10 Great Horror Movies That Fell Victim To Franchise Fatigue
1. Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
In 1991, New Line Cinema took the bold step of announcing the death of their primary bread winner, Freddy Krueger. The resultant film, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare pulled in $35 million at the box office, which was a marked improvement on the previous entry in the franchise. But after killing their beast and the merchandise which spawned from him, New Line Cinema found it difficult to make a decent return, with the Critters films going direct-to-video and the acquisition of Jason Voorhees not paying off as New Line had hoped.
1993 saw New Line CEO Bob Shaye approach horror legend and Elm Street creator Wes Craven with the offer to return to the franchise. Craven and Shaye had a previously contentious relationship due to Craven's unwillingness to turn his original A Nightmare on Elm Street into a franchise. However, with the promise of complete creative control and a cut of the franchise profits, Wes agreed to return to one of his most famous creations.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare follows actress Heather Langenkamp as she is called back to play Nancy Thompson in another Elm Street movie. Bizarrely, Langenkamp soon begins to realize that events from the films she once starred in are now somehow affecting her real life. With the phenomena focusing on her young son, Heather must confront her dream demons before it's too late.
Opening on the tenth anniversary of the Elm Street series, New Nightmare was critically lauded. However, the film would go on to gross just $19.8 million at the box office, becoming the lowest grossing film of the franchise.
So, why should you watch this film? In simple terms, Heather Langenkamp.
The OG franchise alum gives an incredible performance as a young mother battling to protect her son from a villain she thought was make-believe. Langenkamp truly shines as an actress here and delivers a performance that has sadly been largely forgotten.
If that's not enough for you to take a chance on Wes Craven's New Nightmare, how about the fact that the movie goes back to the franchise's horror roots? That's right, there is no wise-cracking commercial Freddy Krueger. Here, he is a dark, leather-clad dream demon killing with a purpose.