The 14 Worst Horror Movie Franchises That Refuse To Die
More often than not, what makes a horror movie work is the novelty of the premise. Well, franchises don’t work on novelty, they work by cashing in on known tropes, nostalgia, and an established IP. That doesn’t mean that the movies made for the franchises are guaranteed to be bad, it just means they’re very likely to be bad.
This list is a memorial to those great ideas that were run into the ground by endless, often terrible, follow-up films. After all, once the franchise moves to space, you know that something has been broken along the way.
The Hellraiser Franchise
After the first two classics, any charm the series had plummeted. Many of the direct-to-video sequels were actually unrelated horror scripts that just had Pinhead and some cenobites tacked on to secure a budget and a familiar name.
The Children of the Corn Series
Stephen King’s original 1977 story was short, a fact that Hollywood chooses to ignore. After the 1984 film, 8 more sequels followed, most of which were direct-to-video and had little to do with each other besides the corn.
The Paranormal Activity Films
The first film was a low-budget smash hit, with the sequels souring the whole deal. The franchise popularized the found-footage gimmick that many fans grew tired of, and its reputation was tainted by progressively worse follow-ups.
The Amityville Horror Saga
Ever wonder why there are so many of these? Amityville is a real town, so the name can’t be copyrighted. This lets any filmmaker make a movie with “Amityville” in the title, leading to some truly absurd low-budget flicks.
The Saw Movie Series
If you’ve ever tried to explain the plot of the Saw movies to someone, you know the struggle. The timeline is notoriously confusing, and critics agree that the story only gets more convoluted and nonsensical with each new installment.
The Resident Evil Film Franchise
Fans of the video games generally can’t stand the movies, which for a long time focused on Milla Jovovich’s character, who isn’t from the original games at all. The latest film is a real breath of fresh air, but can the series keep that momentum?
The Leprechaun Movies
These movies were always on the absurd side, but the 2014 reboot Leprechaun: Origins was a new low. It was criticized for being hostile to its own concept, completely draining the killer leprechaun of any personality.
The Purge Franchise
The concept is simple: for 12 hours, all crime is legal. Despite mixed reviews for most of its installments, the series has been a huge commercial success. As long as they make money, they’ll likely keep getting made.
The Final Destination Series
After a while, you just know the drill. The Final Destination, the fourth film in the series, is seen as a major low point with a weak script and acting. The formula of watching one-dimensional characters meet their end grew stale.
The Wrong Turn Film Series
The original films centered on a family of cannibals in West Virginia. After 6 movies, the 2021 reboot decided to switch things up by introducing a centuries-old cult in Virginia called The Foundation. Talk about a random pivot.
The Tremors Franchise
Most fans agree that the quality drops off sharply after the second movie. While some of the sequels are considered cheesy, dumb fun, later entries like Tremors 5: Bloodlines were seen as just lackluster with underwhelming special effects.
I Know What You Did Last Summer Series
The third entry, a 2006 direct-to-DVD film, is seen as one of the worst slashers ever. The TV series didn’t fare much better, with critics saying it felt more like an episode of Riverdale than a horror show.
The Silent Night, Deadly Night Series
The second film is famously awful, mostly because it’s not even a full movie. Nearly half of Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 is just recycled footage from the first film, padded out to feature length.
The Jeepers Creepers Movies
Many feel this franchise took a nosedive almost immediately after the terrifying first 20 minutes of the original film. The 2022 reboot, Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, was called “aesthetically ugly” with distracting and terrible CGI effects.