The release of “Watchmen” marks another adaptation that failed to elude Hollywood’s grasp, solidifying that no source material is sacred anymore. The nearly constant release of books, comics and videogames making it to the silver screen forced the fringe editors to collaborate a list of the five worst from each category.

##Worst book adaptations

***“Breakfast at Tiffany’s”** (1961)*

A bad adaptation doesn’t necessarily suggest that a film itself is bad. Thus is the case with the iconic adaptation of the classic Truman Capote novella. It’s hard to imagine casting another actress as Holly Golightly, yet it’s equally difficult to fathom the adorable Audrey Hepburn quite living up to the more seedy aspects of the pseudo-call girl. The forced Hollywood ending also comes as a surprise to both logic and taste, but hey, it was the 60s.

***“Less than Zero”** (1987)*

Bret Easton Ellis’s debut novel of the worst of 1980s Los Angeles excess came as a deeply disturbing glimpse into privilege in the way of a contemporary and warped Fitzgerald. Riding closely on its success was the 1987 adaptation, which was less the artistic campiness of 2000s “American Psycho” and more like an after-school special. Compared to the depths of the novel’s bleakness, the film’s climax of Robert Downey Jr. resorting to gay prostitution for coke money seems downright wholesome.

***“How the Grinch Stole Christmas”** (2000)*

The cartoon adaptation of the Dr. Seuss story is iconic, and Boris Karloff’s narration holds a special place in my heart. Unfortunately, Ron Howard and Jim Carrey butchered Seuss’s words. Jim Carrey’s heavy-handed acting pushed the film into bad kitsch and completely eroded the “moral of the story.” The fact that it spent four weeks as the No.1 film in America does nothing to redeem it.

***“Secret Window”** (2004)*

This is more of a vehicle to cash in on Depp-mania than to adapt the Stephen King short story “Secret , Secret WindowGarden.” This film’s problem is common among adaptations: the ending is different. Hollywood producers often change endings of movies based on feedback received at test screenings. It may be good practice for box office success but not when it comes to faithfully honoring the text. The only redeeming quality here is the haunting score by Phillip Glass.

***“The Golden Compass”** (2008)*

In all honesty, this adaptation looked so promising. It even had Daniel Craig in it, which brought my hopes up even more. But a lack of continuity, a huge ending change and the underutilization of key characters kept “The Golden Compass” from coming even close to what the book was like. It moved so fast that you were never sure what was going on, and the way the movie treated Iorek Byrnison, a talking polar bear that also doubled as a war machine, was sickening. Truly it is one of the worst book-to-movie adaptations ever.

##Worst play/musical adaptations

***“Forbidden Planet”** (1956)*

Supposedly a heady adaptation of “The Tempest,” the correlation between the two escapes me. On paper it makes sense, but in practice, it doesn’t. Sometimes a loose interpretation of a text works, but other times the leap in logic is just too great. This is one of those times.

***“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”** (1958)*

Tennessee Williams’ controversial 1955 play explores mendacity in life, dying Southern culture and is rife with sexism and homosexual undertones between Brick and his deceased friend Skipper. The 1958 version of this film, with Hollywood hotshots Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, doesn’t do justice to the subtle nuances about sexuality, social norms and “keeping up appearances.” Perhaps one can blame it on the strict production codes that forbade certain content, but then if you can’t make a true adaptation, why make one at all?

***“Annie”** (1982)*

Nominated for five Razzies, this was director John Huston’s first and last musical, for good reason. Huston is better suited to dramas like “Maltese Falcon” and “Treasure on the Sierra Madre.” The major contention? Four new songs are added, and a major plot point is changed, both for no apparent reason. In the play, Annie is never kidnapped, but in the movie she is, forcing Daddy Warbucks to conduct a city-wide search. Annie ends up on a bridge and is rescued by Punjab in the helicopter. Point being?

***“Hamlet”** (2000)*

After the runaway success of Baz Luhrmann’s unconventional take on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in the late 90s, Hollywood got the itch to contemporize the playwright’s many other works. On the heels of the widely celebrated traditional retelling of the iconic “Hamlet” starring Mel Gibson, came Michael Almereyda’s clunky reinterpretation. Ethan Hawke stars as the eponymous and tortured protagonist, this time in line to be CEO of the Denmark Corporation in New York City. Whereas previous interpretations worked to showcase the many controversial subtexts of the play, its modern retelling seemed more intent on painting Hawke as a brooding 90s sex symbol.

***“Rent”** (2007)*

Jonathan Larson’s 1995 rock-opera about the trials and tribulations of the 1980s and the dying bohemian lifestyle took Broadway by storm. The film adaptation promised greatness—it featured most of the original cast—but failed to deliver. It was cheesy, gimmicky and didn’t capture the “era” spirit. Perhaps blame falls squarely on amateurish director Chris Columbus, whose extensive experience with feel-good flicks (“Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Home Alone”) couldn’t prepare him for the heavy content.

##Worst comic book/ videogame adaptations

***“Street Fighter”** (1994)*

This is as campy as it gets, folks. Not since the shark repellent from the 1966 “Batman” movie have we had such a goofy attempt at fan service. The climactic, if you can call it that, battle between Guile and Bison is so saturated with one-liners that you almost have to laugh. A small redeeming quality, however, is E. Honda and Zangief battling it out over a miniature model city with Godzilla sounds in the background. Classic.

***“Steel”** (1997)*

It’s hard to remember a time when Shaquille O’Neal, I repeat SHAQUILLE O’NEAL, was a pervasive media personality. The final nail in the “Kazaam” star’s film coffin came with his turn as this little-known Superman character. Like a bastard reworking of a classic American tale, John Henry Irons (seriously his name) decides to defend the inner city instead of make weapons for the government. I don’t know what’s worse, the paper-thin plot or the sight of a gargantuan Shaq covered in ridiculous steel plating.

***“Spawn”** (1997)*

Some things don’t translate well to film, and “Spawn” is one of them. While it’s a great comic with a hell of a story, the movie fails to capture the violence, the cruelty and the suffering that truly is Spawn. John Leguizamo as the spit-talking, horizontally accomplished, vertically challenged clown doesn’t help, and the final battle in hell (I’m beginning to see a pattern) is a huge let down. The movie can’t hold a flame to the source material.

***“Alone in the Dark”** (2005)*

Among the many wanted for crimes against all geekdom, perhaps none is so reviled as German director Uwe Boll. Through the myriad of Boll’s truly awful straight-to-video game adaptations, “Alone in the Dark” stands as perhaps the greatest tribute to filmmaking ineptitude. The Christian Slater vehicle has graced many a “worst of” list for its clunky special effects and overly long opening plot scroll. A benchmark for this turkey’s level of suckitude, when asked about lessons learned on set Boll remarked “A script matters.”

***“Ghost Rider”** (2007)*

Nicholas Cage has a favorite super hero, and his name is Ghost Rider. Nicholas Cage has also made a terrible movie, and it’s called “Ghost Rider.” It’s more of a slap in every comic book fan’s face than anything else, complete with uninteresting villains, lame fight scenes and the worst good guy/bad guy final showdown ever. “Ghost Rider” is a painful reminder that for every great super hero movie that is released, there are five or more bad ones.