An actress cum producer, Jamie Lee Curtis has achieved quite a lot through her spectacular works for the screen, especially in the horror and slasher genres.
But despite being an Academy Award winner, the actress — who is also notably referred to as a scream queen as well — has one movie that she doesn’t think she could hate more.
This movie is none other than the comic book adapted movie which has a 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes for being unbelievably bad, i.e. Virus (1999).
And, as it turns out, Lee Curtis herself realizes it for being the god-awful movie it is and doesn’t hold back from criticizing it even worse than the most blunt of critics!
Also Read: “I knew him as a babe”: The Marvel Star Jamie Lee Curtis is a Self-Declared Godmother to
Jamie Lee Curtis Finds Virus To Be An “Unbelievably Bad” Movie
Almost all of Jamie Lee Curtis‘ performances on the big screen have been so immaculate that it becomes hard for even critics to pinpoint any mistake. However, there is one movie that is actually so terrible that even the actress herself finds it hard to deny it: Virus (1999).
Talking to WENN, the actress confessed the same. She said (via Contactmusic.com):
“That’s a piece of s— movie. It’s an unbelievably bad movie; just bad from the bottom.”
Lee Curtis then went on to pinpoint some of the major mistakes of the film herself, like the one particularly ironic scene where she ducks quivering underneath the stairs to hide from a massive alien that can quite literally “open walls of steel.”
“It was maybe the only time I’ve known something was just bad and there was nothing I could do about it.”
Yet, even though she herself acknowledged the movie to be one terrible mistake, the Halloween alum also admitted that somewhere deep down, she was expecting fans to somehow show up and make the critically panned movie a success.
“I just do the best I can and there have been bad movies that have been wildly successful and great movies that have tanked, so you never know. It was an independent precursor to all of these Marvel comics movies. I thought maybe that fan base would show up for it, but no.”
If anything, to say that Jamie Lee Curtis must have just gone through some serious bad luck when she agreed to star as Kit Foster in the 1999 horror sci-fi Virus could be the only possibly understandable reason behind her agreeing to do it in the first place!
Why Virus Was One Of The Most Critically Panned Films
A science-fiction horror comic book adapted film made in 1999, Virus encircles the horrifying story of a tugboat crew embarking on a high-tech Russian communications and research vessel after discovering it, only to find aliens aboard that ship who mistake them to be viruses and try to wipe them out.
Although Jamie Lee Curtis’ Virus was one of those science-fiction horror films that had rather creative creature effects and some notable ideas, it was also a critically panned movie, judging from its 12% approval rating on the Tomatometer.
And to say that the film was bad for only one reason would be a massive understatement, for there is a lot more than just one reason behind its failure. Just like how Lisa Alspector, one of the top critics at Rotten Tomatoes says:
“Until the diverting special effects take center stage, this story, about an alien intelligence that builds an army out of flesh and metal, pathetically exploits genre conventions without generating self-reference, camp, or thrills.”
While that review pretty much sums it all up, another critic at RT, i.e. James Rocchi’s comment further emphasizes what Lee Curtis might be trying to explain to fans: “Monster movie is a monstrous failure.”
All in all, the fact that Virus was one immense failure is one that cannot be denied, yet, thankfully, it couldn’t even put a dent in Jamie Lee Curtis’ sparkling career, which continued to flourish with horror movies nonetheless.
