Rotten Picks: The spoiled apples of horror franchises

It is important to find a positive in every negative, no matter how tough. Unfortunately in horror, sometimes the cons far outweigh the pros.

To quote Paul Stanley from a 1983 KISS interview, “The secret of longevity means that there are times where your popularity goes up and down. Certainly nobody maintains a certain level of popularity. The people that survive the long run, those are the champs.” The same could easily be said for the franchises from which these rotten picks originate.

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

Freddy’s Dead — Courtesy of New Line Cinema

Fans of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise were in for a rude awakening when this sequel was released. Though Freddy Krueger is said to be “The Bastard Son of 1,000 Maniacs”, Freddy’s Dead proves to be the bastard sequel of however many people worked on this entry. For a seemingly unstoppable antagonist, Freddy’s death was rather anti-climatic. Neither Alice Cooper nor a Johnny Depp cameo could save us from this nightmare.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994)

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

In another franchise chalked full of hits and misses, arguably the worst is the fourth installment, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. Aside from copying the ending of the 1974 classic (and doing a poor job at it), Leatherface just isn’t the same character anymore — he’s not even scary. In fact, he looks like Roseanne circa 1988. The acting is absolutely terrible, all Leatherface does is scream, and none of the characters are particularly memorable.

Seed of Chucky (2004)

Seen of Chucky — Courtesy of Universal Pictures

The most bizarre entry in the Child’s Play franchise, Seed of Chucky plays like a terrible live action movie to an awful Adult Swim show. It focuses too much on trying to be funny that the sequel actually forgets trying to scare its audience. One has to wonder what Don Mancini was thinking when he came up with this. It’s the least effective in the franchise and isn’t worthy of another viewing.

Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

Halloween: Resurrection — Courtesy of Dimension Films

Deliberate contrivances aside, Halloween: Resurrection’s failure has less to do with its story than one may assume. Not only is the casting and acting downright terrible, but the editing throughout the film is beyond amateur. There are audio screw ups, left and right.

Also, Busta Rhymes was given the okay to ad-lib. I’m personally not into modern technology being front and center in established horror franchises. I suppose it’s fine for something else, depending on its execution, of course. With a franchise so beloved as Halloween, it simply doesn’t work.

Scream 3 (2000)

— Courtesy of Dimension Films

“What’s your favorite scary movie?” Certainly not this one. The stakes really weren’t raised with Scream 3, the story wasn’t as clever as the original and it’s somehow less entertaining than Scream 2. Even Courtney Cox’s Gale Weathers sounds disappointed at the killer’s reveal at the end of the film. At least it has a decent soundtrack.