From the 70s to the 2000s, the slasher film was one of the most prominent subgenres of the horror genre. FromHalloweentoI Know What You Did Last Summer, there is no shortage of popular slashers that ended up spawning a lucrative franchise. However, despite the widespread critical and audience acclaim from the franchise’s first entry, many of the later entries in these franchises end up falling victim to the gradual decay of quality that so many franchises enevitably suffer from.
The slasher genre is no exception, with movies such asHellraiser: Revelationsfailing to catch the magic of the original through their pale imitations. With that in mind, here are the ten worst slasher movies from major franchises.
Directed by Turi Meyer
Candyman: Day of the Deadis a supernatural slasher film first released in 1999. It is the third entry in theCandymanfranchise. Directed byTuri Meyer, better known as a writer on films such asWrong Turn 2: Dead EndandChairman of the Board, the story follows a descendant of the original Candyman named Caroline McKeever, played byDonna D’Errico, who also appeared inAustin Powers inGoldmember, as she finds herself trying to survive against him.
The lore of the Candyman character had been thoroughly established in the previous entries, but that lore is completely contradicted here. For example, Candyman had been portrayed as a tragic character before this, but here he is portrayed as a generic slasher villain, the tragedy behind his untimely death and the loss of his beloved fully ignored throughout. In addition, a weakness to having his paintings destroyed is also implemented. However, not only has nothing like this ever even been hinted at before, but the way in which this sequence is executed comes across as abruptly silly, adding to this annoying carelessness regarding the lore.
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9’Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday' (1993)
Directed by Adam Marcus
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Fridayis a supernatural slasher film first released in 1993. It is the ninth entry in theFriday the 13thfranchise. Directed byAdam Marcus, who also wroteTexas Chainsaw 3D, the plot follows Jason Voorhees, played byKane Hodder, who, after dying, finds himself as a parasitic creature that tries to find and kill one of his relatives before he can be killed.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Fridayrelies far too much on plot contrivances. For example, one of the first people Jason possesses is a coroner that dives right into eating his charred, removed heart completely out of nowhere. This scene fully destroys the suspense of disbelief that a more fantastical slasher movie like this needs in order to keep the audience engaged, by having a character do something so blatantly outlandish while also failing to establish any reason for the character to do so. In addition, the decision to turn Jason into a sort of worm creature that lived in the heart of his previous body is very odd, as it turns him from a hulking menace and a physical powerhouse into a weird-looking effect and nothing more.
Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday
Directed by Rachel Talalay
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmareis a slasher film first released in 1991. It serves as the sixth entry in theA Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchise. Directed byRachel Talalay, who also directedTank GirlandGhost in the Machine, the story follows a psychiatrist named Maggie Burroughs, played byLisa Zane, who also appeared inMonkeyboneandBad Influence, as she tries to uncover the past of a mysterious patient, only to find herselfpursued by Freddy Krueger, played byRobert Englund.
The worst aspect ofFreddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmareis the treatment of Freddy Krueger himself. For example, the ending sees Freddy being pinned to a steel beam and being beat up, blown up by a random pipe bomb, and dying, helpless to do anything. This ending reduces him from a somewhat campy yet terrifying threat to a literal punching bag, taking him from being the one to deliver punchlines to being a punchline himself. In addition, the plot point of Freddy’s child is needlessly complicated, with there being a character conveniently named John Doe being a walking red herring that the movie doesn’t really need.
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
7’Seed of Chucky' (2004)
Directed by Don Mancini
Seed of Chuckyis a black comedy slasher film first released in 2004. It serves as the fifth entry of theChild’s Playfranchise. Directed by series creatorDon Mancini, the story follows Chucky and Tiffany as they go on a murderous rampage through Hollywood after being resurrected by their child Glen, played byBilly Boyd, best known forThe Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Glen’s introduction into the series was handled absolutely horribly. For example, while Chucky and Tiffany are enjoyably crazy, Glen rarely speaks, and barely displays any personal style of his own. While this difference in personality could have led to some interesting family drama between criminal parents and a relatively sane child, any attempt at having these three just leaves their relationship feeling hollow rather than dramatic or even entertaining. The meta comedy is also tired and unfunny. For instance,Jennifer Tilly, the voice actress for Tiffany, is targeted by the doll family to be used as a vessel for them, leading to a series of dull jokes that try far too hard to get the audience to recognize this obvious meta nature.
Seed of Chucky
6’Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers' (1995)
Directed by Joe Chappelle
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myersis a slasher film first released in 1995. It serves as the sixth entry in theHalloweenfranchise. Directed byJoe Chappelle, who was also a producer onThe WireandCSI: Miami, the story follows a man named Tommy Doyle, played byPaul RuddofAnt-ManandFriendsfame, as he tries to protect the baby of the niece of Michael Myers.
Although Rudd is a beloved actor now,Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myerswas his first movie role, and this is quite obvious in his performance. For example, there is a scene in which he is running away from Michael, and during this chase sequence, he shouts toward Michael in such a way that makes him sound less like he’s being chased by a deadly serial killer and more like a child shouting “You’re it!” during a game of tag. In addition,the Cult of Thornsubplot adds unnecessary complications to the plot. For instance, this cult is shown leading Michael to a house to kill the baby, when it would have been much more effective keeping his motives ambiguous like earlier entries did.
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
5’The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1995)
Directed by Kim Henkel
The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacreis a black comedy slasher film first released in 1995. It is the fourth entry inThe TexasChainsaw Massacrefranchise.Directed byKim Henkel, who had co-wrote the original movie withTobe Hooper, the story follows a group of teens that find themselves captured by a cannibalistic family after becoming stranded in the Texas countryside.
The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacrehas a cannibal family that are both extremely unfunny and lack any threat whatsoever. For example, Vilmer, played byMatthew McConaugheyofInterstellarandDallas Buyers Clubfame, spends most of his time grunting in a manner similar to a Tusken Raider. In addition, Leatherface is portrayed as a hysterical woman who almost never even uses a chainsaw, and any other types of violence are virtually nonexistent for this character as well. Characterizations like these provide confusion and annoyance rather than laughs or scares, thus failing at both of the things that a comedic slasher film should do while also boring the audience with this waste of time pretending to be characters.
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4’Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood' (2003)
Directed by Steven Ayroomlooi
Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hoodis a black comedy slasher film first released in 2003. It is an indirect sequel toLeprechaun in the Hoodand the sixth entry in theLeprechaunseries. Directed bySteven Ayroomlooi, the plot follows a group of friends that discover a pot of gold and soon find themselves being pursued by a leprechaun, played byWarwick Davis, who also played Wicket inStar Wars Episode VI:Return of the Jediand Flitwick in theHarry Potterfranchise.
Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hoodblatantly reuses the urban setting from the previous movie, demonstrating the extreme lack of creativity that permeates throughout the rest of the film. This creative bankruptcy can also be seen in the lack of creative kills or visual gags. For example, inLeprechaun 3, there is a scene in which the leprechaun inflates a woman’s various body parts until she explodes. InBack 2tha Hood, however, one of the relatively few kills in the entire movie is when a woman is killed on a massage table with a generic strangulation death.
3’Hellraiser: Revelations' (2011)
Directed by Victor Garcia
Hellraiser: Revelationsis a slasher film first released in 2011. It is the ninth entry in theHellraiserfranchise. Directed byVictor Garcia, who also directedReturn to House on Haunted HillandMirrors 2, the plot follows the families of two friends that go missing after coming across and unlocking the Lament Configuration while on vacation in Mexico, summoning the Cenobites.
The Cenobites gradually appeared less and less as the series went on, but they appear in this one even less before or since, not appearing until the last act. This is because this film hadan extremely rushed production, leading to the Cenobites being awkwardly inserted into a movie forced to work around them. In addition, the ending is horrible. For example, there is an abrupt and unnecessary plot twist revealing that Steven, one of the missing, is actually the other missing, Nico, wearing Steven’s skin, though this fails to leave any impact, as due to the fact that both Steven and Nico opened the Lament Configuration, either’s presence could have been used to justify including the Cenobites.
Hellraiser: Revelations
2’Prom Night' (2008)
Directed by Nelson McCormick
Prom Nightis a slasher film first released in 2008. It serves as a remake of the cult classic 1980 film of the same name and is the fifth and currently final entry in theProm Nightfranchise. Directed byNelson McCormack, who had also directed episodes ofThe West WingandPrison Break, the story follows a group of teens being hunted by a serial killer on prom night.
Prom Nightis shot like a Disney Channel moviefrom the era it released in, with bright hues in well-lit areas, providing a visual discrepancy between the violent murders and the pop music video-style cinematography, showing that the team behindProm Nighthad no idea how to shoot a tense death scene that slashers should have plenty of. In addition, the killer is far less effective than in the original. For instance, in the original, the killer was the witness to the accidental death of a child years prior killing off the other witnesses, while he was simply an escaped killer in the remake, which is a far more generic angle.
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1’I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer' (2006)
Directed by Sylvain White
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summeris a supernatural slasher film first released in 2006. It is the third entry in theI Know WhatYou Did Last Summerfranchise. Directed bySylvain White, who also directedThe LosersandSlender Man, the plot follows a group of teens being hunted by a zombiefied Ben Willis, played byDon Shanks, who also appeared inHalloween 5: The Revenge of MichaelMyers.
The franchise serial killer, Ben Willis, is completely changed for absolutely no reason. For example, in the first two movies, Ben would only target those directly related to the inciting hit-and-run from the original film, and any other kills were those trying to protect this group or just in his way. InI’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, however, not only does Ben target people that had nothing to do with the aforementioned incident, but also hundreds of miles away from where this incident took place. This change is made even worse by the fact that the new Ben is just a generic Jason clone, as opposed to the urban legend-inspired killer he had been before. Out of all the dark spots in successful slasher franchises,this is by far the worst.
