10 Horror Movie Sequels That Saved The Franchise

The downfall of the Scream series was a sad sight for slasher fans, as the franchise fell apart just after reviving the sub genre in the late nineties.

The first film, released in 1996, was a blockbuster success which benefitted from a superb cast and a witty, self-referential script from I Know What You Did Last Summer scribe Kevin Williamson. More subversive than that teen horror, Scream combined director's Wes Craven's knack for scary set pieces with the screenwriter's streak of meta-humour and won over audiences as a result.

The pair reunited a year later for the almost-as-successful Scream 2, but the departure of Williamson before Scream 3 resulted in a too-comedic, bloodless instalment which featured some embarrassing back story and a severe lack of scares.

Luckily, 2011's Scream 4 proved a brutal, timely revival which saw the return of Williamson and salvaged the legacy of this series after the risible third film. Returning to the first film's streamlined meta-slasher approach, this fourth film took aim at then-contemporary horror trends like torture porn and remakes whilst also providing the much-needed tension and terror in its simple, twisty story.