10 Once-Great Movie Franchises That Just Need To Die

10. The Conjuring

It would be quite easy to fill this entire list with horror franchises. As the trend goes, an independent horror film with a unique idea captures the attention of an audience and makes a very tasty profit. A studio soon takes note, and in the blink of an eye, what once was a small horror flick is a staggering multi-film franchise.

James Wan is sadly a prime example of this. The genius behind the first Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring films has seen his franchises ripped out of his grasp and milked to an unfortunate death. The most recent (and perhaps most blatant) example of this is The Conjuring films. Wan directed The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, both stylish entries to the horror genre that have their own iconic villains and scares. Since then, the franchise has been bastardised in the form of spin-off films.

Annabelle, the haunted doll that appeared as a bit-part character in the original Conjuring film now has her own trilogy of films, which sadly turns her into a by-the-numbers scary toy, an annoying trope from the horror genre. Other spin-offs exist such as The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona, both of which were poorly received and felt extremely disconnected from the flair of the original Conjuring films, being critcized for relying on jump-scares rather than true terror.

Hopefully this franchise can be put to rest before it's turned into the next Paranormal Activity.