8 EXACT Moments Classic Horror Franchises Should Have Come To An End

4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Ends With The Sawyer Family Presumed Dead

Halloween 2
The Cannon Group, Inc

In terms of horror franchises that should’ve been put out of their misery a long, long time ago, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one that realistically should’ve been stopped after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. To be a little more on the nose, the series should’ve concluded when the grenade goes off at the Sawyer family home and leaves our twisted family presumed dead.

Regardless of some admittedly enjoyable moments, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 and The Next Generation really don’t need to exist. And even in how they exist, they’re their own movies in their own skewed timeline that serve as almost an alternative reality. But then if we’re to start analysing the timeline and logistics of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, we’d make ourselves as nuts as Leatherface with all of the questions that come up.

Capping the TCM series at 1986’s first sequel would allow for those first two films – that actually make sense as a duo that continues one narrative – to breathe as an overall story centred on the twisted Sawyer family.

Not only would this remove any of the confusion caused by the third and fourth instalments in the saga, but we’d also be saved the unneeded antics of The Beginning, Texas Chainsaw 3D, and Leatherface.

When sequels or prequels throw up more questions than answers, you know you’re doing something wrong. And in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, there are so many things wrong once you get past those first two movies.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.