10 Horror Movie Franchises That Went Out With A Whimper

7. Hostel

Hostel Part III
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

So much of a wet fart was the final film in the Hostel franchise, some horror hounds may not even be aware that there was a third Hostel picture.

With zero involvement from Eli Roth - as in, the writer/director of the first two movies and the person who came up with the initial Hostel concept - Hostel: Part III limped straight-to-DVD in 2011. Now, some absolute gems have 'only' received a straight-to-DVD release over the years. Unfortunately, Hostel: Part III was far from one such gem.

Of course, the property centres around the nefarious Elite Hunting Group, a Slovakia-based organisation which auctions off people to have all sorts of heinous acts carried out on them. For the first movie, we find ourselves rooting for Jay Hernandez's Paxton; a character sadly killed off in the sequel's opening moments. From there, that sequel turns its focus to a vacationing trio of young women, with Lauren German's Beth the last 'victim' standing and brilliantly turning the tables.

The point being, those first two Hostel pictures had some characters you got behind and wanted to see escape the horrific situations they found themselves in. With Hostel: Part III, the action was taken to Las Vegas for a bachelor party featuring a bunch of utter douchebags. Throw in a paper-thin story, some fairly weak kills, and some apathetic performances, and this third Hostel was just so limp.

 
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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.