If there’s one thing Hollywood loves, it’s a horror franchise that just won’t die. Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and countless other horror icons have proven that there’s always room for one more killing spree, no matter how many times they’ve supposedly met their end.
But while certain horror properties keep getting dragged out of the grave, there are plenty of others that have been left to rot, and frankly, we think that’s a damn shame. We’re talking about franchises that still have plenty of blood left to spill, whether it’s because they ended too soon, never got the sequels they deserved, or simply have concepts too good to abandon. So, with Halloween just around the corner, we’re taking a look at five horror franchises that deserve another movie.
Cube
- Movies so far:
- Cube (1997)
- Cube 2: Hypercube (2002)
- Cube Zero (2004)
- Cube (2021)
It’s puzzling to me that Cube hasn’t been resurrected. Vincenzo Natali’s original 1997 film was a sci-fi spin on the locked-room mystery, made all the more effective by how little we knew about the structure itself. Who built the Cube? Why were these people chosen? Was anyone actually watching them? The lack of answers only made it creepier.
Naturally, the sequels couldn’t resist providing a few. Cube 2: Hypercube expanded the concept into alternate realities, shifting time, and theoretical physics, while Cube Zero went in the opposite direction, serving as a prequel that finally took us behind the scenes of the operation. Japan also produced its own remake in 2021.
To bring it back, you don’t need returning characters, complicated continuity, or even a particularly large budget. Just put a group of characters in what is essentially one set, with a sci-fi mystery and creative deaths; it’s precisely the type of micro-budget horror film that a studio like Blumhouse Atomic Monster would go wild for.
Pumpkinhead
- Movies so far:
- Pumpkinhead (1988)
- Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994)
- Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes (2006)
- Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud (2007)
One of the greatest creature designs in horror deserves better than disappearing into direct-to-video obscurity. And because Pumpkinhead is essentially an ancient demon summoned for vengeance, you don’t need any continuity whatsoever. Set the next one in Appalachia in the 1800s and go full folk-horror. Anything’s possible.
The original, which was Stan Winston’s directorial debut, remains the best of the bunch, thanks to Winston’s creature work, Lance Henriksen’s terrific performance as Ed Harley, and the movie’s Southern Gothic atmosphere. The sequels never quite matched it. Blood Wings went direct-to-video, while Ashes to Ashes and Blood Feud were made for television, meaning Pumpkinhead has never really received the big-screen second chance the character deserves.
If Pumpkinhead is brought back, don’t bury the creature under CGI or turn him into a generic slasher. The formula is already there: someone suffers a terrible loss, someone makes a terrible decision, and Pumpkinhead comes to collect. That’s enough.
The Collector
- Movies so far:
- The Collector (2009)
- The Collection (2012)
Of all the franchises on this list, The Collector is the one where another movie feels less like a wish and more like a desperately needed conclusion.
Marcus Dunstan’s 2009 original introduced a particularly nasty new horror villain: a masked killer who transforms his victims’ surroundings into elaborate death traps. Josh Stewart’s Arkin also gave the movie a protagonist clever and resourceful enough to make his battle with the Collector feel like a genuine contest.
The Collection went bigger in 2012, but more importantly, the ending flipped the relationship between hero and villain in a way that practically demanded a third chapter.
And we almost got one. The Collected actually entered production before the project collapsed, leaving the sequel trapped in development limbo. The project is still listed as in development, but it’s hard to say whether it will actually happen.
30 Days of Night
- Movies so far:
- 30 Days of Night (2007)
- 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010)
30 Days of Night has such a fantastic depiction of vampires. These aren’t your romantic, tortured souls, and they definitely don’t sparkle. Instead, they’re straight-up feral predators, with a horrifying mouth full of teeth and black shark eyes.
The story of David Slade’s 2007 original took place in the Alaskan town of Barrow, which entered a prolonged period without sunlight every winter. Naturally, a pack of vampires realizes this means they’ve basically stumbled across an all-you-can-eat buffet.
The 2010 direct-to-video sequel Dark Days took the action to Los Angeles, but it wasn’t great.
A new movie should go back to basics without necessarily remaking the original. Find another remote community somewhere in the world where prolonged darkness is a fact of life and set the vampires loose. The comic series created by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith expanded well beyond the original story, so there’s no shortage of material or mythology to draw from.
Re-Animator
- Movies so far:
- Re-Animator (1985)
- Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
- Beyond Re-Animator (2003)
Herbert West has been absent for far too long. Sure, there’s a contemporary reimagining of the H.P. Lovecraft story coming up, but I don’t want anyone remaking the original; we need Jeffrey Combs back.
Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator remains one of the great horror comedies of the ’80s, taking Lovecraft’s story and transforming it into a glorious symphony of mad science, pitch-black comedy, and gallons of gore.
Brian Yuzna kept the experiments going with Bride of Re-Animator, while Beyond Re-Animator relocated West to prison. There’s been talk of another sequel for years, but nothing has ever come of it. Now’s the time to bring Combs back as an elderly West who has spent decades refining his reagent and getting into trouble. What has forty years of failure taught him? Probably absolutely nothing, but don’t you want to see it?
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Now it’s your turn. Which dormant horror franchises need another movie? Be it a proper sequel, a prequel, a remake, or something else entirely. Let us know in the comments!
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