Horror

[talonmalon333]

Has anyone seen The Orphanage?

[talonmalon333]

I feel like ranking the movies in the three big slasher franchises. This is something I wanted to do for a while, but now I have the motivation for it.

1. Halloween
2. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
3. Halloween II
4. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
5. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
6. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
7. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
8. Halloween: Resurrection

Halloween is a horror classic. There's no doubt about that. Halloween III slowly seems to be shedding its initial negative reception, and rightfully so. The movie is very different and fun, and you can't help but watch it thinking about the original anthology idea. Halloween II isn't awful, especially after seeing how bad the genre got. But it's tired and pointless, and 4 onward is brutally unnecessary. Curse ruined the series, and then Resurrection ruined it even worse after H20 salvaged it a little bit.

1. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
2. Friday the 13th
3. Friday the 13th Part II
4. Friday the 13th Part VI
5. Friday the 13th Part III
6. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
7. Jason X
8. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
9. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
10. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Not sure if there's a lot to say about these ones. They are just movies about a guy in a hockey mask slicing people up. Probably the most consistent series of the three in quality, but then again, the original movie didn't have much of a pedestal to stand on, anyway. Final Chapter probably does the formula the best, though. Manhattan is just abysmal, and even the director knows it.

1. A Nightmare on Elm Street
2. Wes Craven's New Nightmare
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
5. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
7. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

I'd say this is the best series of the three if only because it has three legitimately good movies, which is more than I can say for the other two. Nightmare on Elm Street is a classic, Dream Warriors is energetic and fun, and New Nightmare is a great different take. That being said, Freddy's Dead is horrible and is quite possibly worse than anything Halloween and Friday has to offer.

[Avaitor]

I like the second Friday the 13th better than the first. The kids are a little more bearable than in the first, with the final girl in particular actually giving Jason a fight and made for a fun to watch ending sequence.

I've only seen the first 3, so I can't really rank the series. But that's more than Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street, where I've only seen the first of each.

How many of the Hellraisers have you seen, btw?

[Spark Of Spirit]

You only need to see the third one and New Nightmare in the Elm Street series. The rest might as well be non-canon since only the stuff with Nancy matters.

[talonmalon333]

I like the second Friday the 13th better than the first. The kids are a little more bearable than in the first, with the final girl in particular actually giving Jason a fight and made for a fun to watch ending sequence.

I do remember liking the final girl in Part II, especially when she gets into Jason's mind. Other than leads, though, the characters in these movies are weak in general. I mostly like them for their atmosphere and special effects. And as far as special effects go, Part II lacked Tom Savini, which keeps it a bit below the original for me.

I've only seen the first 3, so I can't really rank the series. But that's more than Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street, where I've only seen the first of each.

You should check out Dream Warriors and New Nightmare. They are the only Nightmare sequels that Wes Craven directed. Dream Warriors is flashy and fun and serves as a good conclusion to the series, and New Nightmare is just a great new take on Freddy.

How many of the Hellraisers have you seen, btw?

Actually, I'm really behind on that series. I only remember the first movie, and even then, not the whole thing.

[talonmalon333]

I think Nancy is my favorite lead out of these slasher franchises. I like Laurie a lot, and she's the classic final girl archetype. But Nancy is a bit more fleshed out and takes action more.

You only need to see the third one and New Nightmare in the Elm Street series. The rest might as well be non-canon since only the stuff with Nancy matters.

I'd also say only the first Halloween is canon, since everything starting with II completely contradicts the point of it. Even Carpenter himself hated II and made it as less of a story continuation and more as just something to please the producers so he could move on. The movies from 4 onward are basically fan fiction.

[Avaitor]

I am planning on watching Dream Warriors and New Nightmare at some point, and I also have Halloween II in my queue for some reason. I also want to get to Season of the Witch as well.

[talonmalon333]

I am planning on watching Dream Warriors and New Nightmare at some point, and I also have Halloween II in my queue for some reason. I also want to get to Season of the Witch as well.

Halloween II isn't bad. It's certainly better than most other cheap slashers. I'd even argue it's better now than it was when it was first released, because now we're comparing it to even worse slashers and later sequels, and not just comparing it to the classic it serves as a follow up to. I don't recommend it much, but you can do worse.

Halloween III is such a sad case. It's a fun science fiction horror flick that's drenched in Halloween atmosphere. I really wish the audiences accepted it more back when it was in theaters. It's possible that maybe Universal Pictures should have done a better job at establishing Halloween as an anthology series, because that might have conditioned the fans to accept the idea that this isn't just a Michael Myers slasher series and, thus, they would go in not expecting him. I've even heard the director, Tommy Lee Wallace, apparently felt Universal did a lousy job of promoting it as its own thing. It's just so easy to watch Halloween III and think "what if."

[Spark Of Spirit]

Halloween III would have worked if they didn't make Halloween II first. Then it would have been obvious this was meant to be an anthology series. But of course they needed to milk the first one since it was such a hit.

[talonmalon333]

Carpenter admitted he only got through writing Halloween II by going through a six pack of beer.

I think he also wanted to do Season of the Witch after making the first movie. Of course, the producers wanted another Michael Myers movie, and when you look at II, you can see he made it with the intention of ending the killer.

[talonmalon333]

Avaitor, you said you also saw the third Friday the 13th movie, right? I'm curious what you thought of that one.

[Avaitor]

Bleh.

[talonmalon333]

It becomes better if you see the rest of the sequels.

Aside from IV which is the best in the series, and VI which is a fun tongue-in-cheek take on the series. But I think III is special in that it's the movie where Jason first puts on the hockey mask. Funny how it took so long. He's a horror icon, and yet not only is he not even in the first movie, but when he finally debuts in the second movie, he doesn't even have the mask.

[Daikun]

R.I.P. Leatherface

[gunswordfist]

R.I.P. Hansen