10 Horror Movie Franchises With Only One Great Movie

2. Poltergeist

Final Destination
United Artists

Back to Spielberg now and a film he wrote and co-produced in 1982. Poltergeist tells the story of the Freeling family as they attempt to save their young daughter from the clutches of an evil spirit.

It quickly became a horror institute, picking up three Oscar nominations along the way. That's enough for each of its god-awful follow-ups.

Poltergeist II: The Other Side managed to bring back most of the first film's cast, but had zero involvement from Spielberg, who is making a habit on this list of dodging dodgy sequels.

The movie was fine, but a significant step down from its predecessor. Then came a third movie, which was given overwhelmingly negative feedback.

To give it credit, marketing for Poltergeist III was severely complicated by the death of Heather O'Rourke, who had starred in all of the movies up to that point. She was just 12 years old.

That was the final Poltergeist movie until 2015, when a remake premiered starring Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt. However, like The Omen, not even a reboot could wipe away the stink of the previous sequels as it was panned too.

Again, we see what you're up to, and we don't appreciate it.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.