[ScoJo]

Right- I teased this last year, and came across it today. I set out to rewatch (and in some cases, watch for the first time) in random order, all of the movies in the big three horror franchises: HALLOWEEN, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and FRIDAY THE 13th.
Then rate them out of 10, based on this viewing of them.

I've asterisked those that I'd never seen before.

There are still a few flicks missing which I didn't get round to yet, but I reckon wtf- I can always edit/update at some point.

So here we go guys! Don't 'at' me haha, purely personal ratings which all have idiosyncratic reasoning behind them! (btw sorry, but I just won't be watching the Rob Zombie Halloweens, unless I hear a VERY convincing argument as to why I should! ;-)

Halloween - 10
NoES - 9.5
Friday Pt 4 - 8
Friday Pt 6 - 7
Friday Pt 5 - 6
Halloween 3 - 9
NoES 2 - 8.5
NoES 3 - 8
Friday Pt 2 - 7.5
Friday Pt 3 - 7
Friday the 13th (2009) - 7
Halloween 2 - 6
Freddy v Jason * - 8
NoES 4 - 8
NoES 5 - 8
New Nightmare -7.5
Friday the 13th - 7
Friday Pt 8 * - 3
Friday Pt 10 * - 2
Friday Pt 7 - 4
Friday Pt 9 * - 0
Freddy's Dead * - 6
Halloween 4 * - 4
Halloween 5 * - 1
Halloween 6 * - 4
Halloween H2O * - 5
Halloween Resurrection * - 0
Halloween 2018 - 8.5

[Mateo Sanboval]

This makes for a very interesting browse. Some of your ratings admittedly surprise me and some are exactly where I'd expect them to be. I may have a whack at this myself someday soonish. Been a few years since I rewatched the lot.

[ScoJo]

DO. IT.

[Mateo Sanboval]

DO. IT.

I think I shall. However, as the progeny of a librarian and an engineer, I feel compelled to have some structure to this spontaneous endeavor. Since I've done so already, I shan't watch each individual franchise in order. Instead I'll watch all three franchises simultaneously in actual chronological order.

PS - This is such a stupid idea. Plus I really don't have time for this right now. I totally doing it.

[ScoJo]

DO. IT.

I think I shall. However, as the progeny of a librarian and an engineer, I feel compelled to have some structure to this spontaneous endeavor. Since I've done so already, I shan't watch each individual franchise in order. Instead I'll watch all three franchises simultaneously in actual chronological order.

PS - This is such a stupid idea. Plus I really don't have time for this right now. I totally doing it.

Heh.

Well I must say, the most fun/liberating/enlightening thing about the whole endeavour for me was watching the films in totally random order, across all three franchises, and afterwards simply rating each individual movie based on how enjoyable it was/how good a film I found it to be. In other words- with little emphasis placed on 'context' within each film series.

If one is curious, this is the Rosetta Stone which may help unlock my (sometimes idiosyncratic) ratings.

I heartily look forward to your own roundup, @MS, and our inevitable heated discourse regarding those fucking lousy Halloween sequels ;-)

[Hatter313]

DO. IT.

I think I shall. However, as the progeny of a librarian and an engineer, I feel compelled to have some structure to this spontaneous endeavor. Since I've done so already, I shan't watch each individual franchise in order. Instead I'll watch all three franchises simultaneously in actual chronological order.

PS - This is such a stupid idea. Plus I really don't have time for this right now. I totally doing it.

No this is EXACTLY how I want to do it, get a real feel for how that genre evolved by watching them all in release order

[ScoJo]

DO. IT.

I think I shall. However, as the progeny of a librarian and an engineer, I feel compelled to have some structure to this spontaneous endeavor. Since I've done so already, I shan't watch each individual franchise in order. Instead I'll watch all three franchises simultaneously in actual chronological order.

PS - This is such a stupid idea. Plus I really don't have time for this right now. I totally doing it.

No this is EXACTLY how I want to do it, get a real feel for how that genre evolved by watching them all in release order

Well that counts as you throwing your hat(ter) in the ring then, sunshine! Already look forward to your findings :)

[Mateo Sanboval]

I heartily look forward to your own roundup, @MS, and our inevitable heated discourse regarding those fucking lousy Halloween sequels ;-)

I don't think the Halloween franchise is where we will differ the most, but only time will tell.

No this is EXACTLY how I want to do it, get a real feel for how that genre evolved by watching them all in release order

Bingo.

[Bezulsqy]

This is a wonderful endeavor. Looking at that list I realize I have not seen a lot of those. NoES is the exception. I agree with all your score on that one. However, I haven't seen New Nightmare in 15 years. Maybe 20. I remember that I found that to be actually scary at some points. I am afraid that when I revisit it now I will be underwhelmed.

What is up with the remake of NoES in 2010? I did not know that existed: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179056/

[ScoJo]

What is up with the remake of NoES in 2010? I did not know that existed: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179056/

Yep, it's a thing. Again- apologies to the completists. I have zero intention of ever watching that film.

My main takeaway from this experiment is as follows.

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
This is the franchise in which I enjoy most of the entries quite unreservedly- even the weakest films feel packed with imagination and surrealistic flourishes which put them right in my wheelhouse. And they stand up really well to rewatching.

FRIDAY THE 13th
I have great nostalgic fondness for the series, being a Fangoria Kid in my early teens, and a huge Savini fan. But most of these just don't interest me any longer and I found them a real chore to wade through again. (As you can see there are still a few later entries which I know are meant to be dreck, and I still haven't found the will to watch yet. I'll get to them eventually!)
Simply as individual horror films on their own merit, even the helmers of the franchise sequels are largely uninspiring compared to Nightmare (which gave some notable genre filmmakers a start, while Friday had hacks and a porn director haha!)
*EDIT* Okay, on this last point I'm not to proud to admit that I'm actually on shaky ground! Having refreshed my addled memory, I note that Steve Miner, Joseph Zito and Tom McLoughlin are all quite splendid director's whose films (before and after their F13 entries) I enjoy a lot. So take that last point with a pinch of salt- the overall impression remains, but seems the hard facts don't quite back it up! Fake News!!

HALLOWEEN
is the most flat-out dispiriting series for me, since I'm a fan of the original most of all the big three. I won't even begin to go there tbh, but suffice to say that I love Halloween III so much that it still bums me it wasn't succesful, allowing the team to continue with their plan and give us a unique Halloween tale each year. Instead I have to listen to that asshat Mustafa Akhad pissing on HIII in every documentary, saying what a garbage fire it was and milking the whole Michael Myers fetish for every fucking cent he could get. (I told you not to get me started haha!)

[Hatter313]

I would say that off the top of my head, having gone through all three franchises pretty recently (I do Halloween every year at...yeah October, and Fridays kick off the summer for me) I can say that I agree with you on NOES being the most imaginative and interesting, but, as we’ve discussed, I enjoy Halloween sequels more than you.

F13 is a weird beast to me, so uneven, but there’s a mood in this early ones that strikes a chord with me pretty strongly.

Ok, I’m OCD about my seasonal horror so I may have to wait until late summer to start my own so things kind of line up, but I’m in.

[ScoJo]

I would say that off the top of my head, having gone through all three franchises pretty recently (I do Halloween every year at...yeah October, and Fridays kick off the summer for me) I can say that I agree with you on NOES being the most imaginative and interesting, but, as we’ve discussed, I enjoy Halloween sequels more than you.

F13 is a weird beast to me, so uneven, but there’s a mood in this early ones that strikes a chord with me pretty strongly.

Ok, I’m OCD about my seasonal horror so I may have to wait until late summer to start my own so things kind of line up, but I’m in.

Awesomeness, cannot wait!

[J.R.]

Great list! Shame there isn't a lower number than 0 so you could score Halloween Resurrection accordingly!!

I love how the F13s change from gallo, to slasher, to exploitation, to zombie, to supernatural, to scifi all within its output. It even becomes like a Universal Monster mash with Freddy vs Jason. What a trip!

[inksb]

JR I feel like the poop emoji would be a fitting rating for Resurrection.

[Dollarhyde]

Wow! That's a dedicated viewing regime.
I think maybe watching them in chronological order of release, regardless of series, could be interesting. For example. Halloween 1,2 and 3 before NOES 1

Due to my age NOES was always much more of a thing for me, even though I was very young when I watched it, therefore Halloween was always talked about as an older inferior movie at the time, and the same for FT13 . And then I never picked up the sequels due to not seeing the first ones.

I think the only Halloween/F13movie I have seen beginning to end is HIII :0 (I know!). HIII Which was a big hit with me back in the 80's and looking on IMDb that came out two years before the first NOES. Maybe as it was the first I saw and being so different from the rest I never got into the others.

So regarding NOES and your list gonna have to dig out, is it DreamChild? Surprised to see many of your scores beating or Tieing with NOES 3, although I may agree 2, may, be better.
Freddie's Dead definitely deserves more than a six though ;D

[Mateo Sanboval]

I think maybe watching them in chronological order of release, regardless of series, could be interesting. For example. Halloween 1,2 and 3 before NOES 1

This is precisely my plan.

[Dollarhyde]

I think maybe watching them in chronological order of release, regardless of series, could be interesting. For example. Halloween 1,2 and 3 before NOES 1

This is precisely my plan.

Sorry, I missed that @san. I once did something very similar with my record collection. It was a pain in the ass but the results were very enlightening.

[Mateo Sanboval]

I think maybe watching them in chronological order of release, regardless of series, could be interesting. For example. Halloween 1,2 and 3 before NOES 1

This is precisely my plan.

Sorry, I missed that @san. I once did something very similar with my record collection. It was a pain in the ass but the results were very enlightening.

Please, no apologies, Dollar. I was merely concurring. As to your chronological record listening, that sounds like a wild time. I'm hoping for a similar result.

[ScoJo]

Guys guys guys..... loving this thread.

[Hatter313]

It’ll be interesting to see what gets borrowed from what as it goes on, especially when we get to the 90s and things go off the rails real fast.

I was a NOES superfan when I was a kid, barely interested in F13, and I didn’t really discover Halloween until late high school in a history of film class my English teacher decided to try, but that first viewing kind of kicked a bunch of stuff to the curb. I had a real pretentious chip on my shoulder about “good horror” and “cheesy slashers” until college when I really stepped back and stopped trying to be so serious all the time. Frankly, I’ll take a cheesy slasher over a lot of “serious” horror any day.

Weirdly, horror comedy has always been my bag, but for some reason I never realized that slashers could be fun like that when I was a kid, poisoned by the 90s glut of scream knockoffs and my own adolescent pretentiousness, which I wore like a badge of honor for faaaaaar too long.

[maxlevel]

scream knockoffs

@hatter can I get a sensible wassssssaaaaaaap

[Hatter313]

ugh...the scary movie franchise. a series made by people who didn't get the joke.

[inksb]

ugh...the scary movie franchise. a series made by people who didn't get the joke.

And continued to prove they didn't get the joke time and time again.

[ScoJo]

Ugh- laid up with lurgy so I'm going to attempt at least one of F13 7, 8 and/or 9. Would like to have these rankings complete now that I've shared.

Wish me well/ god help me.

[Hatter313]

I’m ok with 7, it’s got its moments and a cool protagonist.

8 is silly and weird and dumb, but still kind of fun

9, sir, maybe the worst of the lot across all three. I think I like it even less than Halloween resurrection or Freddy’s dead. God speed.