7 horror franchises that need to die already, from ‘Halloween’ to ‘The Conjuring’

The first “The Conjuring” film had all the components for a good horror movie – a family moves into an isolated, run-down family home with a dark past – and left most viewers impressed.

However, “Annabelle,” released a year later and about a demonic doll, was a weak follow-up. And every movie since (except for “Conjuring 2”) has been a disappointment.

No other sequel in the franchise has been able to capture the genuine bone-chilling horror of “Conjuring” and “Conjuring 2,” mostly because of weak plotlines and not-scary supernatural elements.

“Insidious” started its own franchise in 2010 much like “Conjuring.” It followed a family that moves into a new home before their son slips into an inexplicable coma.

Unlike “The Conjuring,” “Insidious” had a more promising plot (the comatose son enters a different realm through astral projection) that made sense in a sequel.

“Chapter 2” retains some of the suspense of the first movie. But the fourth installment, “Insidious: The Last Key” is mostly just mediocre jump scares with a lackluster plot.

The very first “Halloween” movie will always be iconic for introducing one of the most dreaded horror movie villains of all time – Michael Myers.

Unfortunately for everyone around him, including the viewers, Michael refuses to die. So “Halloween Kills,” the latest movie in the franchise, ended the exact same way as “Halloween” did in 1978.

At the end of “Halloween Kills,” Michael gets up after being punched, stabbed, shot, and set on fire. His ability to constantly bounce back even after 40 years has made the franchise incredibly predictable and boring.

Much like “Halloween,” “The Purge” has followed roughly the same format for most of the films in the franchise – one day a year, all crimes are legal for 12 hours.

Also like most franchises included in this list, the series started strong with the first “Purge” movie (released in 2013) led by solid performances from Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey.

The Purge as a concept works for maybe one or two movies because the viewers know exactly what narrative trajectory the film will follow and can brace themselves.

The “Purge” movies, except for the first one, also don’t exactly have much of a plot – just plenty of action and gore.

In the 20 years since its debut, the “Resident Evil” franchise has been through every iteration imaginable – “Apocalypse,” “Extinction,” and “Afterlife.”

The sixth movie, misleadingly named “The Final Chapter,” implied that the franchise might be coming to an end before a reboot (“Welcome to Raccoon City”) was announced in 2017.

Fans of the original series are, however, unimpressed. Some YouTube users wrote in the comment section of the official trailer that the reboot looked like a “parody.”

 

Unlike “Resident Evil,” “Friday the 13th” should probably not get a reboot anytime soon after it ended in 2009 with 12 (!) movies under its belt.

If “Halloween” has Michael, “Friday the 13th” had another iconic killer – Jason Voorhees, a machete-yielding monster who wears a hockey mask.

While Jason is easily one of the most legendary horror movie villains of all time, once the filmmakers decided to send him to space in “Jason X,” most fans agreed it was time for Jason to retire.

“Paranormal Activity” is the second-most scary movie using the found-footage format – with the scariest being the 1999 movie “The Blair Witch Project,” which pioneered the genre, of course.

The main selling point of the film was its simple but terrifying plot: A young couple experiences disturbances around their home and sets up cameras in various spots hoping to find the culprit.

However, it becomes hard to maintain interest after “Paranormal Activity 3” with each sequel introducing confusing, and unnecessary, plot developments.