Best Horror Movie Franchises

Key Takeaways

• Horror movies have spawned numerous sequels featuring charismatic killers, providing very entertaining stories.
• Think classic games like Friday the 13th, Hellraiser, and Saw, all featuring iconic killers and creative traps.
• Check out the Scream and Alien series, which put quality over quantity. Each series offers its own unique elements and memorable monsters.

Not only are horror movies popular, they often spawn so many sequels that entire stories are created about charismatic killers. Some take themselves more seriously than others, but there's no denying that they're all a lot of fun.

Whether you're looking for a classic series to binge-watch over the weekend or a hidden gem you haven't heard of yet, come along as we explore some of the most iconic series of them all. Stay alert, watch every corner, and prepare for the blood that is about to spill.

9 friday the 13th

jason doesn't die

Did you know that Jason wasn't a murderer in the first Friday the 13th movie? If not, it's time to revisit this classic series, but with 12 movies to watch, it may take quite a while.

Of course, not every movie is a hit, but a series with more than 10 installments can be successful. Skip Jason X and watch the first three original movies, then just watch 2009's Friday the 13th. This will help you appreciate the change more.

8 Hellraiser

deadly puzzle

Hellraiser is the embodiment of the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat', but in this case the cat is obsessed with the puzzle box, and people often find themselves nine lives short. With 11 films, the series has made quite a mark, but over the past few decades there have been more flops than hits.

Fortunately, 2022's Hellraiser seems to have breathed life back into the series, with effects that have evolved over the years and a plot reminiscent of the good times. If you only want to see the best of the best of the series, consider the first two original films (1987's Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser 2) and the 2022 film.

7 halloween

confusing timeline

There are 13 films in the Halloween series, but the series' timeline isn't exactly straight. Regardless, the film is one of the most iconic film series to date and helped launch the careers of people like John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis.

The series has been rebooted several times, but if you want to enjoy the latest story, you should still watch the original Halloween movie from 1978. Then you can enjoy the latest trilogy of movies that follow the original while ignoring it. All other movies starting with Halloween 2018 and ending with Halloween ending in 2022.

6 saw

Want to play a game?

In most Saw movies, the attraction isn't the killer or the victims, but the elaborate traps these people end up trapped in. The best of these traps are thematically linked to the victim's past or supposed transgressions. You can believe that every single one of them will be a gore fest.

What sets this series apart from others is that it's not always the same killer behind everything, with copycats and apprentices emerging from the woodwork. Still, nothing beats the original, so the main Jigsaw returned in Saw 10 and will likely return in Saw 11 as well.

5 scream

A killer with movie knowledge

The Scream series may not have as many movies as other slashers, but it's definitely still a living and exciting story. One of the latest entries comes out in 2023 and still follows the characters from the series without using any reboot techniques.

If you value quality over quantity, you'll fall in love with the first four Scream films directed by Wes Craven. It's not that the post-Craven era films are necessarily bad, but they lack the spark he gave the series. Craven sadly passed away in 2015, so he can no longer contribute.

4 alien

Hugging Faces Since 1979

In horror movies, some people become monsters, but sometimes monsters are just monsters. And there are no monsters more iconic than the Xenomorphs from Alien. Terrible parasites leap out of people and turn their blood into acid, turning them into tall, agile monsters.

Aside from the Xenomorph, the protagonists of the Alien series stand out from their peers and are generally more sympathetic individuals than the teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake. If you want to know what Ripley felt like in the first Alien movie, give Alien: Isolation a try.

3 cunning

Lastly, it's not a slasher

There are plenty of horror movies that aren't about a killer murdering a bunch of people and spreading their body parts all over the place, but very few of them made it into a series that lasted ten years. If you want a slow story with more suspense and ghosts than swords and gore, the Insidious series is for you.

The movies are meant to be watched in the order they were released, but the timeline gets a little off track here and there. If you want the most chronological journey, start with Insidious: Chapter 3, then Insidious: The Last Key, then the first two Insidious movies, and finally Insidious: The Red Door.

2 evil dead

Combination of comedy and horror

The Evil Dead franchise is divided into a series that started in 1981 and ended in 1993, and a series that started in 2013 and had a sequel in 2023. These two series are tangentially connected through the character Ash Williams, the protagonist of the first trilogy. And it's a passing reference in the next movie.

Each film is a work of art in its own right, and each plays to its own strengths. While the first three films function as dark comedies (Army of Darkness is closer to comedy than horror), the more recent films dive deep into horror and gore, leaving the comedy aside.

1 A Nightmare on Elm Street

freddy's shining hour

The original film, A Nightmare on Elm Street, released in 1984, is an elusive classic about inescapable horror, with a killer beyond your dreams waiting for you to fall asleep. While the movie still holds up today, it's hard to say the same about the 2010 remake.

The original set of six films made from 1984 to 1991 had varying degrees of quality, but were all very creative and still delivered practical effects that would send a chill down anyone's spine. The diabolical way in which Freddy enjoys his killings makes him one of the most famous movie icons for reasons not often seen in other slasher films.