10 Horror Franchises That Spectacularly Bounced Back

7. Slumber Party Massacre

Chucky Tiffany Valentine Nica Pierce
Shout! Factory

In a move that nobody saw coming, 2021's Slumber Party Massacre was a low-key marvel of a movie.

Designed as a parody of sorts, the original 1982 Slumber Party Massacre is a solid slasher that sees a drill-wielding killer stalking a group of high school kids. That was followed five years later by a sequel that's bizarrely a song 'n' dance musical, this time with the previous film's killer resurrected and reimagined as a crooning 1950s greaser. By the time of 1990's SPM3, we have yet another bland slasher most famous for killing off one of its victims with a sex toy. Yes, really.

Away from those films, the wider Massacre franchise also consists of three dull Sorority House Massacre movies, two Cheerleader Massacres pictures, and even a Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre spin-off - none of which particularly had hopes high for a new Slumber Party Massacre offering a couple of years ago.

As it happens, 2021's Slumber Party Massacre - which is part reboot and part direct sequel to the original - is a blast, picking up with the daughter of one of the original film's survivors. This time out, though, the final product is a smart, stylish slasher which plays with its audience and with the familiar tropes of the subgenre.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.