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My Favorite Horror Franchises

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The summer of 2015 is gearing up to be The Summer of Sequels. We’ve already had The Woman in Black 2, [REC] 4, Taken 3, and Avengers: Age of Ultron, and in the upcoming months we’ll be getting Insidious: Chapter 3, Jurassic World, Terminator: Genisys, Sinister 2, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (and I’m sure I missed a few). So I thought this would be a good time to list the best horror franchises out there.

Please note that my criteria for a franchise is at least three films in a series (sorry Predator and Laid to Rest). I can watch all these franchises again and again without ever getting bored. This list isn’t in any particular order.

Romero’s Dead Trilogy

I’m of course talking about Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), and Day of the Dead (1985). Not only are these films the standard by which all other zombie films are measured, they also kick some serious ass. They are well-written, well-executed, well-acted, and Dawn and Day have some of the best gore around. I’m limiting this franchise to the first three films because, let’s face it, the other three Romero zombie flicks are pretty uneven. Oh let’s be honest, 2005s Land of the Dead sucked out loud!!

Franchise Romero

Hellraiser Trilogy

Once again, I’m limiting this franchise to the first three films (it’s my list and I’ll do whatever I want). Hellraiser (1987) is a groundbreaking film. Nothing like it was seen before. The first film also proved that Clive Barker is more than just a master of the written word. Hellhound: Hellraiser II (1988) is darker, gorier, and further explores the world and mythology of Pinhead and his cohorts. Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) has its flaws, but is overall a pretty damn strong movie that introduces a few new cenobites.

Franchise Hellraiser

Friday the 13th Films

Say what you will about this franchise, but I’ll take this one over the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise any day. Jason is a stone-cold killer with no stupid one-liners, and after all the films in the series, Jason still manages to be scary. The first four films in the franchise are the best, but I watch all of them every time we get a Friday the 13th calendar day.

Franchise Friday2

The Alien Films

This is another solid franchise, but to make it a great horror series, I’m removing Aliens (1986) from the rotation. Aliens is a fun action flick, but it most definitely is not a horror film. The original Alien (1979), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien: Resurrection (1997) kick some major ass, though.

Franchise Alien

The Evil Dead Trilogy

Another classic franchise that is hugely entertaining, gory, and scary. I admit that I’m not as big a fan of Army of Darkness (1992) as most fans (it is way to campy with not enough gore for me), it’s still a terrific trilogy.

Franchise Evil Dead

The Tremors Franchise

Did you know that there’s four Tremors films, with a fifth one coming out later in 2015? I just recently showed the first two to my kids (ages ten and seven) and they love them. Watching the Graboids snatch and eat up the cast is so much fun. I also love how the writers evolve the creatures in the sequels. They walk on land in Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996) and they fly in Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001). I can’t wait to see what they do in part five!!

Franchise Tremors

The Wrong Turn Films

This franchise may never win any awards, but it’s one of my guilty pleasure franchises (along with Final Destination, see below). I wasn’t really a fan of the original Wrong Turn (2003), but since that film, the filmmakers have settled into a pattern of creating some of the goriest and craziest horror films out there. If you’re looking for logic, solid stories, and character development, look elsewhere. If you want to see hot girls split in two, people torn apart, and other grizzly sights, then this franchise is for you. There are currently six film in the franchise and I don’t see an end in sight.

Franchise Wrong Turn

The Hatchet Trilogy

Thank you Adam Green for going back to the basics!! At the end of the day, the Hatchet trilogy is simply a slasher killing characters in the swamp. Victor Crowley became an instant horror icon for the new generation. What makes this trilogy so much fun are all the great practical effects, a great killer, and tons of genre cameos. Even more, though, is writer-director Adam Green. You can tell from watching his films that this man loves the horror genre. This franchise is both a throwback to the classic slasher films of the 1980s, and is Green’s love letter to the genre.

HATCHET III / Director BJ McDonnell / Photo: Skip Bolen

HATCHET III / Director BJ McDonnell / Photo: Skip Bolen

The [Rec] Franchise

This franchise admittedly has its ups and downs but is overall a tremendously fun and gory franchise. Are you sick and tired of the found footage-style movies? Well, you obviously haven’t seen any of the [Rec] films. [Rec] (2007) and [Rec] 2 (2009) are so damn good that as soon as they end you’ll immediately want to watch them over again (I did). [Rec] 2 is no doubt the best film in the series, but all the films in the franchise have over the top gore and fun stories.

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NYT2010070721093144C

Final Destination Franchise

This is my other guilty pleasure franchise on my list. Let’s face it, every sequel has been a remake of the first Final Destination (2000). What makes these films so damn fun, though, are the opening sequence, that always involves some kind of horrendous accident, and all the inventive deaths throughout the films. The filmmakers here don’t pull any punches either… most of the death scenes are gory and explicit.

Franchise Final Destination

The Saw Trilogy

You knew this was going to pop up on my list!! Ultimately I enjoyed all the films in this franchise, but I thought the first three were the strongest. Some of the later films felt rushed and didn’t do it for me. The first three films, though, are pretty damn amazing with great stories and great gore.

Franchise Saw

So, what’s your favorite horror franchises? Let me know in the comments section below!!

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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