Horror Franchises that Went on Way too Long – Part 1

Horror franchises; everyone has a favourite. Even those who don’t particularly watch horror films has a favourite franchise and everyone also has a not-so-favoured franchise for various reasons. The franchise could be boring, it could be so overwhelmingly stupid that it’s unwatchable (here’s to you, Sharknado and Birdemic) or it could be a simple matter of said franchise going on for way too long. Here’s a list of horror franchises that went on for way too long.

A Nightmare On Elm Street

To kick off this list, it may shock many of you to find A Nightmare On Elm Street here. Being the iconic and classic Robert Englund series, A Nightmare In Elm Street has become one of the most famous horror franchises, if not the most famous horror franchise, of all time and rightly so. Who doesn’t love the clawed madman Freddy Krueger? Up until the fifth entry into this excellent franchise, the whole premise of Freddy’s antics don’t wear thin, however by film five, there’s unfortunately nothing really new brought to the table and the films following it don’t improve, sadly. However, Freddy Vs Jason (2003) was a refreshing throwback to two horror icons.

Friday The 13th (4 onwards)

Perhaps the quintessential slasher franchise, Friday The 13th became iconic due to the legend that is hockey mask-wearing brute Jason Voorhees with his trusty machete. Who could ever possibly hate the bullied mother’s boy? The counselors at Camp Crystal Lake certainly could! The franchise started off so well, especially with the first 3 installments where we were thrown into the sickening world of Pamela Voorhees and her *deceased* son Jason, who we know to be the iconic lunatic. It’s unfortunate that films such as Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan and Jason X had to happen because they really did make the franchise outstay its welcome. By the end of Jason X if you don’t have your face resting in your palms, you’re a brave soul.

Wrong Turn

Everything you’ve ever feared; isolation, the woods, cannibals, hillbillies, etc. Combine these into a franchise and I present to you Wrong Turn. The premise is simple; Three Fingers and his band of deformed cannibal hillbillies wreak havoc, slashing their ways through anyone who appears in front of them. Wrong Turn was an excellent beginning and Wrong Turn 2 was a decent sequel, but by Wrong Turn 3 and beyond, we were left wondering why the franchise lasted as long as it did because it became more of a poor gory comedy than a horror franchise, which truly is unfortunate. Perhaps if Wrong Turn remained as a duo, it would be looked upon with a much fonder outlook.

Children Of The Corn

Surprise surprise, you can thank Stephen King for this series, as Children Of The Corn was unsurprisingly a short story written by the master of horror himself. The original Children Of The Corn truly is an enjoyable film by all accounts (though strays away from the original story), however the sequels that it spawned are an entirely different matter. Spawning 5 direct sequels and several spin-offs, the whole premise of Children Of The Corn wears thin after the first film and it truly is regretful to have to add it to this list, however it really is a franchise that went on for way too long.

Halloween

The franchise which brought Michael Myers to life doesn’t need any introduction at all, as you’ve doubtlessly viewed most, if not all, films in the Halloween franchise, especially considering Halloween is considered essential Halloween Day viewing. Quite controversially, as you will of course have strong opinions either way on his remakes, Rob Zombie (ex-White Zombie) remade Halloween into his own much darker duo of films, which didn’t go down too well with critics. Even more controversially, in the original franchise itself, Halloween 3 has nothing to do with the actual series! On top of the disappointment of Halloween 3, the whole big and scary Michael Myers concept unfortunately grew old and pushed out the franchise further than it should have been.

I Spit On Your Grave remakes

If you have not seen I Spit On Your Grave, I warn of you to take caution if you are sensitive to sexual crimes, as I Spit On Your Grave tells the story of a young woman who is brutally raped by a gang of strangers and she takes her bloody revenge upon the men in spectacularly satisfying fashion. This should have stayed as a standalone and up until the last few years, it did so successfully. Unfortunately, a mini franchise of remakes was started in 2010 with one of the most unnecessary remakes in horror history. It’s not to say that the remake is poorly made, however its unnecessity and the poorness of the sequels really do make this a franchise that went on for way too long.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Here’s a franchise that will surely not divide people, but create a consensus which tells us all that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is indeed a franchise that spanned on for too long as soon as the first sequel was released. Tobe Hooper (R.I.P) created one of the most iconic horror films of its time and largely remains a fan favourite, with the almost sympathetic character of Leatherface donning his strangely humanlike masks. The original is everything a horror film should be; enthralling, tense, suspenseful, scary and most of all, gripping. All of this was destroyed when the first sequel was created, tainting the image of the original ever so tragically.

Child’s Play

Everyone’s favourite killer doll, Chucky, is the antagonist of Child’s Play, which still remains a popular starting point for those wishing to start watching horror films. Child’s Play gained notoriety (especially Child’s Play 3) after child murderer Jon Venables was found to have watched Child’s Play films amongst others before committing an atrocious murder. For those of us sensible enough to distinguish film and fantasy, Child’s Play (at least 1-3) remains an excellent and cherished series which is still as fun as ever to watch. Unfortunately, films such as Seed Of Chucky and Curse Of Chucky tainted the franchise and spanned it on for too long when the makers could have easily left Child’s Play as a horrifically hilarious trilogy.

Hellraiser

Begrudgingly, Hellraiser was a necessity on this list due to Hellraiser films past the third installment of the franchise (Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth). Sadly, an iconic franchise was tainted by future installments in the franchise such as Hellraiser: Hellworld, where the concept of the film was that Cenobites are now being unleashed through an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game). Spanning 9 films, Hellraiser as a franchise has abandoned its former glory and become boring for many of its diehard fans and has become a franchise which has gone on for way too long.

See more at:  “Horror Franchises that Went on Way too Long – Part 2″