10 Horror Movie Franchises That Overstayed Their Welcome

7. A Nightmare On Elm Street

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New Line Cinema

Not only would A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors have been a great send-off for the Elm Street franchise, it would've also stopped the good of Dream Warriors being undone in the next few movies.

Elm Street 3 was the perfect sweet spot for the property, with Freddy Krueger still a genuinely terrifying presence whilst also having just about the right amount of sinister quips to hand. Of course, later franchise installments would see Freddy end up becoming a full-on slapstick figure, yucking it up and winking at the audience as he carved his way through various victims in ways that, yes, were imaginative, but that lacked the tension and dread of those early Elm Street pictures.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 brought back original protagonist Nancy Thompson, now serving as a psychiatrist at Westin Hills Hospital and becoming a de factor mentor to the next batch of Elm Street kids to be targeted by Krueger. We also had Kristin Parker first come into the fold, with Patricia Arquette playing that character who's able to bring others into her dream battles with Freddy.

By the time Dream Warriors comes to a close, Nancy has banished Krueger for good - albeit at the cost of her own life - and Kristin and her pals Kincaid and Joey are left to fight another day. It's a great ending for both the Nancy and Freddy characters, did great justice to Kristin, and would've ended the series while it was still at its chilling peak.

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 day job, 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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.