Glenn Danzig of the Misfits has made what critics and fans are calling "the worst horror movie of 2020": Verotika. The anthology film follows three distinctly different stories that revolve around the concepts of erotica and violence. It is titled and based off of Danzig's adult horror comic books that are published under his company, Verotik. While horror comic adaptations are normally met with praise and excitement, Verotika received the total opposite.
The cast of Verotika is primarily made up of lesser-known actors with the exception of Caroline Williams, who notably portrayed Stretch in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Sean Kanan, who has starred in several soap operas. It takes on three of the comic company's stories titled "The Albino Spider Of Dajette", "Change Of Face", and "Drukija Countessa Of Blood". Each segment has unique and inventive plots, but tend to miss the mark when attempting to deliver their most horrific elements or events. Glenn Danzig is primarily known for being a founding member of the horror punk band, Misfits, as well as being a comedic addition to television shows such as Portlandia and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. While he has dabbled in comedy before, he had no intention of making Verotika the horror-comedy movie it's being called after release.
Verotika's reviews are overwhelmingly negative, with comments made on the acting, characters, plot, and more. Danzig's directorial debut did not go as expected. In fact, this is part of why the movie has earned a comparison to the 2003 movie, The Room. However, there's lots of elements that go into Verotika's overall critique. Here's why fans and critics are calling Verotika the worst horror movie of 2020.
What Went Wrong In Verotika
Verotika features an array of bizarre themes that culminate into the convergence of erotica and violence. The entirety of the movie could be considered borderline pornographic for the fact that most of its hour and thirty-minute runtime is composed of nudity, sex, and professional dancers with little to no actual plot. To top it off, many critics have commented on the low quality of the wigs used and poor special effects makeup. There appears to be no redeemable qualities about Verotika considering its unmitigated violence is mixed with poorly executed horrors.
Despite spending the majority of his life in the entertainment industry, Danzig was unable to produce a horror movie worthy of anything more than being so strange that someone has to watch it to fully grasp just how bizarre it truly is. Fans and critics have noted that all three of the short stories featured in the anthology lack any actual structure, which makes them overwhelmingly confusing as they jump from one scene to the next. Due to the harsh criticisms, it may appear that Verotika can't be justified as anything more than a pornographic mess of a horror anthology. However, it does deserve recognition for its comparison to The Room, which could lead to an eventual cult following for Verotika and perhaps even a James Franco-adjacent, The Disaster Artist treatment.
For years, the movie industry did not believe anything could get close to being as remarkably strange as The Room but Danzig did it, and that's a feat in and of itself. Verotika's poorly executed stories, underwhelming acting, overwhelming adult content, and inability to merge violence with sexuality in a cohesive way results in what fans and critics are calling the worst horror movie of 2020. However, many are also recommending fans to watch it due to how bad it is.