10 Horror Movie Franchises That Overstayed Their Welcome

Truth be told, based on quality, the TCM franchise is one which could've wrapped up after 1986's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. Then again, was there ever really a need to carve up a sequel to the iconic 1974 Texas Chain Saw Massacre in the first place?

Regardless, once that '86 follow-up arrived, you can understand why a third movie was given the green-light to try and maximise the slasher boom of the '80s. Unfortunately, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III arrived at the tailend of that boom, hitting cinemas at the start of 1990.

Still, when the original film's co-writer Kim Henkel was open to return to write and direct a fourth Chainsaw offering, you can understand why that project pushed forward. Sadly, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation - also known as The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre - was a dud. Notable as featuring Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger in early roles, the picture itself just bungled so much; its attempts at parody coming off all wrong.

That should've been enough to lay the chainsaw down and put Leatherface to rest for good. And while The Next Generation would actually kill that particular timeline, the franchise would be rebooted by Marcus Nispel in 2003. To be fair, that reboot was pretty darn good, but everything that's followed it - 2006's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, 2013's Texas Chainsaw 3D, 2017's Leatherface, and last year's Texas Chainsaw Massacre - has been utter trash.