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

altho maybe not he likes the Exorcist right? catholic boys...

was there a single decent horror movie in the era that didn't have a bunch of straight-to-video sequels??

Killer Klowns From Outer Space was the first thing that popped into my mind. Not so much because it's good but because it's the type of thing you'd expect to have eight VHS-only sequels.

the shining for one, but successful american horror flicks with no sequels were definitely rare

But, yeah. Carpenter's other stuff, Cohen's other stuff, Brain Damage...uhhh...they managed to hold off on American Werewolf for a decade+. I know there's a ton. Wish my horror DVDs were accessible.

was there a single decent horror movie in the era that didn't have a bunch of straight-to-video sequels??

the greatest horror movie of the era: the Thing

'70s & '80s also the era of the A+ horror reboot: The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Fly.

a few more notable one-offs:

Carrie
Maniac
Near Dark
Night of the Creeps
Videodrome
Motel Hell
Dead & Buried
Humanoids from the Deep
The Hunger
From Beyond

"was there a single decent horror movie in the era that didn't have a bunch of straight-to-video sequels??"

Yeah tons.

Tourist Trap! The Funhouse!

Probably more good ones that didn't have sequels.

Voted Friday the 13th, not because it's the 'best' but because it prob comes closest to my platonic ideal of 'horror movie franchise' (post-Universal or Hammer, anyway) - distinctive lead villain/anti-hero, obvious debt to giallo (in this case, Bava's Bay of Blood), and adherence to a formulaic narrative structure that grows more pleasing - or more cosily familiar - w/ repeated repetition. Somewhere in America, horny teenagers will always be going to summer camp to fuck, smoke dope, get slaughtered.

― Foster Twelvetrees (Ward Fowler), Wednesday, 13 July 2016 14:14

Are you sure you didn't mean to say this is the opposite of ideal?

How about Piranha? One of the remakes was direct to tv, but there's the James Cameron sequel and the two newer remakes.
All the Tremors sequels are for video or tv.

it only had one sequel in the timeframe specified though

I thought only the original had to be in the specified timeframe...

idk man Piranha 3D was in 2010, that's a totally different era

Despite loving lots of individual films here I can't throw a vote to any of these franchises. I abstain, it's official.

certainly not by the time you get to jaws 2, which isn't far from a slasher flick.

Should be poll of Jaws rip-offs. Piranha, Alligator (both written by John Sayles!), Grizzly ...

distinct memories for seeing tons of ads for this in late 70s comics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca_(film)

memories OF

The Swarm is awesome!

I might vote Amityville because I adored the first film when I first saw it. I was far too young and it really got to me. There are much better films in the list but are any other sequels as ridiculous as Amityville 4, which is about an evil, possessed floor lamp?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Well there is a movie about an island filled with monstrous murderous babies who are detained there under court order...

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

Haven't seen those later CP movies, but in my case both Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th win this because of Freddy vs. Jason, which was pretty awesome. It's nothing more than what you'd expect, but it's just as fun as you'd expect.

If judging these as franchises instead of on the strength of individual entries, I think I'll have to go for NoES. It has an iconic-looking villain with a consistently good performer, the villain's MO is genuinely imaginative and creepy and allows the writers/directors to come up with innovative death scenes (instead of the "which household tool will Jason use to kill this particular teen?" variety in Ft13th), the first 3 sequels keep the quality higher than in most franchises which reach movie number 4, and there are a couple of suprisingly quality entries late in the series: New Nightmare presages all the meta stuff Craven would later return to in Scream, and Freddy vs. Jason, as said, is just loads of indulgent fun.

People keep saying New Nightmare is good but New Nightmare is seriously not good. It's a shitty movie with a relatively clever premise. The worst part is that it's really boring.

Well admittedly it's been 20 years since I last saw it, I guess it's time for a rewatch...

But I stand by my opinion on Freddy vs. Jason.

People keep saying New Nightmare is good but New Nightmare is seriously not good.

^ requires special emphasis

Yeah, it should be emphasized all around that not only are many of these aforementioned sequels not good, many of the original films in the series are not particularly good. I think this is a thread of relatives ...

And yeah, xpost, the Swarm is great, and Orca! And Frogs!!!

And Squirm!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rq676FJR2U

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