7 longest running horror movie franchises

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Number of films: 8.

USA, 1974.
Duration: 83 minutes
IMDb: 7, 5.

Sally's girlfriend, with her disabled brother and friends, goes to visit her grandfather's grave. To their misfortune, they pick up a strange man along the way, who invites them to dinner at his family's house. However, it turns out to be a family of a creepy maniac nicknamed Leatherface.

The oldest franchise on this list, but its sequels are still coming out today. The plots of most of the films in the series are similar: a group of young people confront a maniac nicknamed Leatherface.

The prototype of the main villain was the real-life maniac Ed Gin. In the films, he wears a leather mask and is a member of the cannibal family.

Over the years, the franchise has four sequels, a remake with a prequel and another film that continues the first part.

This year came the next part "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Leatherface", which became a prequel to the 1974 film. It tells about the formation of an antagonist.

Halloween

Number of films: 10.

USA, 1978.
Duration: 91 minutes
IMDb: 7, 8.

As a child, Mike Myers killed his sister on Halloween. Fifteen years later, he escapes from an insane asylum and again takes up arms in order to arrange a bloody massacre on the same day.

One of the most lucrative independent films in history and a breakthrough for director John Carpenter, it once spawned a new genre - slasher. Now this is the name for all the pictures in which the villain kills the heroes one by one.

The story of the psychopath Mike Myers began in 1978 and continues to this day: a new part is planned for 2018.

After the release of eight films, a remake was released. Director Rob Zombie told the story, focusing not on the goodies, but on the personality of Mike Myers himself. Later, a sequel was released, which was very poorly received by critics.

Friday the 13th

Number of films: 12.

USA, 1980.
Duration: 95 minutes
IMDb: 6, 5.

In the summer camp "Crystal Lake" a boy once drowned. A year later, there was a bloody murder there, the camp was closed. After many years, the new owner decides to resume work, and a group of counselors goes to the lake to prepare. But the old curse is making itself felt again.

The franchise in this selection with the largest number of films. Already released 12 paintings, one of which is a crossover with "A Nightmare on Elm Street".

The image of the famous maniac in a hockey mask, Jason Voorhees, is familiar to almost every horror lover. It is curious that in the first film he hardly appears and becomes the main antagonist only in the second part.

In the future, Jason will be just a killer, and a revived corpse, and even end up in space. One thing remains unchanged - a hockey mask and brutal murders in every part.

In 2009, the franchise was relaunched, Jason's story changed slightly. However, he remained a maniac, killing everyone in his way.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Number of films: 9.

USA, 1984.
Duration: 92 minutes
IMDb: 7, 5.

Schoolchildren from a small town start having the same nightmare about a disfigured man in a hat with metal claws on his hand. Those who were killed in a dream also die in reality. Freddy Krueger, once executed by the inhabitants of the city, returns in dreams to take revenge.

Freddy Krueger can be called one of the most recognizable villains in horror films. A burnt face, a hat, a striped sweater and a glove with iron claws - the image first embodied by Robert Englund in 1984, frightens more than one generation of viewers.

After the success of the first picture, five sequels were released, a part where all the previous plots were announced as movie scripts, and a crossover in which Freddy Krueger entered into a confrontation with Jason Voorhees.

In 2010, a new picture was released that relaunched Freddie's story. The studio planned to shoot several parts, but the failure of the film at the box office froze all projects indefinitely.

Hellraiser

Number of films: 10.

UK, 1987.
Duration: 94 minutes
IMDb: 7, 0.

In search of unearthly pleasures, Frank opens a mysterious box, but instead of the promised pleasure he receives endless pain. After a while, Frank manages to escape from hell. He kills people to rebuild the body. Julia helps him - his brother's wife, secretly in love with him. But Frank is being chased by the sinister messengers of hell - the Senobites.

A series of films that originated from the small work of the writer Clive Barker Hellbound Heart. A year after the book's release, Barker himself created the film adaptation, which gave rise to a multi-year franchise.

Senobits, led by Pinhead, whose head is covered with pins, appeared in the first film for a very short time, but it was they who became the connecting link of all parts. For 30 years, nine films have been released, showing both the backstory of most of the characters, and the scripts that are invented for the martyrs in hell, and even the appearance of the Cenobites on a spaceship in the distant future.

The tenth part of Hellraiser: The Verdict has also been removed, but it is not yet known when it will be released. Also, Clive Barker himself, who produced the first four films, has been talking for ten years about a possible restart of the entire series under his leadership.

Kids games

Number of films: 7.

USA, 1988.
Duration: 87 minutes
IMDb: 6, 5.

The soul of a maniac possesses a doll belonging to the boy Andy. No one believes a child when he says that a child's toy killed the nanny. But the matter will not be limited to one murder - Chucky begins to terrorize the whole city.

Perhaps someone will not immediately remember the name of the film, but many will recognize the creepy doll in which the spirit of a maniac killer has infiltrated. The gloomy atmosphere of the first picture in the sequels was replaced by black humor. But still, the fear of a doll with a knife in hand lives in the hearts of many fans.

Over time, Chucky acquired a doll bride, got the opportunity to return to the human body, but abandoned her. He was completely destroyed several times, but he always returned. And one day, Chucky became a character in the film, bursting out into the real world.

In August this year, the seventh part of the franchise called "The Cult of Chucky" was released worldwide.

Saw

Number of films: 8.

USA, 2004.
Duration: 103 minutes
IMDb: 7, 7.

Two strangers do not remember how they ended up in a room where in the middle lies a corpse with a weapon in its hand. Soon they learn that in order to survive on their own, you need to kill the second. But you can only reach the weapon by sawing off your leg.

The youngest franchise in this collection, but has already received worldwide recognition and many sequels.

The first Saw: The Survival Game appeared in 2004 from a screenplay by two Australian students. The low-budget film was not even planned to be shown in cinemas, but the premiere screenings aroused real delight among the audience.

Record box office receipts for the film launched a long-running franchise dedicated to John Kramer, nicknamed Jigsaw, and his followers. The traps they create put each participant in a situation in which he must prove his desire and right to live or surrender and die.

On October 26, the eighth part is released, where another follower continues the work of the legendary Constructor.