10 Horror Movie Franchises That Overstayed Their Welcome

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.