Movie trailers and posters will proudly boast if their cast includes an Oscar winner or nominee. This list is proof that even with the assistance of some of the best acting skills in the business, some movies simply cannot be saved.

Faye Dunaway – The Bye Bye Man

Faye Dunaway, my darling, what are you doing here? Between Chinatown, Bonnie and Clyde, and Network, Dunaway is absolutely iconic. Why she was in The Bye Bye Man is beyond me. The editing is terrible, the pacing and scene cuts are just weird and awkward. And what’s the lore here? Who is the Bye Bye Man? Where did he come from? What’s with the coin? Why couldn’t they come up with a better name? I left this movie with questions that I didn’t even know I cared about.

Let’s briefly talk about that wasted opportunity of an ending. Spoiler alert, but I’m talking about the last scene with the brother and niece. We’re so close to an amazing ending where the niece finds the secret of the Bye Bye Man and continues his curse on the family, but no. The writer basically put food on the table, walked you up to it, and said “oh wait, you’re not hungry!” and took the food away. Like, bitch, yes I was hungry. Sure, you maybe got a consolation cookie, but that beautiful meal looked so much better.

Her role may have been small, but, Faye Dunaway, you’re better than this.

Matthew McConaughey – Texas Chainsaw Massacre:
The Next Generation

This movie actually boasts two Oscar winners in its main cast – Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger. It’s still awful though. McConaughey, smooth as ever, does manage to sneak in an “alright alright alright”, which I was pretty happy about. He also has a hydraulic leg with several remote controls to actually work the damn thing, which only seems to be used as an opportunity to foil his dastardly attempts at… whatever he’s doing.

McConaughey is clearly having a great time in the role though, and he’s really the best part of the whole movie. But Leatherface is a mess here. He’s a mostly useless, cross-dressing, caterwauling franchise plug. Honestly, he sounds like a 50 year old crying baby – as if his vocal chords were Benjamin Buttoned into producing nothing but a wailing sound that in no way inspires fear. It’s overly complicated (with a vaguely Cabin in the Woods side plot) and surprisingly boring. For a Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there is actually no chainsaw massacring. At all. It’s very disappointing.

Louise Fletcher – Exorcist II: The Heretic

Exorcist II is probably the worst movie with the best production pitch. The top-billed cast are all either Oscar-nominated or (in the case of Louise Fletcher) Oscar winners, and it was directed by Oscar Nominee John Boorman (Deliverance). But at 2 hours long, it’s just so dreadfully boring. Apparently the audience on opening night hated it so much that they threw things at the screen to express their disgust.

Louise Fletcher acts her ass off in this one, but even with the combined efforts of all the cast, there’s no saving it. It’s so slow, some of the scenes last way too long, and it’s generally just dull. I have a hard time actually calling this one a horror movie because really there’s probably about 5 minutes of the 2-hour movie that are even remotely “horrific”, and it’s mostly just Father Lamont’s uncomfortable lust for demonic teenage Regan.

Michael Caine – Jaws: The Revenge

Jaws: The Revenge boasts a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Even Michael Caine couldn’t save this movie. His character, Hoagie, spends most of his time being suave as hell while hitting on the protagonist’s mother, who happens to be Chief Brody’s widow (get it, Hoagie). The son spends a lot of time being generally suspicious of Hoagie. It’s kind of bizarre because it leads you to believe there’s going to be some ridiculous reveal – Hoagie was in cahoots with the shark the whole time!! – but it never really goes anywhere.

In the movie, Chief Brody’s family is being systematically hunted down by another shark in search of revenge (hence the snappy title). The shark somehow follows the family from Amity to the Bahamas to continue his hunt. There’s one big problematic question here. How is this shark tracking the family? The whole movie has one easy solution – just move away from the damn ocean.

Christopher Plummer – Dracula 2000

Christopher Plummer is an acting legend, so naturally, he’s going to play Van Helsing in this ridiculous modern version of Dracula. Naturally. But you have to wonder what the hell he’s doing here in a cast chock-full of 2000-era cameos (with stars like Vitamin C and Danny Masterson). This movie is painfully dated with its hybrid weapons, quippy one-liners and extensive wirework, like it’s trying to be Blade, but it doesn’t have the same edge. Also, you can definitely tell when a female character has been transformed into a vampire because suddenly her straight hair has gorgeous voluminous curls. Not sure how that works, but, sign me up.

Again, I’m not sure how or why Christopher Plummer got here, but it feels like he wandered onto the wrong set one day and someone handed him a script so he just rolled with it. It’s weird, but, much the like metallic pastel eyeshadow trend, it happened.

Still confused about why these actors were involved? Check out the list of 8 Actors and Their Early Roles in Horror Films

Do you know a terrible movie that somehow has an Oscar winner in the cast? Tell us in the comments!