Not all horror franchises are created equal, and some are so perfectly crafted that they're just
begging for a scary movie marathon. From slasher films to killer doll flicks to sci-fi series,
here are the best scary movie franchises to binge-watch.
Certain horror franchises just burn through sequels at a ridiculous pace,
churning out cookie-cutter films that all feel basically the same.
But in the case of "Halloween," this series went in a different direction. Having first started in
1978, the "Halloween" saga spans over four decades of storytelling, during which it's seen several
different filmmakers and aesthetics. Meanwhile, "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" even
abandoned Michael Myers altogether in an attempt to turn the franchise into an anthology series.
Watching all the "Halloween" movies will take you on a wild ride from John Carpenter's original
take on Michael Myers to the self-referential tomfoolery of later entries like "Halloween:
Resurrection," which co-starred Busta Rhymes. Consuming all movies in this franchise also
inevitably means partaking in Rob Zombie's brutal reboot, and David Gordon Green's recent
reimagining of the series. Basically, trying to keep track of any semblance of coherent
mythology across these movies is a fool's errand. However, seeing so many radically
different takes on the "Halloween" universe makes diving into this franchise a total treat.
Freddy Krueger may haunt your nightmares, but for horror fans, the "Nightmare" movies are
the stuff dreams are made of. Starting with Wes Craven's iconic 1984 original,
"Nightmare on Elm Street," the franchise took full advantage of the fact that most
of these films take place in people's dreams, resulting in some truly amazing
scares. The visual component became even more noticeable in later installments,
which got more and more ridiculous in depicting how Krueger could kill in the domain of dreams.
"Welcome to wonderland, Alice."
Not every entry in this series is an instant classic, but the persistently unique kills and the
sequels that embrace truly unusual plots make the franchise an expansive canvas worth diving into.
And some fans of the "Nightmare" series might even enjoy the 2010 remake
featuring Jackie Earle Haley's chilling take on Freddy Krueger.
When the first "Evil Dead" movie came out, it wasn't supposed to kick off a long-running
franchise. It was just a low-budget horror movie by passionate newbie filmmaker Sam Raimi.
But after it took off as a cult classic, this charmingly ramshackle horror movie
spawned further films that took the series in different directions.
"Evil Dead II" utilized the basic set-up of the original but amped up every aspect,
making use of its bigger budget. It also added a whole lot of comedy to the horror. LAter,
"Army of Darkness" took just the Ash character for a largely standalone
fantasy adventure involving the Middle Ages.
"This is my boomstick!"
Much later, 2013's "The Evil Dead" reimagined the basic concept of youngsters in an abandoned cabin
and added a level of tangible and brutal reality to the proceedings. There isn't
much consistency across the "Evil Dead" movies, but that's what makes the series so interesting.
This is especially true in regards to the first three, in which you can watch Raimi growing with
confidence as a filmmaker in real time. But if there's one consistency across these movies,
it's the presence of great moments of gross-out horror. Binge-watching the "Evil Dead" series
will doubtlessly satisfy all your cravings for unabashedly ridiculous horror cinema.
When the "Child's Play" movies started, nobody involved could've imagined where
the series would go. If you plan to watch all the "Child's Play" movies, though, buckle up
because the trajectory of this series is a wild one. Watching them consecutively means viewers
will start in the 1980s, before moving into 21st-century installments like "Seed of Chucky"
that took things into unexpected avenues. These later films saw the blood flowing, as well as
the creative juices of Don Mancini, who wrote all of the Chucky flicks and directed the last three.
"Hi. Are you my best buddy?"
Binge-watching just the first five "Child's Play" installments would make for a fantastically
memorable experience. However, avid fans of the franchise could also throw in the two
direct-to-video sequels overseen by Mancini, as well as experience an alternate version of
Chucky through the surprisingly enjoyable 2019 "Child's Play" remake. Watching the series will
take viewers on a roller coaster of different tones, filmmaking styles, and even incarnations
of Chucky, voiced by the legendary Brad Dourif and Mark Hamill, respectively.
Sure, no one expected such a journey back when this killer doll first started carving up trouble.
All of that unexpectedness, though, is the gain of horror movie binge-watchers everywhere.
The "Saw" movies, like any torture horror series, will not be to everyone's tastes. Some people
enjoy watching the creative ways these movies keep coming up with for characters to writhe in agony,
but for others, it's just not their cup of tea. If this is your go-to form of horror entertainment,
though, then "Saw" is an ideal fit for a night of horror binge-watching.
And in an unexpected move for a slew of micro-budget sequels,
later "Saw" installments established a dense lore for this universe.
Jigsaw was no longer just a killer, for example. By the end of "Saw III," he became
a deceased mastermind who'd left behind convoluted ways to keep his legacy going.
The details of this franchise only get more and more bizarre from there,
as the "Saw" sequels constantly expand upon their mythos, even as recently as 2021's "Spiral."
Watching them all back-to-back can be the ideal way to pick up on all the pieces
of connective tissue between individual entries, and the constant presence of new
ways for Jigsaw and his proteges to kill people can keep the entertainment going.
"The Purge" movies don't begin on the highest note. The original installment from 2013 is the
least ambitious entry in the series, despite the presence of notable actors like Ethan Hawke. But
the film proved successful enough to spawn a trio of follow-ups that have each gotten more confident
than the last. Even better, they've all featured different lead actors, and for the most part,
individual "Purge" movies have opted to focus on new characters. This inclination has expanded
in the most recent installments to include focusing on very specific minority perspectives,
such as Black heroes in "The First Purge" and Latinx characters in "The Forever Purge."
The increasing variety and confidence in each subsequent "Purge" movie
culminated in the franchise's best entry yet, "The First Purge,"
which saw the series dive head-first into enjoyably blunt political commentary.
Absorbing these titles in a binge-watching fashion allows viewers to appreciate how this series has
evolved from its inaugural entry as it adds new characters and begins to explore the titular night
from the perspective of various marginalized groups. Plus, watching these films in release
order allows your binge-watch to cap off on a high note. Just grit your teeth through the
original "Purge," and this franchise can make for a mighty fine horror marathon.
There's no masked killer wandering through the various "Final Destination" movies. The antagonist
here is just the presence of death itself. Death doesn't like to be cheated, and each
"Final Destination" movie sees death managing to find creative ways to kill its young victims. The
five entries in this franchise have gotten varying degrees of reception from critics and audiences,
but none of them were short on imaginative ways of ending the lives of their principal characters.
The fact that each new movie keeps bringing in a new crop of characters to kill off helps
lend a sense of distinctiveness to each entry. Similarly, the lack of a personified presence
for death across multiple features means that the villain of the "Final Destination" films
never loses its sense of menace. This is in sharp contrast to other horror foes like Jason Voorhees,
who stick around for multiple movies and end up becoming punchlines.
"I beat you."
The "Conjuring" franchise is one of the few consistently successful cinematic universes
without a Marvel Studios logo attached to it. Starting in 2013 with "The Conjuring,"
the series has gone on to spawn not just two direct follow-ups but also a trio of "Annabelle"
spinoffs, as well as further offshoots with "The Nun" and "The Curse of La Llorona." Though the
spinoffs largely work as standalone movies, they do find ways of connecting or referring
to the main "Conjuring" titles, such as the ending of "The Nun," which reveals how
one of the film's characters influenced the very existence of the original "Conjuring."
Fully appreciating these kinds of connections is one of several rewards you can gleam from
digesting the various "Conjuring" installments in a binging mode. Another upside is examining what
different directors bring to this franchise. The playful nature of David F. Sandberg's "Annabelle:
Creation," for example, is starkly different from the haunted house vibes of James Wan's
first two "Conjuring" movies. Though they all occupy the same space, there are
different atmospheres and even time periods explored in the various "Conjuring" titles,
giving us one of the rare cinematic universes to thrive at the box office.
The world of international horror is vast and dense with phenomenal titles.
However, if you're specifically in the mood for a series of long-running,
foreign-language horror films to binge-watch, one of your best options
is the "Ju-On" series. The inspiration behind the American "Grudge" franchise,
the original Japanese series has got you covered when it comes to incredibly creepy films.
For example, if you're in the mood for only a quartet of films, you can simply partake
in the original series of "Ju-On" films that ended with the pair of 2009 features
"Black Ghost" and "White Ghost." However, there are plenty of other installments in this franchise
if you're craving more "Ju-On" frights. If you want to be a completist, though,
you'd also have to include the crossover event movie "Ju-on vs Ringu,"
which brings together the demonic entities from the original "Grudge" and "Ring" movies.
No franchise that gets to six installments, or eight if you want to count the "Alien vs.
Predator" crossover features, can deliver classic movies all of the time. However,
this series still delivered two stone-cold masterpieces with its first two films,
"Alien" and "Aliens." Across these two entries, the most beloved staples of the
franchise were established while also showing a refreshing refusal to just repeat the past.
While "Alien" is a darker horror movie, "Aliens" is a rollicking action adventure.
That particular quality can be chalked up to the different directors for each movie,
with Ridley Scott helming the first "Alien" and James Cameron directing the sequel.
After "Aliens," the quality gets a lot less consistent, but that doesn't mean the rest
of the franchise is devoid of merit. For one thing, it's fascinating to watch how
Ridley Scott's 21st-century "Alien" movies, like "Prometheus," compare to his very first
title. For another, divisive features like "Alien 3" may not be universally loved,
but they could be up your alley. That's the joy of binge-watching a series like "Alien." Not
every film will be your favorite, but you could find an unexpected gem within the franchise.
With "Night of the Living Dead" in 1967, George A. Romero forever altered zombies. Slow-walking
undead figures that devour human flesh are commonplace in pop culture today, but Romero
defined our modern conception of these beasts with a single film. This accomplishment alone makes his
original "Night of the Living Dead" a landmark horror film. But Romero didn't stop there. He
created a slew of sequels that provide the perfect basis for a frightening round of binge-watching.
While many horror sequels to famous films are low-grade cash grabs, several of the
"Night of the Living Dead" follow-ups are acclaimed movies in their own right,
particularly the 1978 installment "Dawn of the Dead." Not only does watching this series provide
you with plenty of beloved zombie fare, but it's also intriguing to take in the unique qualities of
each entry. Since Romero made most of the movies in different decades, many of the films have a
unique ambiance that reflects the atmosphere of horror cinema in that era. For example, 2007's
"Diary of the Dead" was the first in a resurgent wave of found-footage movies in the late 2000s,
a sharp contrast to the more conventional filming techniques in the original "Night of the Living
Dead." Romero's zombie films give fans as much food for thought as it does graphic zombie kills,
and that makes them perfect movie night material.
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