10 Worst Movies From Otherwise Great Franchises
5. The Purge - The Purge Franchise
Other Films: The Purge: Anarchy, The Purge: Election Year and The First Purge.
This is the weirdest case on this list by several clear miles. Normally with a horror franchise, the first film is the only one worth watching but with The Purge, the first film was terrible and all three of the subsequent sequels have been very solid indeed.
The Purge (2013) is not without its moments but it is underwhelming overall, since it doesn't even remotely live up to its Amazing premise and is instead a generic, run-of-the-mill home invasion thriller that's basically just one darkly-lit kill scene after another.
Luckily, the sequels seemed aware of what wasn't working and fixed it. The setting wasn't confined to one building, social commentary played a proper part in the film and they embraced a bad-ass, hard-hitting and gently self-aware tone that made them fittingly intense and violent flicks, as well as a lot of fun to boot.
Sure, none of the three sequels are great films but they are good ones and they're certainly improvements on the original. In fact, as horror franchises go, this series is something of a miracle.