10 Horror Movie Sequels That Saved The Franchise

One of the most often-revived series in horror history, legendary director Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise has gone through countless incarnations, including a weird possession-horror instalment, an ill-judged remake, and even a crossover where he faced off against Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees.

By the time 1994 rolled around, the dream demon's slasher series was exhausted. Its fifth and sixth instalments were widely derided as corny, un-scary affairs wherein the once terrifying Freddy Krueger had become little more than a catchphrase-spouting cartoon villain.

It seemed nothing could revive the series, but the future Scream director returned and made the ingenious decision to have Freddy haunt his own creator and the stars of his first film, an idea which soon breathed new life into the franchise.

Two years before before his meta slasher revived the genre at large, Craven shook off the stink of countless lacklustre sequels by having Freddy slice his razor-gloved way through the very producers who had cynically turned him into a laughing stock.

Witty, subversive, and deeply creepy, New Nightmare proved there was life left in the dream demon yet.