10 Film Franchises You Really Should Stop Watching After The 2nd Movie

There’s no disputing that Wes Craven reinvented the horror genre many times throughout his career. From the self-parody of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare to the fun meta style of Scream, he truly was a master of horror.

The latter also happens to be one of the finest slashers to ever grace the big screen. It has everything: gore, wit, and a great cast working with an amazing screenplay. It was the perfect storm.

With such a high bar to reach, it’s surprising that the sequel works as well as it does. By shifting the location and playing on the tropes of horror sequels, Scream 2 proves to be an enjoyable ride.

It’s a shame this wasn’t translated to the third movie in the series. Scream 3 suffers in multiple ways, trying too hard to be the big, ultimate climax to the first two movies, while simultaneously becoming what they parodied. A change in screenwriter seems to be at blame here, with series veteran Kevin Williamson being replaced by Ehren Kruger.

Kruger remained as writer for Scream 4 and the disappointing trend continued. While the fourth entry promised to be a reinvention of the franchise with ‘new rules’, it ended up being a tired re-tread of the previous movies.

Even with Craven at the helm, this franchise couldn’t steer out of the downward slope.