10 Movie Franchises Saved From Extinction By Sequels

Yes, it’s another appearance for the slasher subgenre and its benevolent overlord, horror icon Wes Craven. Like the killers who they centre around, the slasher franchises sometimes seem impossible to kill, and any attempts to finally put them to rest only results in them coming back stronger than ever—only now they’re angry.

At least, that’s the only explanation we can imagine for how the fourth instalment of the Scream series managed to be such a clever, cutting return to form for the (mostly-)Kevin Williamson scripted franchise. The third film flopped hard with critics, departing from the relatively realistic small town and college settings of the first two films in favour of a misjudged Hollywood satire.

Dream sequences and tasteless retcons abound in the instalment, and for over a decade it seemed destined to spell the end of the series. Then came 2011’s funny, scary, star-packed Scream 4, a knowing meta-horror which combined a twisty plot with a likeable new cast and provided engaging roles for its returning stars. The film managed to salvage the reputation of the series—although the less said about its ill-considered MTV reboot some years later, the better…