most insufferable here (twice!) and Mia Wasikowska at her most infuriatingly ‘quirky’.
8 A Long Way Down
Considering this is a film about people on the verge of suicide, it is peculiarly light-hearted, fluffy stuff with very little to say about its troubling subject manner. What results is simply a weak comedy about four oddballs which never amounts to any real emotional pay-off.
7 Scintilla
Scintilla is drab, humourless science fiction-horror at its worst. With a lack of imagination or visual spark, it is another forgettable footnote in the world of British genre cinema.
6 God Help the Girl
God Help the Girl is a watch that borders on offensively twee thanks to musical numbers that prove more cringeworthy than enjoyable, and characters that profusely irritate. The drifting narrative never engages like it should, and results in an experience that drains rather than entertains.
5 About Last Night
About Last Night is plagued by its shallow narrative and limp central romance. Occasional sparks from Regina Hall and Kevin Hart cannot save this film which ultimately lacks any real heart and soul. The original was a stinker but it least it had a nude Rob Lowe.
4 The Amazing Spider-Man 2
The world’s most unwanted reboot got a sequel drawing us even further away for Sam Raimi’s flawed yet fantastically entertaining Spider Man universe. Weak villains, a confused, mundane narrative and a lack of the wonderful Sally Field were the main irritants here.
3 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is the cinematic equivalent of a pretentious gap year student that won’t leave you alone and keeps blasting ‘inspiring’ Coldplay ballads at you.
2 We’ll Never Have Paris
We’ll Never Have Paris is a charmless affair, lead by an unlikeable self-centred protagonist that we simply never want to root for.
1 Hector and the Search for Happiness
The unconvincing Hector and the Search for Happiness is a tough slog with a two hour run-time. Its condescending themes and unpleasant little protagonist are not likely to help you get any closer to personal fulfilment. The closest we do get towards finding happiness is when we see the infuriating Hector locked in a squalid jail-cell at the mercy of a ruthless African crime-lord.