Five Best Horror Franchises to Marathon-Watch This Halloween

Horror films take place in an alternate universe where logic disappears. The villain comes back to life, the car doesn't start and those damn kids always go into the dark basement alone. Instead of spending your Halloween partying with people in Ebola patient costumes, choose a classic horror movie franchise...

By Amanda Moutinho

October 30, 2014

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Horror films take place in an alternate universe where logic disappears. The villain comes back to life, the car doesn't start and those damn kids always go into the dark basement alone. Instead of spending your Halloween partying with people in Ebola patient costumes, choose a classic horror movie franchise and binge watch every chapter. Compare and contrast different elements, count the number of deaths and finally be the definitive voice on which A Nightmare on Elm Street is the best. Here are the top five horror film franchise to binge-watch this Halloween weekend.

5. Scream (1996-2011, 4 films) The Scream franchise has one of the least frightening villain costumes ever. Despite the un-scary mask, the franchise is full of plot twists that keep you guessing. You either love or hate it's slightly cheesy manor, but the true strength of these movies are their self-awareness. Coming after the golden age of slasher movies, Scream made fun of the scary movie clichés and used them to its advantage. Rummage through your basement for your old Scream mask, which can be found in every '90s household, put on the movies and wonder what ever happened to Neve Campbell.

4. Saw (2004-2010, 7 films) The first Saw film by itself can be considered one of the greatest horror movies of all time. The sequels keep drawing us back to see the new, creative traps and the new sinister plots taht Jigsaw has thought up. Jigsaw is a twisted villain who makes his victims question their own mortality and is always down to play a game. Beware if you choose the Saw franchise. The deaths scenes are terrifyingly realistic and graphic. After a few movies in you might need a shot Pepto Bismol to settle your stomach.

3. Hellraiser (1987-2011, 9 films) The Hellraiser series is based on the novella The Hellbound Heart by British author Clive Barker, and it has since gained a cult following. The movies center on a puzzle box that unlocks the door to a hell-like dimension full of monsters whose mission is to harvest human souls for experimentation. It has great special effects but is best known for its colorful cast of monsters. Still, even the fun makeup and costumes will not distract from the truly gnarly kill scenes.

Keep reading for three more scary movie franchises. 2. Tie: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984-2010, 9 films)/ Friday the 13th (1980-2009, 12 films) It's nearly impossible to choose between Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. Both anti-heroes dominated the '80s and have clung to relevancy through today. Friday the 13th follows Jason and his chainsaw as he terrorizes Crystal Lake. While in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy haunts the dreams of teenagers. And if you can't make up your mind which is the best, marathon both franchises then watch their showdown in Freddy vs. Jason.

1. Halloween (1978-2009, 10 films) Halloween is credited as being one of the first movies to kick off the slasher genre, which took its inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The setup is this: No frills villain Michael Myers escapes a sanitarium to inflict revenge on the anniversary of when he killed his sister, October 31. And it set the precedent for certain horror movie standards, including: the virgin never dies; shots from the killer's perspectives; and blood-boiling theme music. Spend your Halloween with the ultimate scary movie franchise and revel in the one that started it all.

Follow Amanda Moutinho on Twitter at @amandamoutinho.

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