Some of the most iconic movies in the horror genre are slasher films.Halloween,A Nightmare on Elm Street,andFriday the 13thare classic slasher franchises that have frightened and entertained audiences for decades and continue to be praised and remembered even to this day.
With so many installments in these franchises, there was bound to be at least one weak entry that marked a series' low point.These lackluster sequels were significant downgrades, got less fan praise and attention, and were sometimes forgotten. Here are the weakest installments from iconic slasher franchises, fromScreamtoHellraiser, ranked by their scores on IMDb.
10’Scream 3' (2000)
IMDb Score: 5.6/10
Many fans could agree that the third installment ofWes Craven’s iconicScreamseriesis the black sheep of the stellar franchise.Neve Campbell,David Arquette, andCourteney Coxreturn as the series heroes as they try to stop a new Ghostface killer from picking off the cast members of a horror movie production in Hollywood.
10 Best So-Bad-They’re-Good Movies on Shudder
The idea of watching these movies is enough to make anyone shudder.
Studio interference and constant script rewrites attributed to the film’s convoluted storymade the film feel like a run-of-the-mill slasher rather than an actualScreamsequel. With plot conveniences, poor character decisions, and a dull killer reveal, it doesn’t hold up to the other more superior installments that helped make the series so memorable.
While Sidney and her friends visit the Hollywood set of Stab 3, the third film based on the Woodsboro murders, another Ghostface killer rises to terrorize them.
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9’Spiral: From the Book of Saw' (2021)
IMDb Score: 5.2/10
In 2004,James Wan’sSawquickly became a smash hit at the box office, kick-starting a long-running franchise that’s still going strong today with the recently releasedSaw X. However, the 2021 spinoff,Spiral: From the Book of Saw,received mixed reactions from fans who weren’t too happy with the story nor the fact that it doesn’t include its central antagonist, John Kramer (Tobin Bell).
While fans appreciated the film’s few impressive and gory trap kills, the story lacked coherence like the previous installments.Chris Rock, a fan of the series, tried his best in the leading role alongside acting legendSamuel L. Jackson, but their star powers couldn’t save the film from its lackluster box office results, making it the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw
8’Seed of Chucky' (2004)
IMDb Score: 4.9/10
Don Mancini’sChild’s Playfranchise is a unique addition to the slasher subgenre, perfectly blending horror and comedy with the right amount of absurdity to let the viewers know not to take these movies too seriously. Unfortunately, the fifth installment,Seed of Chucky, went a little overboard with the humor and didn’t deliver any good scare.
Much of the film’s humorous dialog and meta jokes feel forced and take away from the horror and suspenseful aspects. Although it has a few clever lines and some wonderfully gory kills,it’s a mostly pointless entry in the franchisethat sometimes gets a little too ridiculous.
Seed of Chucky
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IMDb Score: 4.7/10
A Nightmare on Elm Streetwas a masterclass in terror with a unique premiseand an iconic antagonist in the form of the dream demon Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). However, as the series progressed, the franchise drifted into more dark comedy and saw Krueger become a goofy parody of himself. No film demonstrated this tonal shift more thanFreddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.
Freddy’s Deadlargely disappointed many fans due to its over-reliance on humorand dated ’90s references. It sees Freddy at his least intimidating as he acts less like a nightmarish monster and more like a cartoon villain, spewing cheesy one-liners any chance he can. It’s a perfect example of what happens to an iconic franchise that strays too far away from its original idea.
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
6’Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday' (1993)
IMDb Score: 4.1/10
TheFriday the 13thseries saw itsiconic hockey-masked killer, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder), hack and slash his way to earning one of the highest body counts in slasher history. With over twelve entries, the quality of each film ranges from decent to mediocre. Still, the abysmal box office performance and critical panning ofJason Goes to Hell: The Final Fridayshut the nail in the franchise’s coffin for years.
Despite having a few impressive kills and gore effects,The Final Fridaywasmostly dismissed by fans who, for a while now, were starting to experience franchise fatigue. It also tried to introduce a family curse subplot and unnecessary additions to Jason’s backstory to make the film all the more ridiculous and not a great final outing.
Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday
Serial killer Jason Voorhees' supernatural origins are revealed.
IMDb Score: 3.9/10
WhenCandymanwas first released in 1992, it had a slow, suspenseful build-up and a plot that oddly felt like a dark, twisted romance. Unfortunately, these unique elements didn’t transcend into the film’s unnecessary sequels. The weakest being the soulless and forgettable third installment, 1999’sCandyman: Day of the Dead.
Although it is fun to seeTony Toddreturn to his iconic role as the titular Candyman,his eerie performance unfortunately couldn’t save the film from its terrible plot and bad acting. It feels more like a generic slasher, lacking any resemblance to the original film and effectively killing the franchise untilNia DaCostarebooted it in 2021.
4’Halloween: Resurrection' (2002)
TheHalloweenmovies helped boost audiences' fascination with the slasher subgenre in the ’70s and ’80s. With the success of 1998’s reboot sequel,Halloween H20, fans were excited to see how the series would continue into the next century. Unfortunately, the follow-up sequel,Halloween: Resurrection,quickly became one of the most hated installments in the franchise.
Resurrectionmade the ultimate sin of killing off its famous leading star, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), in the first act, leaving a hole in the story that was never filled by the other bland and forgettable characters.With terrible writing, outdated early 2000s references, and rapperBusta Rhymesusing ridiculous kung-fu moves,this is certainly not Michael Myers' most dignifyingHalloweenfilm.
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3’Leprechaun 4: In Space' (1996)
IMDb Score: 3.5/10
TheLeprechaunseries doesn’t have the best track record of good-quality films. They can all be considered bad, but they are at least entertainingly bad and make for a fun viewing experience. The fourth installment,Leprechaun 4: In Space,takes the series' ridiculousness and turns it up to eleven as it follows the Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) on a wacky adventure in outer space.
All the absurd qualities of theLeprechaunfilms are on full display within this film, including the bad acting and laughable special effects. While the movie is mediocre, it doesn’t attempt to be anything else and comes across asa “So Bad, It’s Good” film.
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2’Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation' (1994)
IMDb Score: 3.3/10
Tobe Hooper’slow-budgeted 1974 masterpiece,The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,helped change the horror genre foreverand garnered much acclaim from fans and critcs. It’s a shame that the sequels couldn’t match up to the original’s success, with the lowest-rated entry,Texas Chainsaw Massacre:The Next Generation, being the franchise’s most infamous installment.
The film lacks any connection to the previous installments or features any good scares. It’s a bizarrely convoluted and acted film that trades much of its horror for absurd moments that feel unnecessary and relatively uninteresting. Had the cast not included future Oscar winners,Matthew McConaugheyandRenée Zellweger, it’s more likely the film would have easily been forgotten.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
1’Hellraiser: Revelations' (2011)
IMDb Score: 2.7/10
Clive Barker’s popularHellraiserfranchise started strong with a few impressive and gory films but eventually saw a rapid decline in quality as the later sequels began to go straight to home video. Eventually, it hit rock bottom with the entirely forgettable and hastily made ninth entry,Hellraiser: Revelations.
The original actor who played the iconic lead cenobite Pinhead up to that point, Doug Bradley, firmly turned down the chance to return for this installment due to its terrible and unfinished script. The end product of its half-completed story, with its lousy makeup effects and rushed shooting schedule, resulted in a complete disaster of a sequelmany consider one of the worst horror films ever.
