Ranking: 10 Highest-Grossing Horror Movie Franchises

3. The Conjuring ($1.18 Billion)

The Conjuring franchise is by far the most financially successful recent horror franchise, and is showing no sign of stopping with not only a third Conjuring film in the works, but another spin-off, The Nun, already in the can and due out next year.

Best Movie: James Wan's original 2013 movie was a breath of fresh air, for while its haunted house set-up was incredibly familiar, Wan opted for more slow-burn suspense rather than outrageous gore.

Yes, there are too many jump scares, but the fantastic ensemble cast and stylish direction make it easy to become uncommonly invested in the fight for survival.

Worst Movie: Annabelle is effectively the black sheep of the Conjuring franchise, its only critically-panned movie to date, serving up a bland retread of vastly superior horror flicks while bringing nothing new or scary to the table.

You'll see every jump scare coming, you probably won't care about the characters, and it doesn't suitably exploit the genuinely creepy title character either.