The 70s/80s Horror Franchise Poll: Freddy vs. Jason vs. Chucky vs. Pinhead vs. Leatherface vs. Michael Myers vs. Everybody Else

my heart belongs to Phantasm

NoES seems like the one that delivered most consistently, even though the best NoES film(s) aren't a patch on the peaks of some of the other franchises.

Evil Dead or the Romero trilogy probably the most consistent in terms of quality/tone/repeat watching for me, maybe. House/House II not a bad pair, but nowhere near the quality of some of these others. Love the first two Phantasms but haven't seen all of the rest. Hellraiser fell right off a cliff, real fast.

this was prompted by a friend of mine diligently rewatching all the Hellraiser films in order fwiw

might be a subcategory for which of these had the strongest late-series entries (probably Child's Play)

FWIW, Night of the Living Dead has between three and five sequels, depending on what you consider a sequel (but all directed by Romero). That might be my winner, inasmuch as I love the first three and even the fourth is pretty good (still haven't seen the two spin-off things). NoES an easy second favorite.

Basket Case and It's Alive benefit from keeping the series short and, in Henenlotter and Cohen, retaining the same maniac of a director throughout. Evil Dead wins on those terms, as well.

Exorcist is almost up there. 3 is great, 1 is of course one of the GOAT. The Schrader version of the fourth one is okay, but The Heretic is such a terrible movie it drags the whole series down several notches.

Most of these series produced one or two decent movies if they were lucky. Some didn't even reach that low of a threshold.

prob gonna vote nightmare, between 1, 3, and new nightmare

this was prompted by a friend of mine diligently rewatching all the Hellraiser films in order fwiw

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, July 12, 2016 12:48 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've undergone this exercise in masochism with several of these series I'm steering well clear of Hellraiser. I reluctantly made it as far as the fourth and I think I'm all good.

might be a subcategory for which of these had the strongest late-series entries (probably Child's Play)

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, July 12, 2016 12:49 PM (45 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, for sure. The first two sequels are increasingly terrible (and the first movie is pretty shitty, too, tbh) but the last half of the series is greatly improved.

clearly remember ditching work one afternoon to go see Bride of Chucky in the theater, was pleasantly surprised

I recently watched Omen III for the first time in like 30 years on Netflix and it was so bad. Just so, so bad.

might be a subcategory for which of these had the strongest late-series entries (probably Child's Play)

ooh i've never managed to get to the later sequels bc 2 is soooo bad

i'm also inclined to vote friday out of how much affection i have for 4

Friday is unusual in that the first film is not actually the best one (4 is far and away the best)

Bride and Seed are totally campy good fun, def recommended

(Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky, that is)

Omen III may blow but its score is one of the best things Jerry Goldsmith ever did

Exorcist 2 is awesome

Was going to traverse the hellraisers last year but I hated 2 so much I couldn't go on.

Hellraiser 3 has this transcendent moment of a woman getting her digital skin ripped off and inhaled by Pinhead while he's trapped in a statue.

http://www.i-mockery.com/halloween/greatest/pics/hellraiseriii6.gif

Bride and Seed are the best Chucky movies but I do also recommend the most recent Curse of Chucky. It's tonally different from the rest of the series inasmuch as it's going for a legit creepy vibe and is somewhat successful. And it stars Brad Dourif's daughter!

Hellraiser 2 was the first 18 rated film i saw at the cinema and i was only 15 so i have enormous affection for it. but The Omen is the best horror movie ever made so has to be that.

weird undocumented story from Child's Play wiki page

During the initial release, a large crowd of protesters formed at the main entrance of MGM calling for a ban on the film because, they claimed, it would incite violence in children. Local news reporters from two TV stations were broadcasting live from the scene. The producer, David Kirschner, was watching the demonstration on TV and was disturbed. Jeffrey Hilton, who had been working in Kirschner's office at MGM, indicated that he could quell the disturbance in 10 minutes. While Kirschner was watching from the safety of his office, Hilton spoke to the group's leader and shook his hand. The group instantly dispersed, much to the chagrin of the newscasters. Hilton did not reveal to Kirschner whether it had been a threat or simple diplomacy that saved the day.

Exorcist II has the fastest moving trailer i've ever seen. and dance sequences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFspymGVZLY

and Christ, Burton looks absolutely knackered.

Ohhhhhhhh, I just thought of another series: The Stepfather. Guessing we probably wouldn't have many votes for that one, though.

of course you couldn't see Child's Play 3 over here for a long time. it was 'banned' for various insane bullshit reasons.

http://www.anorak.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ed_censorship_video_nasties_newspaper_story_scans_06.jpg

Daily Mirror made a good call imo.

Are the later Reanimator films straight to video.

?

Are any late-period installments (3 or later) of any of film these series worth watching at all:

Hellraiser
Howling
Children of the Corn

I had no idea there was more than one Re-Animator sequel.

yeah I thought there was just Bride of ReAnimator (which is quite good iirc)

children of the corn 3: urban harvest i'd say is one of the most batshit things i've ever seen, highly recommended

I've kinda always wanted to see that

I know there's a pretty wicked melting scene in one of the later Howling movies but there's a good chance that that's the high point.

I've put CotC 3 in my mental queue. I hope when I watch it that I'm not too mentally taxed by trying to piece together what I missed in CotC 2.

i wonder if these sequels to Corn, Re-Animator etc ever made any real money.

voted Phantasm

xpost They might have. I can imagine there's a pretty decent profit margin on movies that were made for $14.

HOWLING 2 YOUR SISTERS A WITCH is really amazing but HOWLING 3 THE MARSUPIALS is a legit great fucking movie!!!!

The subtitle of the third Howling has always been intriguing in a dumb way. "The Howling 4: The Ungulates, huh, okay explain this to me."

lol

is 3 set in Australia

so much goodness in that list. I went with Romero stuff in the end.

2 and 3 are Australian

went w/ NOES. it's the only case where i have some affection for the entire franchise, not just certain films.

romero's zombie trilogy is undeniably better but seems a different sort of thing to me.

picked Phantasm cuz it's the same creative team throughout, the first 2 are stellar and the others arent bad AND you can't beat that weird mythology.

Romero's Dead first trilogy is very strong. it might be cheating since they never tried to make them every year or so.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is possibly the scariest 'conventional' horror movie i've seen.

I enjoy watching this smarmy jerkface's reviews of late sequels in B-rate franchises I will never watch.

Romero's Dead trilogy, but agree that it shouldn't really apply.... If we're talking franchises I'd have to say Evil Dead/Army of Darkness/Ash/etc... For straight horror though I'm going to go with Halloween, first three are pretty good (first great even) although it trails off badly after that.

Hm, I was the one who proposed the Romero trilogy, and I think it will be my vote (Evil Dead may have won if I had actually got round to seeing Army of Darkness). Am interested in why people think it shouldn't apply? To me it's totally an exemplar of the 70s-90s franchise thing, though it doesn't go as all-in cash-in as some of the others.

Movies are too spaced out, too auteur-y, and fairly non-commercial by comparison to the others on the list which almost all quickly left the hands their creators and devolved into yearly exercises in exploitation.

I read a long essay last year about the homo undertones in Nightmare on Elm Street 2 b/c the actor is queer or something. Is the movie any good? I've seen the first and third.

freddy vs jason is fun, though, i agree. not good, exactly, but recommended to anyone who thinks they might enjoy a freddy vs jason movie. directed by donnie yen, who also made bride of chucky, the one truly worthwhile child's play sequel*. and the bride with white hair.

* contested

Freddy vs. Jason is much much more enjoyable than New Nightmare which beyond the meta-pretenses is very dull.

Well, it's like...do I think any of the NOES movies are legitimately good movies? No, but the first four are entertaining and fun to watch. The first is probably the only one that works as a legit horror movie rather than a semi-campy romp with with imaginative death scenes. 5 has a few good scenes but it's aslog of a movie, Freddy's Dead is pretty much a total turd and doesn't even deliver on the death scenes (this is the one with the bizarro Roseanne and Tom Arnold cameo and which features probably the dumbest scene in the series)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeJnuP2_yb8

And then, yeah, New Nightmare, boring. The last third of the movie is a slow chase sequence involving Heather Langenkamp's "son".

Anyway, the bad installments really stand out here because the good ones hold up so well.

Another notable one-off: The Gate

Haven't seen Freddy vs. Jason since it was in theaters. Will rectify if I survive watching the ten previous Friday the 13th movies this fall.

Contenderizer- it would be truly bizarre if Donnie Yen directed those films but it was Ronny Yu.

lol, i have no idea where that came from!

i thought "donnie yen" while writing that post, then instantly doubled back cuz i knew my brain was fritzing. but somehow wound up typing donnie yen anyway? wtf, early onset dementia?

RONNIE YU

is what i meant to say

or RONNY

i fucking give up

LOL as aside I love Bride With White Hair.

nightmare 1 is a legit good movie wtf

How many of these have trademark scores? Just the big three, Friday, Halloween and NOES.

Uh Exorcist.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre soundtrack is legit terrifying but maddeningly unavailable.

Phantasm score also great, assume it was used in sequels too.

Duh the Omen as well.

Scanners and Videodrome also worth mentioning as decent one-offs.

Scanners not quite a one-off due to totally unofficial set of spin-offs (mainly Japanese iirc)

i do not rc but:

Scanners II: The New Order (1991)
Scanners III: The Takeover (1992)

Spin-offs

Scanner Cop (1994)
Scanners: The Showdown (a.k.a. Scanner Cop II) (1995)

Scanners 2 and 3 are 'official' inasmuch as its the same Canadian producer/rights owner, Pierre David, as on the original, though Cron had nothing to do with 2 and 3, and didn't get any kind of cut from them.

lots of these left the original creators behind in franchise development tho

Yeah I don't think that's a criteria for elimination. Certainly Friedkin (and Blatty) were none to pleased with existence of Exorcist II...

NOES 2 has my all time favorite horror movie score, by Christopher Young. Others on this list with amazing scores are exorcist II (morricone in psych punk mode) omen III (goldsmith displaying symphonic mastery) Halloween I and III, and It's Alive (One of Herrmann's last stands)

cosign the enthusiasm for Freddy vs. Jason which is about as good as that kind of stupid cross-branding exercise can be

I thought it was pretty dire. Nu-metal soundtrack too.

Seen Excorcist 2 recently. I did notice the music and some of the scenes in Africa are quite good but I found it a slog. Richard Burton has a hilarious line in it somewhere.

recall being baffled by the tagline on this video as a kid. it isn't all that clear even now come to that

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7j2HiNfxaEY/URQq9zQve3I/AAAAAAAAAoY/DMNySLHwBWY/s1600/AMITYVILLE-2-THE-POSSESSION.jpg

They fled the house without their lives?

Maybe it's a typo and they fled with their wives?

I love NOES 1-3. I find 4 exhaustingly jokey. 5 and 6 are interchangeable in my mind but both had style and good moments. Freddy's Dead is the worst thing ever created. New Nightmare is really good, and I love a lot of the performances, but, yes, it doesn't have an ending and turns into a chase scene. Freddy vs. Jason is good, I guess, for funsies, but I, being one who hates fun, didn't like it.

Damiano Damiani is a great name.

xpost

I'm guessing that you meant to say that 4 and 5 are the interchangeable ones (inasmuch as 5 is the closest the series ever came to a direct continuation of the previous movie) because Freddy's Dead is the sixth movie and, as you indicate, there's basically nothing stylish or good or even redeemable about it.

Damiani also made the excellent radical western A Bullet for the General. I certainly prefer AH2 to the extremely dull first installment; it has some good 'bladder' SFX and a typically unpleasant performance from Burt Young. In the UK, AH2 was screened to London film critics on the same day as The Evil Dead and obviously suffered in the comparison.

A Bullet for the General is a great.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

gonna have to check out these Phantasm movies jeez. no recall of them getting much hype in the Horror Films Poll a couple of years back.

this was a good thread!

I plan to watch the rest of them even though I was pretty seriously underwhelmed by the second. The first has very quickly become one of my all-time faves.

Hahaha what the shit, how short was this poll? I never even read the thread, let alone voted.

Hey i'm gonna be away next week and just wanted to get this outta the way

Still haven't seen any of the Phantasm movies. Nor the Hellraiser ones, which I really want to. Might have to endulge in some Amazon movie renting tomorrow night

http://io9.gizmodo.com/phantasm-restored-and-phantasm-ravager-finally-have-r-1784490749

the Phantasm movies are fun and different and have some neat ideas and images, they're quite loveable

could've voted for Basket Case tho, might even have gone with Maniac Cop if i could remember anything about the sequels. concept always makes me smile.

That's rad about Ravager. I feared that it was already in development hell and ultimately doomed once Scrimm died.

Basket Case and It's Alive are the most worthy franchises of those that received zero votes. Those looking for a gonzo good time would do well jumping into the third entry of each.

Speaking of that Phantasm restoration how's life posted, one of my local arthouse theaters, the beautiful Capitol Theatre in Cleveland, is showing it one-night-only on Sept. 24, followed by a live-streamed Q&A with Don Coscarelli and cast members. Can't wait for that.

The Capitol also does an annual 12-hour Halloween movie marathon. It's an awesome place.

now that i have seen all of the phantasms, imo the answer is: phantasm

I'm afraid to watch Ravager. How is Ravager? Phantasm Ravager.

RaVager. Next one will be ReVIval, presumably, don't know what'll haven with the seventh.

I'm looking forward to seeing the whole shebang when the new box set is released. The first has become an annual staple.

haven=happen, wth autocorrect

I'm afraid to watch Ravager. How is Ravager? Phantasm Ravager.

― Not raving but drooling (contenderizer), Sunday, March 12, 2017 12:50 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it looks like complete garbage (bad cinematography, terrible cgi) but the script is the most phantasm-y script ever and really rescues it. plus reggie is great throughout

anyway if anyone here has hbo go and shudder: you too can marathon the phantasm movies

Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest is an absolute blast, after being kind of bored/disappointed by the first one. The corn really gets to play a vital role, and I'm sure it's a must-see for any Chicago natives.