Welcome to Part Two, where I delve into even more third entries in horror franchises. Here, I have a good mix of awful films that really should have killed their respective franchises off once and for all, alongside third entries that unexpectedly paved the way for far better things down the line.

Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)

I didn’t even know there was an Omen II… never mind a III. I’m a huge fan of the original film, and it works wonderfully as a standalone picture, delivering a great, ominous ending that didn’t need anything else attached to it. But, of course, the suits saw dollar signs and forced through unnecessary sequels. This second sequel sees an adult Damien Thorn become the U.S. Ambassador to the UK. So the Antichrist becomes a politician… which honestly feels pretty damn accurate. Sam Neill puts in a fantastically sinister performance as the now-adult Damien, and frankly, that’s about the only good thing in the film.

Do you know why this had The Final Conflict in the title? Because it was supposed to be the last film. That was it, a neat trilogy, no more. Even the marketing at the time trumpeted it as the definitive conclusion of the story. But they just couldn’t leave well enough alone. Omen IV: Armageddon was a planned television sequel that never quite materialised, but they eventually made Omen IV: The Awakening in 1991. A remake followed in 2006. More recently, a prequel to the first film was released in 2024, which is supposed to be pretty good, and there’s talk of that getting a sequel too.

Is this a franchise that should’ve stopped at three? Not at all, thi is another example of one of those that should’ve stopped at one. I might eventually get around to watching that prequel, but for me, this is one of those classic instances where the original film was so damn monumental that nothing else was ever needed.

Day of the Dead (1985)

I am a massive fan of George A. Romero’s original Dead trilogy, and Dawn of the Dead is quite simply one of the greatest zombie films ever made. But what about this third film in the series? It’s arguably the weakest of the trio, but still pretty damn entertaining. It features some great practical effects work, an absolute wanker of a villain in Captain Rhodes who cops one of the best death scenes in horror history, and, of course, Bub the zombie. There’s a lot to like here, even if the narrative is a tad thin.

Naturally, the franchise didn’t stop at three, resulting in a delightfully confusing timeline that I previously explored in a separate article, as convoluted as it is with sequels, prequels, remakes, prequels to the remakes, re-edits, revisions, and god knows what else. But just for this discussion, I’ll stick to the core six George A. Romero written-and-directed films. He did write a seventh before he passed away in 2017, and thanks to his widow Suzanne Romero pushing for it to be brought to life, filming on Twilight of the Dead wrapped up just a few days ago as I write this. I suspect we’ll see a release sometime in 2027.

This is one series of films that definitely shouldn’t have ended with the third entry, if only because stopping there would have robbed us of Tom Savini’s awesome Night of the Living Dead remake from 1990. Plus, if this franchise had died with part three, we never would’ve gotten The Return of the Living Dead, which stands proudly as one of the greatest zombie films ever made. Even some of Romero’s later self-directed entries are decent, not masterpieces by any stretch, but well worth a watch.

Poltergeist III (1988)

The first film is rightfully considered a horror classic. Poltergeist II: The Other Side is one of those flicks I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with: there are moments that are utterly fantastic, and Reverend Henry Kane remains one of cinema’s most creepy and disturbing horror villains. But the story is a mess and some of the scenes are genuinely terrible. That first sequel was a movie clearly brought to life simply because the original proved popular, rather than because anyone had a good idea.

As for Poltergeist III? It’s shit. It’s really, really shit. At least Poltergeist II had some redeeming qualities, not many, mind you, but some. Poltergeist III has absolutely nothing. It suffers from an awful script, atrocious acting, and sub-par effects work. It has to rank as one of the absolute worst horror sequels ever committed to celluloid. I honestly think the only reason people even know this film exists is because young Heather O’Rourke tragically died while making it. She finished principal photography, fell terribly ill, and passed away before the reshoots could take place. It’s such a wretched production that even director Gary Sherman refuses to watch it.

As for the franchise itself? Well, Poltergeist doesn’t really have much of one. There are the three original films, a remake from 2015 (which isn’t too bad), and that’s pretty much it. Just four films in total. Oh, and there was that 1990s TV show, Poltergeist: The Legacy, which had precisely zero to do with the films aside from sharing the name. This is a prime textbook instance where they really should’ve pulled the plug after the very first film.

Creepshow 3 (2006)

Creepshow is brilliant, and the first sequel is pretty good fun. This was another one of those franchises where I subjected myself to a lengthy retrospective a few years back, carefully picking apart every single segment from every film and the TV show. Here is how I summed up this particular entry in that piece:

“Creepshow 2 was definitely a step down from the original, but while it disappointed me, it’s still watchable and is entertaining. Creepshow 3 is not so much a step down, but more a case of it’s fallen of the ladder from a great height and slammed into the ground, creating a huge mess. This is awful, no other way to describe it. The stories are bland, the acting is atrocious and the effects work mostly look like something the great Tom Savini would throw out as rejects. The drop in quality, the lack of any talent both behind and in front of the camera is painfully apparent. Creepshow 3 is the perfect example of how to ruin a great concept.”

It’s not very often that I get to quote myself. But looking back… I think I was far too lenient on it. Creepshow 3 is fucking awful, really, truly appalling. Yet, I’m not entirely sure we would have gotten the surprisingly decent modern TV show if not for how utterly disastrous this film was. So perhaps they shouldn’t have stopped the franchise at the third film here, though we are more than justified in pretending this movie doesn’t exist and heading straight for the television series instead.

Scream 3 (2000)

I’ve always liked Scream… well, the first one, at least. I’m a big fan of meta-fiction when it’s done right, and the original Scream nailed it. The way it poked fun at tired slasher tropes while functioning as a genuinely great slasher film in its own right was clever stuff. Having Wes Craven in the director’s chair was a massive asset, especially since he helped create one of the most iconic masked killers in cinema history. Even Scream 2 was well worth a watch. Scream 3, however… not so much.

The recurring trouble with this franchise is that it tries to spin too many plates at once, and it frequently stumbles. Not only are the films expected to work as competent slashers, but they’re also tasked with satirising current horror trends. The later sequels take aim at remakes and legacy sequels, and while they occasionally hit the bullseye, they invariably forget how to be compelling horror films along the way. All of that narrative rot started right here with Scream 3. To be fair, some of the meta humour is genuinely fun, like Carrie Fisher playing a Carrie Fisher lookalike and complaining that the role of Princess Leia went to the girl who fucked George Lucas, and its observations on horror trilogies were initially spot-on. But Scream 3 completely forgot to be a good movie. That’s a structural flaw that plagued the franchise from this point onward.

This is definitely one of those franchises that should’ve quit while it was ahead at three. Again, I’m setting box office numbers aside because the Scream brand has printed money over the decades. Creatively and critically speaking, however, this series lost its pulse after the second film, though, much like any good horror icon, it just refuses to stay dead.

Child’s Play 3 (1991)

A lot of films on this list are ones where I say I loved the first entry or two, but the franchise tanked after that. With the Child’s Play saga, it’s actually the exact opposite. I don’t like Child’s Play, I don’t like Child’s Play 2, and I don’t like Child’s Play 3. They’re all pretty terrible films. Dolls simply aren’t scary… unless it’s the terrifying clown from Poltergeist, a ventriloquist dummy owned by Anthony Hopkins in Magic, or that unhinged Zuni fetish doll from Trilogy of Terror. Other than those specific exceptions, killer dolls are laughable rather than spine-chilling.

However, applying my core question, should they have stopped at three films? If they had pulled the plug here, we never would have gotten Bride of Chucky onwards… and I absolutely love the series from Bride onward. I think that’s because the films finally stopped trying to be genuinely terrifying (and failing) and fully leaned into absurd comedy and self-aware satire. The entries after Child’s Play 3 are an absolute riot. Are they bloody stupid? Yeah, but that’s precisely what makes them so much fun. It was always a ridiculous concept for a horror franchise, and the self-serious tone of the original trilogy repeatedly missed the mark. The later films openly embrace that absurdity and have a blast with it.

This is one of the very few horror franchises where I not only believe it was right to push past the third movie, but that it actually got significantly better after part three. The Chucky TV series was pretty damn great, too.

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)

Oh look, another horror franchise I’ve previously dissected in a lengthy retrospective! I even reviewed the new video game recently. I do love me some Hellraiser. The original 1987 film is a beautifully grotesque slice of very British horror, highly unique, driven by a dark sexual core, and topped with a lavish serving of visceral violence. Hellbound: Hellraiser II is pretty good, too, though I’m still miffed that they shifted the setting from the UK to the US. For me, that Americanisation was the beginning of the end. It lost its distinctly British gothic edge and morphed into just another generic US horror property.

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth shares a lot in common with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, in that the film sacrificed what made the lore special in order to push its lead villain into the spotlight. Admittedly, Pinhead never quite devolved into the wisecracking comedian that Freddy Krueger became, but he definitely lost his sinister, incomprehensible dread. This is, after all, the film that gives us a Cenobite named “CD Head” who hurls compact discs at people to kill them… well, it was the 1990s. Hellraiser III stripped away all the macabre, twisted atmosphere of the first two pictures and replaced it with standard 90s action-horror guff. Clive Barker’s unique, sensual vision was well and truly gone.

Even so, this third film is just about watchable, certainly when compared to the straight-to-video dreck that followed. This is a franchise that definitely should have been put out of its misery decades ago; there hasn’t been a genuinely half-decent film in the series since Hellbound. Also, does anyone know of this was originally shot to be in 3D? Becasue, when you watch the film, there are quite a few into the camea/audience angles that probabaly would’ve looked pretty good in 3D.

Final Destination 3 (2006)

If you were to push me, I’d say this film features the single best opening disaster sequence in the entire franchise. That, however, is about where my praise ends. This is one of those horror series where the original boasted such a brilliant, airtight concept that almost everything that followed felt hopelessly diluted. One film: brilliant. Two films in: pretty good. By the third outing, the franchise had completely lost its sharp edge.

It’s strange because, given the core premise of Death relentless pursuing survivors, and the fact that Death is an eternal, omnipresent force, the storytelling possibilities ought to be limitless. Yet the filmmakers ran out of creative steam by the time part three rolled around. I admit there are a few inventive death setups scattered throughout the later entries, but the character writing and plots get progressively worse. I’ve seen them all except for the latest installment, Final Destination: Bloodlines, and the vast majority are pretty dire. It’s a fantastic original concept that was mercilessly run into the ground, a franchise that Death should have claimed twenty years ago.

Saw III (2006)

Here is another franchise that went on about eight films too long. While I haven’t done a full Saw retrospective yet, I did once attempt to piece together the (then) main narrative events of the series in chronological order, a head-spinning task in itself. The original Saw was a sublime thriller: tense, clever, and capped off with one of the greatest twist endings in modern cinema. Saw II was decent enough, though it fell into the classic sequel trap of assuming “bigger is better” (spoiler: it rarely is). From that point forward, that’s the only trajectory the series knew.

The original Saw was a brilliant one-shot picture where everything wrapped up logically. But because it made an obscene amount of money on a micro-budget, awful annual sequels were inevitably greenlit. While Saw II passes the bar, Saw III onwards represents a slide into truly terrible cinema. Did you know that Saw III wasn’t even screened in advance for critics prior to its theatrical release? Even the studio execs knew how fucking awful it was. Should this franchise have carried on after three? Absolutely not, it should have stopped at one.

Army of Darkness (1992)

Yep, I did an Evil Dead retrospective a while back. Yep, I absolutely love the 1981 original. And yep, I think the movies progressively lost a bit of magic as they went along. What really hurt this third entry was studio interference constantly disrupting Sam Raimi’s vision. Universal execs forced him to tone down the gore, demanded he drop The Medieval Dead title to sever explicit connections to the previous films, and even printed movie posters claiming it was “From the director of Darkman” rather than mentioning The Evil Dead. The studio suit meddling really did a number on it.

Even so, despite not being anywhere near as atmospheric as its predecessors, Army of Darkness is bloody entertaining. It’s one of those supreme popcorn flicks. I’ve always felt a slight twinge of disappointment that it wasn’t “Evil Dead” enough for my personal taste, but it’s never a bitter disappointment because the film itself is just so ridiculously fun.

As for the rest of the franchise? If it had ended back in 1992, we never would have gotten the surprisingly great 2013 remake or the delightfully manic, Army of Darkness-esque Ash vs Evil Dead TV series. Then there are the more recent films like Evil Dead Rise, not quite on the level of the original, but still a blast to watch. So yeah, I might not love this third installment as much as the first two, but The Evil Dead has remained one of the most consistently solid and entertaining franchises in horror. A weaker Evil Dead film is still vastly superior to the vast majority of horror franchises out there.

And with that, Part Two is officially done and dusted! I guess I had better crack on with the thrid and final part of this trilogy of articles.