5. Critical Ignorance
The sort of critical ignorance that tends to happen with this sort of property is usually reserved for the likes of Michael Bay, who ploughs on making films with the same perversity as he ever has - dialling up the idiocy at each turn usually - despite the critical reception of the films. I'm not saying for one minute that the critics are infallible, or even that their opinions should be listened to by those going out to watch a film - I rarely read reviews myself ahead of a film - but their opinions should at least be considered by the studios, who spend millions of pounds and dollars on pre-release campaigns that consciously target online critics and bloggers, because those communities can often give an insight into the future perceptions of a franchise. At some point in the future, even the fans of the franchise will get sick, and the property will become something of a joke - and seeing the future sequels will be little more than an exploration into when the thing will eventually die. At that stage, anything that was positively achieved in the name of the franchise will be either forgotten entirely, or spoke of in only apologetic terms - such as the first Saw film - and while the studio will have their impressive bank balance to ease any feelings of guilt, and the prospect of a future, rejuvenating reboot to return the franchise to its roots, it is the genre itself that suffers. Poor, high-numbered sequels churned out despite their reception is exactly why the horror genre is in such a state now, with made-to-order, unscary horror flicks coming out every now and then to the general apathy of the film-watching community. And they are also precisely why the genre is classed as somehow lowly compared to others - including, almost laughably, the brainless summer blockbuster genre.