14 Movie Franchises You Had No Idea Still Existed

They just won't die.

By Jack Pooley /

Universal

There are so many ways for movies to be released these days that it's easier than ever for a once-popular, theatrically-released franchise to survive just fine in the home video or direct-to-streaming market.

Advertisement

While "straight-to-video" remains a mostly reviled term - and generally with good reason - it does allow smaller, more niche movies to still find their audience and quietly thrive without clogging up the multiplexes.

In the case of these 14 franchises, typically from the horror and action genres, you probably haven't thought about them in quite some time, because unless you're really paying attention to non-theatrical fare, these stealthily-released sequels are easily missed.

Advertisement

From franchises that have been inexplicably chugging along for decades despite nobody you know ever watching them, to more recent movies that have somehow transformed into cinematic enterprises, you'll need a serious interest in genre-film schlock to even be aware these series are living and breathing.

Granted, they're not all bad, and a few of these franchises have even improved in recent years, but you probably wouldn't know it...

Advertisement