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Highly Praised R-Rated Films That Viewers Actually Hated

Highly Praised R-Rated Films That Viewers Actually Hated

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Films are very subjective and are open to many different interpretations by both viewers and critics alike. What one moviegoer may rave about as the best film they’ve ever seen, another can think it was lackluster and undeserving of the cost of their ticket.

It often feels as though audiences and film critics carry this difference of opinion for almost every movie, rarely agreeing on what is good or bad. Although film critics typically rate films a bit harsher than general audiences do, on occasion, a film is praised by professionals but appears to fall flat with viewers.

This difference of opinion and tastes can ring true in every film genre, whether it’s action and adventure, drama, romantic comedies, or animated features. Yet, no film is immune to the distaste of audiences even if it has received serious praise from critics. This is quite evident in many R-rated films, which lend directors more creative license than a film geared toward families.

24/7 Tempo reviewed data on both audience and critical reception according to Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator to assemble a list of critically acclaimed R-rated movies that audiences hated. These movies were ranked based on the difference between their Rotten Tomatoes audience score and Tomatometer (critics) score.

Only movies with at least 500 audience reviews, a Tomatometer score of 75% or higher, and an audience score of less than 50% as of April 2023 were considered. Documentaries were not considered. Cast and director credits are from IMDb, an online movie and TV database owned by Amazon.

This list includes many independent films, as well as several award-winning directors and actors-turned-directors. Horror masters Ti West and Mike Flanagan have also contributed films to the list. Several of the films featured are horror films. (These are the best R-rated movies of all time.) 

Here are highly praised R-rated films that viewers hated:

35. Drinking Buddies (2013)

Source: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 35 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (122 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 49% (23,861 votes)

34. Teeth (2007)

Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate Films

Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate Films
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 35 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 80% (70 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 45% (34,927 votes)

33. Goat (2016)

Source: Courtesy of The Film Arcade

Source: Courtesy of The Film Arcade
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 35 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (77 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 44% (4,017 votes)

32. The Informant! (2009)

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 35 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (233 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 44% (359,292 votes)

31. The Family Fang (2015)

Source: Courtesy of Starz Digital Media

Source: Courtesy of Starz Digital Media
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 36 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (82 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 47% (4,496 votes)

30. Mom and Dad (2017)

Source: Courtesy of Momentum Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Momentum Pictures
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 36 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 75% (137 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 39% (1,603 votes)

29. Strange Behavior (1981)

Source: Courtesy of World Northal

Source: Courtesy of World Northal
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 36 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 80% (10 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 44% (501 votes)

28. Entertainment (2015)

Source: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 37 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (55 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 45% (1,851 votes)

27. Eyewitness (1981)

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 37 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 75% (12 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 38% (1,866 votes)

26. The Innkeepers (2011)

Source: Courtesy of Magnet Releasing

Source: Courtesy of Magnet Releasing
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 37 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (121 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 42% (93,108 votes)

25. Nurse Betty (2000)

Source: Courtesy of USA Films

Source: Courtesy of USA Films
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 38 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (130 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 45% (35,297 votes)

24. Absentia (2011)

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Television

Source: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Television
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 38 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (15 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 49% (1,466 votes)

23. Splice (2009)

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 38 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 75% (197 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 37% (252,017 votes)

22. Tales of Halloween (2015)

Source: Courtesy of GoDigital

Source: Courtesy of GoDigital
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 38 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (52 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 41% (1,281 votes)

21. The Lovers (2017)

Source: Courtesy of Sundance Now

Source: Courtesy of Sundance Now
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 39 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (114 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 43% (2,513 votes)

20. The Object of Beauty (1991)

Source: Courtesy of Avenue Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Avenue Pictures
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 39 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (13 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 38% (1,566 votes)

19. Happy Christmas (2014)

Source: Jason Merritt/TERM / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Source: Jason Merritt/TERM / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 39 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 76% (79 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 37% (7,777 votes)

18. Blue Steel (1990)

Source: Courtesy of MGM/UA Distribution Company

Source: Courtesy of MGM/UA Distribution Company
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 39 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 75% (24 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 36% (8,749 votes)

17. Haywire (2011)

Source: Courtesy of Relativity Media

Source: Courtesy of Relativity Media
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 39 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 80% (199 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 41% (43,409 votes)

16. High Life (2018)

Source: Courtesy of A24

Source: Courtesy of A24
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 40 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (235 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 42% (1,141 votes)

15. The Mighty Quinn (1989)

Source: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Source: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 40 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (16 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 48% (6,253 votes)

14. The Burrowers (2008)

Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment

Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 41 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 75% (12 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 34% (10,871 votes)

13. It Comes at Night (2017)

Source: Courtesy of A24

Source: Courtesy of A24
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 43 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (255 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 44% (20,197 votes)

12. I Care a Lot (2020)

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

Source: Courtesy of Netflix
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 43 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 78% (216 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 35% (3,812 votes)

11. The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)

Source: Courtesy of Millennium Films

Source: Courtesy of Millennium Films
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 43 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (11 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 48% (1,867 votes)

10. Goodbye, Columbus (1969)

Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Moviepix via Getty Images

Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Moviepix via Getty Images
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 44 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (12 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 48% (1,116 votes)

9. Night Moves (2013)

Source: Courtesy of Cinedigm Entertainment Group

Source: Courtesy of Cinedigm Entertainment Group
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 45 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (153 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 41% (12,251 votes)

8. Gloria Bell (2018)

Source: Courtesy of A24

Source: Courtesy of A24
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 45 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (206 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 46% (625 votes)

7. Shadow in the Cloud (2020)

Source: Courtesy of Redbox Entertainment

Source: Courtesy of Redbox Entertainment
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 45 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (122 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 32% (950 votes)

6. Greetings (1968)

Source: Courtesy of Sigma III Corp.

Source: Courtesy of Sigma III Corp.
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 47 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (17 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 41% (1,580 votes)

5. Results (2015)

Source: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Source: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 48 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (96 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 36% (3,587 votes)

4. Breaking In (1989)

Source: Courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Company

Source: Courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Company
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 48 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (10 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 42% (1,311 votes)

3. Enemies Closer (2013)

Source: Courtesy of The Film Arcade

Source: Courtesy of The Film Arcade
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 50 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (14 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 29% (1,404 votes)

2. Semi-Tough (1977)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

Source: Courtesy of United Artists
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 51 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (11 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 31% (1,307 votes)

1. The Souvenir (2019)

Source: Courtesy of A24

Source: Courtesy of A24
  • Difference between Tomatometer and audience score: 54 % pts.
  • Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (175 reviews)
  • Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 35% (545 votes)
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