Top 10 Most Iconic Horror Franchises

Franchises are central to horror. Sure, some horror franchises have taken liberties with just how many movies a franchise really needs, with some even entering the double-digits. However, without horror franchise sequels, we wouldn’t have so many iconic characters and movies building the foundations of the horror genre.

That’s why today, in celebration of Halloween and the closing days of spooky month, we’re going to be ranking the most iconic horror franchises of all time. Prior warning, there’s a lot of slasher franchises here, but hey – slasher franchises are central to the horror genre, however much criticism they may get. With that being said, let’s talk about some horror franchises, and get into the ranking!

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10. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Image by Bryanston Distributing Company

Seeing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the bottom of the list may be a shock to some people. After all, Leatherface is a horror icon, and the franchise is likely one of the quickest to come to mind when horror fans and haters alike think of the genre. To give the franchise its credit, the first entry, way back in 1974, is one of the greatest horror films of all time, predating all of the remaining placements on this list, kickstarting the slasher genre, and birthing one of the earliest instances of a final girl in Sally Hardesty.

However, this franchise has nine movies, and with the exception of the first film, and maybe the 2003 remake if you’re into horror movies, absolutely none of them are particularly recommendable. The premise of the franchise is terrifying – a maniacal, cannibalistic family hunting down teenagers in the sweltering Texas heat. There’s a certain griminess to the Texas Chainsaw films that set them apart from the other horror franchises – however, apart from the two movies I mentioned, all of the remaining seven films are arguably horror-comedy movies, earning more laughs than scares, and oftentimes, this comedy element was unintentional. As badly as the franchise has held up over time, it’s still an iconic one, and deserved a spot on this list – albeit, right at the bottom.

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9. The Conjuring

Image by Warner Bros. Pictures

Technically, there are only three movies in The Conjuring franchise, but for this entry, we’re taking into account the entire Conjuring universe, which bumps the film count up to eight, ten if you include 2016’s Wolves at the Door, and 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona, which both are technically not members of The Conjuring universe, yet shares characters with them – it’s complicated, I know. Regardless of which movies you include though, The Conjuring franchise is one of the most iconic in all of horror, particularly in the modern horror landscape.

Putting our business hats on for a moment, The Conjuring franchise’s success in the numerical field is worth noting. Grossing $2.2 billion against a budget of $208 million, the franchise is the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time – clearly, the public were enthralled by the adventures of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Many of the movies in the franchise, though, do suffer from mixed to negative reviews, leading fans to debate its icon status. However, the series has spawned some fairly memorable imagery and characters, and you’re always guaranteed to get some great scares with every film, making The Conjuring franchise a worthy contender on our list.

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8. Evil Dead

Image by New Line Cinema

Evil Dead is such an iconic horror franchise mainly for its genre-blending, with some movies in the franchise being so different from the others that you’d be forgiven for forgetting they’re connected at all. The road from 1981’s Evil Dead to 1993’s Army of Darkness saw the franchise evolve from a full-on horror, to a full-on fantasy-comedy, until in 2013 the franchise returned and made its mark as one of the most terrifying, gory modern horror movies of the era. Seriously, 2013’s Evil Dead and 2023’s Evil Dead Rise are not for the faint of heart – those movies are no joke.

In general, the series deals with ancient texts that, when invoked, summon demonic zombies known as Deadites that possess central characters and wreak havoc on the remaining cast members. The franchise has been noted over the years for its inventiveness, with original director Sam Raimi finding his unique directorial footing with the films, a style that would later influence all of his directorial works. Watching an Evil Dead movie is an experience like no other, and though it hasn’t spawned any particularly iconic antagonist like its 80’s horror contemporaries, the series’ ability to hold up in the landscape with modern-day installations should be praised.

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7. Saw

Image by Lionsgate Films

Saw is a difficult franchise to wrap your head around. The concept behind the films is near-genius, and the perfect set-up for endless sequels. However, to say that the opportunity for sequels has been taken advantage of is an understatement. The first Saw, from 2004, is a very enjoyable detective thriller, and though Jigsaw’s traps play a role in the story, they’re not the main focus. Instead, the pursuit of John Kramer takes centre stage, with his actions acting as a backdrop to why he must be caught.

Saw II is a fairly enjoyable film, though they do lean a lot more into the trap element of the series as a way of standing out as a splatter movie. After this, the series goes off the rails. The plot becomes almost nonsensical and ridiculously theatrical, and the traps become overly gory, purely for the sake of gore. Saw X returned the series to its roots somewhat in 2023, but the seven movies between Saw II and Saw X cheapened the franchise severely. Still, the movies are iconic – Billy the Puppet likely comes to mind when anyone thinks of iconic horror characters, and the franchise has become known over the years as one of the most squirm-inducing horror series of all time. Saw has earned its reputation as a horror mainstay – just make sure you brace yourself for blood.

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6. Friday the 13th

Image by Warner Bros. Pictures

Speaking of franchises that enjoy their sequels, Friday the 13th certainly falls into that category. There are twelve movies in total in the Friday the 13th franchise – there really should be one more for theming’s sake, but hey – with the licensing issues the series has been dealing with for the past few years, we’ll take what we can get. Friday the 13th is not the most groundbreaking horror franchise of all time – there have certainly been some major misses across the twelve films. However, that hockey mask has stood the test of time, and Jason Voorhees is one of the greatest horror villains of all time.

Friday the 13th also managed to make an impact in the modern era, with a 2009 remake that many horror fans believe to be one of the greatest horror remakes of all time, encapsulating everything fans loved about the early films, and combining it with the darker tones of 2000’s horror. Sure, Jason’s ventures into Manhattan, space, and hell, haven’t been the most well-received, but the franchise has managed to remain iconic over the years. What began as a Halloween rip-off became a monster of its own, and a mainstay in the horror genre. We’ve ranked all twelve of the Friday the 13th films, so for more, check that list out here.

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5. Child’s Play

Image by United Artists

Killer dolls aren’t exactly unique in horror these days, but it all started with one Good Guy doll back in 1988. The Child’s Play franchise, more commonly known as the Chucky franchise, has taken on many forms over the years, dipping into the comedy genre to varying degrees with each new entry, and while sometimes it hasn’t worked (looking at you Seed of Chucky), other times, the Chucky films have blended comedy and horror in a way that no other horror franchise can.

There are seven films in the Child’s Play franchise – technically eight if you include the 2019 reboot, but considering the backstory to that film and its relationship with Don Mancini, I choose not to include it – and each film has carved out its own identity in the franchise, which is more than can be said for some of the other entries on this list. Each Chucky film feels entirely unique, for better or worse, and also spawned a fairly beloved TV series in 2021. Though the series was recently canceled, much to the dismay of many fans, I have no doubt that Chucky and his franchise will live on, as one of the most iconic horror series of all time. In fact, we love this series so much, we’ve ranked each of the movies in the franchise here.

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4. Alien

Image by 20th Century Studios

It’s often debated whether or not Alien is a horror franchise. The second film, Aliens, is the most beloved film in the franchise for many, and is typically considered an action movie rather than a horror. However, practically every other entry in the franchise leans heavily into the horror elements, and the film that started it all, Alien in 1979, is certainly a terrifying sci-fi adventure worthy of a horror tag, so we’re including it here – and if we included it here, it needed to rank high.

When it comes to sci-fi horror, nothing is touching the Alien franchise. With its suffocating depiction of space, combined with its horrifying extraterrestrial creatures, the Alien franchise has earned plenty of scares over the years, and with the recent release of Alien: Romulus, which we’ve reviewed here, the franchise has returned to form and is the strongest it’s been in years. There are already confirmed plans for a sequel to Romulus, and the future looks bright for the Alien franchise. A horror essential for sure, and one of the most iconic horror, and even just movie in general, franchises of all time.

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3. Scream

Image by Paramount Pictures

If there was ever a horror mask more iconic than Jason Voorhees’ signature hockey mask, it could only be the mask donned by many a character over the years to masquerade as Ghost Face, the everlasting antagonistic force of the Scream franchise. If there’s one thing I must praise the Scream movies for over the years, it’s consistency. Apart from some criticisms that many fans have with Scream 4, this murder-mystery, slasher classic has remained fairly consistent in its quality over the years, from its debut in 1996 to today.

Scream hasn’t lost any momentum either, with the franchise experiencing a revitalization in recent years, bringing Ghost Face to a whole new generation in gloriously gory fashion. Surprisingly, this isn’t the highest ranked entry on this list from Wes Craven, but his name has become so synonymous with Scream, it feels important to mention his brilliance in the slasher genre here. Though there’s been plenty of justified controversy surrounding the impending release of Scream 7, the franchise has given us six iconic entries, never missing the mark by a large margin, and birthing one of the most iconic horror icons of all time.

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2. Halloween

Image by Universal Pictures

For many, Halloween marked the birth of the slasher genre as we know it today – and in many ways, that would be a justified statement. Sure, Halloween wasn’t the first slasher to ever exist, but it certainly marked a shift in how seriously the genre was viewed within Hollywood, and was the inspiration for many of the other entries on this list. With its iconic soundtrack, legendary final girl, and of course, terrifying antagonist, Halloween left a mark on audiences in 1978, and it has left a mark on horror to this day,

There are a whopping thirteen movies in the Halloween franchise if you include spin-offs, and while some have been critically lauded and others critically slated, the franchise has remained an ever-present force in the horror landscape since the 1970’s, a feat that none of the other entries here can claim. With Halloween Ends marking a finale for the franchise in 2022, it’s unsure whether or not we’ll ever see the Halloween franchise grace our screens again, but one thing is for sure – the mark that John Carpenter left on horror all those years ago can never be erased, and if I didn’t adore our number one entry on this list so much, it would take the crown itself.

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1. A Nightmare on Elm Street

Image by New Line Cinema

In 1984, the world was introduced to A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the horror genre was never the same. The idea of a serial killer being able to invade your dreams and hunt you down while you sleep is one of the most inventive concepts to ever grace the horror genre, and the whole concept was skyrocketed in popularity through the central antagonist, Freddy Krueger, portrayed by Robert Englund with undeniable charisma and flair. Ignoring some of the later entries, and that awful remake in 2010, the Nightmare franchise is one of the greatest horror franchises of all time, in both quality and relevance.

The only place where this franchise falters is in its ability to make a mark in the modern horror scene, but in some ways, Freddy’s relevance despite not getting a movie in over a decade speaks to how great the impact of the early films in the franchise was. Still, I would love to see the Nightmare franchise step into the world of modern horror – with the capabilities of cinema today, one can only imagine how cool a new-age Nightmare on Elm Street movie could be. This franchise takes the crown for the most iconic horror franchise of all time for its creativity, influence, and the star that is Freddy Krueger. Truly, Wes Craven’s finest creation of all time.

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Conclusion

Do you agree with our choices? What do you think is the most iconic horror franchise of all time? Did we miss out on any horror staples, or have we got the cornerstones of horror all covered? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

See also: Best Underrated Horror Movies

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