Top 10 Horror Franchises

No matter how many people die, or whether the killer gets his comeuppance, there's always room for a follow-up as far as these franchises are concerned. With Saw racking up six sequels and Freddie Kruger dream stalking for nine films, there are some horror films that simply won't die. Read our Top 10 Horror Franchises...

Top 10 Films

1. Night Of The Living Dead

Nomnomnom... Equally tasty as shock-horror and social satire, George A Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead served up the entire zombie-apocalypse genre. Genius sequel Dawn Of The Dead was followed by four follow-ups (Day, Land, Diary, Survival Of The Dead), four remakes (including one by Watchmen’s Zack Snyder) and Alien writer Dan O’Bannon’s Return Of The Living spin-offs. Bon appetite.

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2. Saw

Who could have guessed that a torture-porn shocker made by two Aussies for $1m would trigger the most commercially successful horror franchise of all time? Twisted, inventive and gleefully disturbing, Saw and its six sequels has grossed more than $800m worldwide. You can even scream your face off on a Saw rollercoaster at Thorpe Park.

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3. Halloween

Halloween’s bogeyman Michael Myers kick-started the entire slasher genre in 1978, grabbing a clown mask and kitchen knife before slaying his own sister and stalking scream-queen Jamie Lee Curtis. Even after seven sequels (Halloween III: Season Of The Witch is our favourite) and Rob Zombie’s remake (with its own sequel), Myers refuses to die. The next Halloween will, of course, be 3D

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4. A Nightmare on Elm Street

“One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…” Bloodily killing teens in their dreams with that rattling knife-fingered glove, Freddy became the scarred face of ‘80s horror. None of the eight new nightmares lived up to Wes Craven’s original, but Freddy kept returning in Freddy Vs Jason, a remake starring Jackie Earl Haley, a TV show, plus novels and comic-books.

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5. Scream

Don’t have sex. Don’t drink. Don’t say, “I’ll be right back…” Reinventing the slasher movie with wicked postmodern wit, Scream’s Ghostface killer stalks’n’slashes high-schoolers according to the rules of the horror genre. Scream 2 was a smart and scary sequel, Scream 3 sank back into cliché slightly, before Scream 4 arrives this year with a dream-team of scream-queens.

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6. Final Destination

Based on an unproduced X-Files script, the first Final Destination saw a group of high-school kids cheat death by escaping a plane crash – only for Death to come back for their lives. Like Saw, it hit on a winning formula: three sequels’ worth of the splattiest, craziest, most inventive deaths possible. Final Destination 5 arrives next summer.

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7. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Loosely inspired – like Psycho – by real-life serial-killer Ed Gein, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s startling tale of a cannibal family has had a roaring influence on the horror genre. Dennis Hopper, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey all starred in shonkily enjoyable sequels. Michael Bay produced a violent remake and prequel. Don’t be surprised if Leatherface returns in 3D...

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8. Friday 13th

Indestructible mute madman Jason Vorhees first appeared with a potato sack on his head. But after donning that iconic hockey mask in Friday 13th: Part Three, he’s still slicing his machete through the sexy kids that chopped his mum’s head off. There have been 11 Friday 13ths so far, including one set in space. Oh yes.

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9. Silence Of The Lambs

Dr Hannibal ‘the cannibal’ Lecter is horror’s ultimate man-muncher. Michael Mann’s chilling Manhunter (starring freakish Tom Noonan as Lecter) was followed by Silence Of The Lambs’ five-Oscar triumph (Film, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay) and Ridley Scott’s sequel Hannibal was pure Grand Guignol (Anthony Hopkins scoffing Ray Liotta’s brain). Let’s not dwell on Manhunter remake Red Dragon or prequel Hannibal Rising, eh?

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10. Hellraiser

“You solved the box, we came. Now you must come with us, taste our pleasures...” Best known for the flesh-ripping S&M demons led by Pinhead, Clive Barker’s eight-movie Brit horror franchise went straight-to-video after four films, but never fails to get its hooks into you (literally). Brilliantly, one of the sequels was titled, Deader. And a 3D remake is in the works...

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Jonathan Crocker