10 Worst Movies Turning 20 in 2025, Ranked

2025 is upon us, meaning that a whole bunch of great 2005 movies will soon be celebrating their 20th anniversary. They include gems like Brokeback Mountain, Batman Begins, Revenge of the Sith, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (cue existential crisis). While it was an overall decent year for cinema, 2005 still had its fair share of duds; for every Caché, there was an Aeon Flux (or three).

With this in mind, this list looks at some of the very worst movies turning 20 in 2025. They run the gamut from uninspired sequels to ill-conceived adaptations, blockbuster flops to low-budget duds. These movies cover a host of genres, and each was brought down by a unique collection of problems. At least they are united here by being incredibly, painfully, spectacularly bad.

10

‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ (2005)

Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar

“I think something bounced up into my undercarriage.” The original 1970s TV series was all right, but the 2005 update of The Dukes of Hazzard was outdated and wearisome. This vacuous action movie follows the Duke boys (played by Sean William Scott and Johnny Knoxville) as they attempt to stop the corrupt Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds) from seizing their family. Along the way, their iconic car, the General Lee, takes center stage in high-speed chases and wild stunts. Indeed, the whole movie seems like an excuse to throw in as much vehicular mayhem as possible.

Though plentiful, the action is bland, and the humor lurches between crude and stale. A lot of the jokes seem intended for kids, yet the sexualized content is decidedly not family-friendly. Even the acting is subpar. Knoxville leans into his physical comedy roots but doesn’t imbue the character with much personality beyond that. Likewise, Scott basically just serves up a warmed-over version of Stifler.

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9

‘Undiscovered’ (2005)

Directed by Meiert Avis

“Do you ever feel like you’re chasing something you’ll never catch?” This lame drama follows aspiring musician Luke Falcon (Steven Strait) and model-turned-actress Brier Tucket (Pell James) as they navigate the trials of love and fame in Los Angeles. It’s meant to be a critique of show business shallowness, but it’s too hollow and half-baked to take seriously. These are all ideas that have been done countless times before by better movies.

The execution is shabby, too: the story is boring, the dialogue is weak, and there’s no believable chemistry between the leads. On top of that, the performances are shaky at best, with supporting player Ashlee Simpson going on to win a Razzie for her efforts. Even the usually stellar Carrie Fisher is underwhelming, her talents wasted on a poorly written character who acts as Brier’s love-life advisor. Unsurprisingly, Undiscovered was a box office bomb, grossing just $1.1m against a $9m budget.

8

‘Elektra’ (2005)

Directed by Rob Bowman

“Death’s not that bad; you should try it sometime.” Among the very worst Marvel movies, this Daredevil spinoff brought Jennifer Garner‘s assassin-for-hire to center stage with lackluster results. Here, Elektra embarks on a mission that leads her to protect a father-daughter duo targeted by a powerful criminal organization known as The Hand. Garner is fine in the role, but the movie gives her shockingly little to work with.

The script is overly self-serious, some of the lines are painfully wooden, and the whole thing just feels like a mess of conflicting tones, bearing all the hallmarks of having been hastily rewritten. Despite the glossy visuals and polished action, Elektra ultimately struggles under the weight of its formulaic plot and overdone tropes. The movie was such a disappointment that it actually negatively affected Garner’s career, arguably permanently. At least the character received some form of redemption in Deadpool & Wolverine.

7

‘Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo’ (2005)

Directed by Mike Bigelow

“Europe. It’s just like America, only with fewer guns and more bread.” The first Deuce Bigalow was a moderately fun and goofy outing, but the same cannot be said for the ill-advised sequel. It sees Rob Schneider reprising his role as the hapless fish tank cleaner-turned-gigolo. This time, Deuce travels to Amsterdam to clear his friend T.J.’s (Eddie Griffin) name after a series of murders targeting male sex workers. It doubles down on vulgarity and juvenility, but it is woefully light on actual jokes.

The movie jettisons any R-rated potential it might have had. Schneider’s goggle-eyed, charmless performance doesn’t help matters; he also went on to win a Razzie for this flick. The actor later admitted that the movie was weak, saying it lacked the “heart” of the first movie. Renowned critic Roger Ebert detested European Gigolo, launching an intense feud with Schneider. It’s hard to fault Ebert, though; the film is actively unpleasant and a slog to sit through, somehow overlong at just 83 minutes.

6

‘The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D’ (2005)

Directed by Robert Rodriguez

“Dream a better dream, and work to make it real.” The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D centers on Max (Cayden Boyd), a young boy whose imaginary friends, Sharkboy (Taylor Lautner) and Lavagirl (Taylor Dooley), come to life to save the fantastical Planet Drool from the villainous Mr. Electric (George Lopez). Usually, director Robert Rodriguez has a knack for kids’ entertainment, but this movie is a rollercoaster of slapdash storytelling, bad CGI, and gimmicky 3-D effects.

Obviously, the 3-D was meant to make the Dream World pop, but it comes across as more nightmarish than enchanting. It really would have looked better if the movie had been projected normally. A subset of viewers will have nostalgic memories of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, but that’ll be because they were so young when the film came out rather than because of its quality. It’s easily Robert Rodriguez’s worst project and a prime example of 2000s entertainment at its worst.

5

‘The Fog’ (2005)

Directed by Rupert Wainwright

“The sea gave them back. Now it wants them again.” This version of The Fog was a remake of John Carpenter‘s 1980 horror classic but with fewer frights and a lot less charm. It’s about a small coastal town haunted by ghostly mariners seeking revenge for a historical betrayal. Elizabeth (Maggie Grace) and Nick (Tom Welling) uncover the town’s dark secrets as the deadly mist engulfs their community, threatening everyone in its path.

2005’s The Fog is a textbook example of an unnecessary remake that added nothing of value to the original. Rupert Wainwright‘s generic direction strips away much of the suspense and atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, replacing it with flimsy CGI and bland characters. Watching it, one doesn’t really root for any of them; they frequently speak in cliches, and a few of the supporting characters are little more than stereotypes. Finally, the overuse of slow-motion also gets tiresome, making The Fog a slog.

4

‘In the Mix’ (2005)

Directed by Ron Underwood

“It’s about respect, and you don’t get it unless you earn it.” The early 2000s were truly the era of the dysfunctional star vehicle. One of the worst is In the Mix, which features Usher as Darrell, a DJ who becomes an accidental bodyguard for a mob boss’s daughter, Dolly (Emmanuelle Chriqui). Romance blossoms amidst a backdrop of clichéd mob drama and predictable conflicts, offering neither emotional depth nor real laughs.

In the Mix is incredibly one-dimensional, with all the narrative depth of a music video. Bizarrely, it was directed by Ron Underwood, the filmmaker behind the cult classic Tremors and the harmless family adventure Mighty Joe Young, though it has nowhere near the entertainment value of those movies. As a result, critics roundly panned the film and even Usher diehards are unlikely to be moved by it. This misguided and utterly forgettable project borders on Glitter levels of bad.

3

‘Dirty Love’ (2005)

Directed by John Mallory Asher

“I don’t need you! I don’t need anybody! I’ve got ice cream!” Jenny McCarthy leads this rom-com as Rebecca, a photographer who spirals into chaotic misadventures after discovering her boyfriend’s infidelity. McCarthy had previously proved that she had some comedic chops, but there’s nothing funny about this cringe-worthy dud. Dirty Love is a crude, clumsily written misfire mired in poorly executed gags and misplaced sentimentality. The star’s personality and pep is completely unable to salvage it.

The characters are all annoyingly idiotic, and some of the scenes are almost painful to watch. A case in point is the scene where McCarthy leaks a pool of period blood all over a supermarket floor, sending shoppers slipping and sliding. Many of the film’s sequences seem to humiliate the star, which is a real head-scratcher considering that McCarthy wrote it herself. Not for nothing, reviewers tore Dirty Love to shreds, and it brought in just $36,000 at the box office.

2

‘Son of the Mask’ (2005)

Directed by Lawrence Guterman

“Somebody stop me… before I watch this again.” The Mask and Son of the Mask represent one of the biggest disparities ever between a movie and its sequels. This time around, Jamie Kennedy stars as aspiring cartoonist Tim Avery, who discovers the mystical Mask of Loki, which wreaks havoc on his life when his infant son inherits its powers. The first movie was silly but fun, animated by Jim Carrey‘s gonzo energy. Kennedy, however, can’t come close to Carrey’s star power, making Son of the Mask annoying and unpleasant.

Acting aside, the movie is further undermined by weak special effects and a plot that frequently defies logic. Although the humor is childish, a number of scenes are inappropriate for kids, making it unclear who this movie is even meant to appeal to. The cast and crew seem to have no clue about what made the first Mask work to begin with, delivering a true abomination that’s an insult to cinema itself.

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1

‘Alone in the Dark’ (2005)

Directed by Uwe Boll

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Claiming the top spot on this list is Alone in the Dark, a disastrous video game adaptation by the legendarily bad Uwe Boll. The plot of this horror follows paranormal investigator Edward Carnby (Christian Slater) as he unravels a government conspiracy involving ancient artifacts, shadowy creatures, and interdimensional portals. The premise is fine, but the execution is dismal, to the point that Alone in the Dark makes Borderlands look like The Last of Us.

The movie is amateurish on every level, from the erratic pacing to the mismatched edits. The visual quality is poor, and the skay camerawork is almost nauseating. For all these reasons, Alone in the Dark quickly earned a reputation as a real stinker, with some going so far as to rank it among the worst films ever made. Boll’s filmography is loaded with turkeys, but Alone in the Dark might just be his disasterpiece.

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