Iconic Horror Franchises by Tier
Last week, I ranked horror movie villains in four tiers. Now, I’m tackling the franchises. Some of these feature villains already covered in my previous article, but many are different. Here are the iconic horror franchises placed in six tiers.
To keep the list from becoming insanely long, I excluded sci-fi horror series like Alien, Predator, or A Quiet Place. Also, to be eligible, every series needed to have at least three installments, not including remakes.
This isn’t about ranking the quality of the franchises, or determining which series deserves to be the most popular. I’m putting them in different categories based on my sense of where they currently are in horror fandom and the pop culture zeitgeist.
Tier 1: apex predators
These franchises are the top dogs of the horror movie world. All of them have endured for many years and experienced significant commercial success. Decades of movies, all of which have received theatrical releases, have burnished their reputations. They’ve also appeared in other mediums as well: television, videogames, merchandise, etc.
These series have made a powerful impact on pop culture and are often referenced in other movies. Some of them haven’t released a new installment in many years, but their notoriety is far too great for them to ever be forgotten. To make this tier, ALL of a franchise’s installments must have received a theatrical release.
Friday the 13th
Nightmare on Elm Street
Halloween
Scream
Saw
Tier II: Almost Elite
These franchises possess most of the same qualities as the apex predators, but they aren’t quite as notorious. The Tier I franchises are everywhere, especially around the Halloween season: costumes, decorations, t-shirts, you name it. The Tier II group has experienced plenty of commercial success, but it lacks the rabid fanbase of the top tier.
Well, Evil Dead certainly has a devoted fanbase. But its box office grosses are very low compared to the tier 1 franchises (not surprising, since the first two movies initially received very limited releases), so I put it here.
You’ll notice that, with the exception of Hannibal, all of these series feature a variety of different villains. They don’t have that one iconic villain that keeps coming back again and again (technically this is true of Scream as well, but every villain adopts the Ghostface persona). Even in Hannibal Lecter’s case, he’s usually helping the FBI track down another killer, so he’s sharing the limelight with somebody else. The lack of a single iconic antagonist is the most significant detail that separates this tier from the first.
Hannibal
Final Destination
The Conjuring
The Purge
Insidious
Evil Dead
Tier III: Hits and Misses
These franchises have had some installments that hit it big, but their histories are uneven. All of these iconic horror franchises have committed a cardinal sin that kept them out of the top tier: they have at least one installment that (gasp!) bypassed theaters.
I know that this isn’t as big of a deal today. There’s lots of quality movies that get released directly on streaming platforms. But I think there’s still something to be said for franchises who consistently get their movies featured at the box office. That’s why even franchises with famous villains like Chucky and Leatherface have been placed in this tier.
Here’s how long these franchises went until they had a non-theatrical installment:
Chucky – sixth movie (Curse of Chucky)
Paranormal Activity – seventh movie (Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin)
Candyman – third movie (Candyman 3: Day of the Dead)
Hellraiser – fifth movie (Hellraiser: Inferno)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre – this one is a bit complicated. Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Leatherface received very limited theatrical releases, but technically the only installment that completely bypassed theaters is Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022), the ninth movie.
Box Office Mojo was a great resource for researching this.
Chucky
Paranormal Activity
Candyman
Hellraiser
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Tier IV: Has-Beens
These iconic horror franchises have seen better days. They used to be all the rage, but now they’ve fallen stagnant. There are two main culprits for their decline: dwindling commercial success and, in some cases, the tragic losses of major performers. Angus Scrimm (Phantasm) George Romero (Living Dead), Anthony Perkins (Psycho), and Heather O’Rourke (Poltergeist) were vital parts of why their franchises were successful.
Even if these series could be continued, should they be? Psycho and Poltergeist were remade with new casts, but both films received tepid receptions. Don’t get me wrong – these series still have great installments that are worth revisiting. But it may be best to let them rest in peace. As for the others, Leprechaun was as good as dead as soon as Warwick Davis decided to retire from the title role. Sleepaway Camp and Night of the Demons retain cult followings, but there isn’t a vast fanbase clamoring for another installment.
There has been a bizarre trend of ridiculous ultra-low budget movies using the Amityville name in recent years – Amityville Shark, Amityville in Space, etc. Amityville is the name of a city, so it’s not copyrightable and can be used by anybody. As for the true Amityville series, other than the remake with Ryan Reynolds, it’s pretty much been dead since Amityville: Dollhouse was released direct-to-VHS way back in 1996.
Phantasm
Leprechaun
Living Dead
Sleepaway Camp
Night of the Demons
Amityville
Poltergeist
Psycho
Tier V: The New Blood
These are the new kids on the block, the nascent newcomers that have quickly earned rabid fanbases. It’s impossible to know if they will endure long term, but they’re certainly off to a promising start!
Art The Clown has become an icon in recent years. The V/H/S series has taken Shudder by storm and earned surprisingly positive mainstream critical success along the way. X has made Mia Goth into a horror icon and burnished the already solid resume of director Ti West. The X trilogy is over (although you never know when something’s truly over when it comes to horror franchises), but more Terrifier and V/H/S movies are virtually certain to be on the way.
Terrifier
X
V/H/S
Tier VI: only For The Truly Devoted
The final tier is reserved for franchises that are kept alive by a small but fanatically devoted fanbase. I may be ranking it in the bottom tier, but I have to give the Puppetmaster series credit for its enormous length. There are 15 of these movies! Holy cow! Clearly, the series has its fans. I’ve only seen the first two.
Has there ever been a good Children of the Corn movie? Even the first one with Linda Hamilton was pretty bad. Admittedly, I haven’t seen all of them, but I doubt there’s a hidden gem buried somewhere deep inside this wretched series.
As for Wishmaster, it was quickly relegated to cheap direct to video fare after the original, but the evil genie series was popular enough to get three additional installments.
Children of the Corn
Puppetmaster
Wishmaster
