You’d think that a sports drama film would at least get average reviews and ratings, but this was not the case with 1986’s “American Anthem.” The film starred Janet Jones, wife of the legendary Hall of Fame ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky as well as Olympic gymnast and gold medalist Mitchell Gaylord. The film was universally panned by critics, who called it the worst film of 1986.
“American Anthem” currently holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences have been far more favorable of this film and bestowed it with a 65% rating. Gaylord himself was named the seventh-best US gymnast of all time in 2007. It seems that he learned his lesson, as he never appeared in a Hollywood film again.
Dream a Little Dream
Wacky comedy films have tried almost every ridiculous idea you can think of, from a father who accidentally shrinks his kids all the way to the many variations of people switching bodies. One fairly popular idea that we thought nobody was going to try was a film about two senior citizens who switch bodies with a couple of high school students.
Marc Rocco decided in 1989 to adapt this idea, leading to the creation of "Dream a Little Dream." The film had a terrible box-office opening, losing about 50% of its ticket sales by the week after opening. It also received terrible reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, scoring it a rare 0% based on nine critical reviews.
Manos: The Hands of Fate
One of the older films on our list is also one of the weirdest ones. Meet "Manos: The Hands of Fate." This limited-budget horror film was made by an inexperienced film crew. The film was relatively unknown until the early '90s when it was revived. It later gained a cult following and became known as one of the worst films to ever have been made.
The film had everything you could want from a spectacularly horrible film — it was technically deficient, had countless editing and continuity flaws and included many superfluous scenes. The movie holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, against a 20% rating by over 8,000 of the site's users. Critics were a lot less favorable towards the film.
Madhouse
1990's comedy film "Madhouse" was Orion Pictures' attempt at making a film about a couple whose lives get turned upside down when they find unwanted guests in their new home. Unfortunately, it received a low box-office revenue to an abysmal 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film was panned as being a below-average disaster comedy, and all of its critics unanimously suggested that you avoid it entirely.
There was some silver lining to the film, though, it starred Kirstie Alley and John Larroquette, two old-timer actors who were big in the '80s. The duo provided a bit of a nostalgic incentive for fans but regular viewers, though, have rated it at 45%, referring to it as a callback to early '90s humor.
Gotti
Some of the best and most iconic films of all time have been crime drama films that center around a mob family. You have movies like "The Godfather," "Goodfellas," and the recent "The Irishman." John Travolta also tried his luck in playing the notorious Italian-American criminal, John Gotti. "Gotti was a commercial failure and ended up losing a few million dollars."
It's one of the only films to ever get a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. There was a strong disparity initially between critic reviews and user reviews, with regular viewers giving the film an 80% rating. It's widely speculated that this was the doing of thousands of Scientologists, who are fans and fellow members of the Church of Scientology with John Travolta.