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A Horror Fan's Hypothetical...Which Franchise Would You Choose To Continue?

I have a potentially mind-blowing hypothetical for all you horror geeks out there. Here it is:In our hypothetical, gore-drenched imaginationland, you have the opportunity to pitch your idea for the next installment of your favorite horror franchise to someone who can actually green-light it. You can pick "A Nightmare On Elm Street", "Scream", "Halloween", Friday the 13th". "Jeepers Creepers", "Critters", "Hellraiser", whatever you want, the list of options goes on and on. Furthermore, you are pitching this idea directly to the person of your choong, whether that be Wes Craven, Rob Zombie, Kevin Williamson, John Carpenter, even Alfred Hitchcock if he tickles your fancy, because heck, this is Gore-drenched Imaginationland!

What franchise would you pick? Who would you pitch it to? And what is your idea? I'll go first to show you how it's done:I would pitch my idea for "Scream 5" directly to Kevin Williamson, and this is more or less what I'd say:We pick up roughly a year and a half after the events of "Scream 4". dney, Gale, and Dewey are just beginning to settle back into a somewhat peaceful existence, although they don't trust it. dney is thinking about whether or not she should write another book, nce the first one brought out 2 new Ghostfaces. While she ponders this, she is making a living teaching self-defense classes. Gale, worried dney would beat her to the punch, has already written an account of the killings in "Scream 4" and gotten a publishing deal for it. Dewey is remorseful of not being "on Gale's de" enough in the last installment and is trying to support her and make amends, but is secretly resentful of her for writing the book, because she said she was "done with that kind of reporting" in "Scream 3". One night after a strenuous self-defense class, dney catches a news report about a teenager, or 2 or maybe even 3 teenagers (bacally, whoever dies in the opening scene) from a town far away from Woodsboro being murdered by a killer in the Ghostface costume. Instinctively, she knows this is somehow tied into her, although the victims are complete unknowns to her, the locale is far removed, and on the surface it has no relation to her other than the Ghostface costume. Dewey tries to convince her not to sweat it too much this time, and macabre as it seems, to just be thankful that these freaks have moved away from her as a target. He figures they've probably learned not to mess with her, nce it always ends up with the Ghostfaces dying at her hands. dney tries to heed his advice, but as more and more murders happen in this far away town, and the more news coverage she sees, the more she feels like she should do something to help these poor kids. Gale, eager for yet another story and thinking d has a point, subtly encourages dney to do what she thinks is right.This all culminates in a 3-way, blowout argument between d, Dewey and Gale as the news is playing in the background, reporting yet another murder in this far off town. They stop mid-argument when the reporter gets a breaking news message in her earpiece. The reporter on the screen turns a little white as she says "ladies and gentlemen, this is really...quite extraordinary. The Ghostface Killer himself has called in to our studio. He's live on the line right now, and he says he has a message for dney Prescott. People above my pay grade have decided to go ahead and patch him through." dney, Gale and Dewey stare dumbfounded at the screen as the new Ghostface offers dney a deal: travel to this far off town, submit to being murdered, and he/she/they will stop murdering all these innocent kids.I'd leave it to Williamson to write out the exact dialogue, of course, and to plot out the exact order of events. My idea is for the kids from the far off town to comprise the new cast, and for the movie to switch back and forth between this group and d, Gale and Dewey. This would allow for the customary string of murders to unfold in time-honored "Scream" fashion, and would inform the news reports that dney is increangly tormented by. I'd also leave it Williamson to decide how this all resolves itself, because I think this idea would spark his imagination. The only things I'd add would be a few humble words of advice as a die-hard fan: This time, d needs to actually be successful in saving at least one or two members of the new cast. The bodycount and carnage level of "Scream 4" were a great surprise, made all the more shocking by the false "new blood" premise of that installment, but now it's time to do something new and hand dney a little victory with her misery. Also, sad as it would be, I would kill off either Gale or Dewey, but with this caveat: whichever of them it is, they MUST die in a heroic fashion, preferably protecting either their spouse, dney, or one of the new kids. These characters CAN be killed off, as long as it is done RIGHT. But leave d alive, at least until the clong reels of Scream 6.So that's my big brainstorm for "Scream 5". What do you think? And more importantly, what franchise do YOU love, and how would YOU carry it forward? WHO would you die to have a chance to discuss it with?Who knows, maybe someone from a studio will see your idea and think it's too good to pass up. Sure, it might raise some legal issue, nce it's your idea, and you might have to give express consent and gn a bunch of forms, for which you may or may not get the compensation you think you deserve. But hey, maybe you'd write your sequel for free if you could anyway, just out of love for the franchise. It's all hypothetical...for now!
ImmortalSidneyP Tuesday 10/18/2011 at 08:04 AM | 85353
og nightmare on elm street, og friday the 13th, og halloween, og texas chainsaw or remake i liked em both, scream are all yes... the rest are a no (going by whats in the pic)
kanesoto Tuesday 10/18/2011 at 09:19 PM | 85392
I don't know who I

would pitch my idea for Halloween 3 to, but I think I have a pretty good story for it.

Picking up from the last few minutes from Rob Zombie's Halloween 2, Laurie emerges from the shack wearing the mask then falls to her knees.

Inde the shack, Michael removes the giant blade embedded in his face.

He sees a hole in the wall, leading out into the woods.

He slowly crawls out and makes his escape.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Brackett is trying to comfort Laurie, but seeing how she is now lent, his words are useless.

He orders his men into the shack and apprehend Michael.

But once inde, they see he is gone. Michael has made it to a road and sees a semi truck, bearing the lver Shamrock logo on the de of the trailer, driving down the road.

The driver of the semi sees Michael laying face down on the road and stops the truck.

He gets out and runs to Michael, unaware that he is about to meet his end by Haddonfield's most notorious serial killer.

Once Michael kills the driver, he walks around the trailer and sees that lver Shamrock is a Halloween mask company.

He breaks open the trailer door and walks inde, viewing the hundreds of masks.

He sees one that fits him just right :a clean, white veron of his old mask.

He puts it on, walks out of the trailer and disappears into the night. Flash forward 3 years later: Laurie is committed to a women's insane asylum.

Her doctor is Barbara Collier (played by Margot Kidder).

Laurie's vions of seeing her mother and the white horse are gone, and she is speaking again.

But the memory of her brother trying to kill her is still haunting her mind.

Halloween has been banned in Haddonfield, indefinitely, until Michael is caught, and there's a new Sheriff in town.

Brackett has now become an alcoholic, regretful on living without his daughter, Annie,

and fired by the Mayor of Haddonfield after Michael disappeared.

Not caring about anything, he continues his binge drinking,

believing Michael Myers is dead . Two days before Halloween, a news report talking about the anniversary of the murders Michael committed when he was a boy, is played on televion.

In the rec room of the asylum, Laurie watches, seeing photos of her older ster and the mother she never knew.

On the other de of town, Brackett is also watching. On a cold Halloween night, Michael rears his head when he sees Barbara Collier leaving the hospital. He kills her, somewhat violently as she approaches her car, grabbing her keys to the hospital.

Once inde, Michael looks for and

finds Laurie, killing several hospital staff and patients along the way.

Will Brackett save Laurie and put an end to Michael Myers once and for all?

This is just an outline, as I know some people would love to see the next film take place in an asylum, and Brackett emerge the hero.

I know some people want Laurie killed or the ster angle dropped all together, but, I think this would be a good way to end the series, at least for this decade.
Imthehorrorguy Tuesday 10/18/2011 at 10:01 PM | 85397
I'd do a remake of Leprechaun and pitch it to Warwick Davis (This would still be a horror/comedy with less cheesy comedy moments and it'd have to be set in Ireland nce it would help with the whole Leprechaun folklore)

while viting a museum on a school field trip, four friends, tori,nathan,ozzie & alex encounter a statue resembling that of a leprechaun which according to the locals,due to his greediness of gold, he was turned to stone when a witch placed a four leaf clover pendant around his neck... As with any other horror movie,the four friends don't believe the tale and decide that they wanna test this "legend" for validity so they devise a plan to sneak back into the museum that night. Later that night they sneak in & head for the statue,once there they remove the pendant and at first nothing happens,just as they suspected until they hear a voice coming from behind them and as they turn to look they see the Leprechaun statue,except he's no longer a statue,he's a living,breathing Leprechaun.

Thinking this is a prank,they mess around with the Leprechaun,taunting him with numerous midget jokes and all that,they even take his gold(which was tting next to him in statue form)and start mesng with that and what they think is a joke soon turns serious when the Leprechaun attacks one of them,

After that the Leprechaun would begin a game of cat & mouse with the 4 teens who are now in posseon of his gold.

The feel of this remake would be between Leprechaun and Leprechaun 3 as I think those were the best two of the series.
Mitchell91 Wednesday 10/19/2011 at 12:03 AM | 85406
Think they all sould get Sequals because i like all the Characters
JasonZombie Wednesday 10/19/2011 at 01:53 AM | 85418
im not going to get all into pitches and what not, but i would like to see Hatchet and Jeepers Creepers continue on. We'll get at least two more Nightmares, and I'm okay with that, and we'll get at least one more Friday, and if it's as good as the initial reboot, I'm definitely all for that.

No need to see more Leprechaun, Hellraiser, TCSM, SAW, Child's Play or Screams though - those are all dead horses; it hurts me to say that about a few of those franchises, but it's the truth. Saw's been massacred all over the place, Hellraiser lost continuity and coheveness like 37 installments ago, and Leppy, oh man, the Leppy flicks have been terrible for too long to even think about. As for TCSM, we obviously have another coming, and I'm not excited for it. The franchise hasn't been legitimately GOOD nce the second film, which itself was only good because of how insanely outlandish it was. As for Child's Play... well, just look at the last few flicks. Pains me to say i don't want anymore Screams, because the first 2 were absolutely stellar, but honestly, the series isn't offering anything new, and that sucks because it SEEMS like they've been trying with ALL THEIR MIGHT to bring something fresh to the series, and just failing.
Matt_Molgaard Wednesday 10/19/2011 at 03:30 AM | 85430
Thanks for your thoughts, Matt, but you really defeated the purpose of the thread. Rather than rain on our parade with your (extremely debatable) opinion that the franchises you complain about are completely hopeless and should be given up on entirely, you should have condered it a challenge to try to think of a way to turn one of those franchises around. This was a hypothetical where you could have literally done ANY kind of sequel to ANY franchise in ANY way you wanted. Instead you bacally chimed in just to say you weren't going to answer the question.

I meant this as a thread where people could have fun and show some creativity, not as a thread for people to refuse to show any creativity at all. Also, horror franchises in general don't ever completely go away, they keep piling on the sequels, retooling and ring from the proverbial grave in new forms. If you're into movie series that reach a definite end and then stop trying, horror isn't the genre to look in.
ImmortalSidneyP Wednesday 10/19/2011 at 07:59 AM | 85441
I'd pitch a Halloween sequel of the original canon (i.e Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween H20 and begrudgingly, Halloween Resurrection) that will END the series once and for all (like H20 was supposed to). It would take place after Halloween Resurrection - Laurie has survived her encounter with Michael (hey, if they can completely re-write Halloween H20's amazing ending, then Laurie can survive a stab in the back and a fall off a building!) and is recovering in the hospital. She has now stopped acting crazy/comatose and now that the attack has happened on Laurie and the asylum's video cameras captured Michael's vit (as seen in Resurrection), Laurie is declared sane and her manslaughter charge is dropped/pardoned.

Cut a long story short, she goes back to Haddonfield because she knows that Michael will be there and will eventually find out somehow of her existence. She is the same character of Laurie as we see in the final 3rd of H20: she's not going to run, she's here to end it once and for all. The movie would ultimately conclude with Laurie and John battling Michael on the final Halloween night and Laurie will kill MIchael, doesn't matter how, but it will be shown that it IS Michael (so no producer can step in later and make an excuse about it not being him) and he will die in a way of no posble chance of returning (whether it be decapitation as a nod to H20, blown up, cut in half, squashed, crushed etc.). Maybe even milar to the ending of Hatchet II....

So that would be it, a final concluon to the Halloween series with Laurie Strode destroying Michael once and for all
joshk1986 Wednesday 10/19/2011 at 09:18 AM | 85444
Hi, Josh. Of all the replies, so far, I like yours the best (no offense to the other posters and their efforts). The reason yours appeals to me is that, like you, I absolutely hated what they did with "Halloween: Resurrection". Killing off Laurie Strode just to later have Michael Myers be defeated by the kung-fu antics of Busta Rhymes?! REALLY?!!! After everything Michael Myers survived, Busta Rhymes beats him with a bit of kung-fu?!However, you MUST know that even if you intended this as the last chapter, SOMEONE would still eventually make another "Halloween" movie after yours. You can obviously still imagine it as the last one if you want, but if you're up to the challenge, you could also decide how the franchise would continue WITHOUT Michael Myers as the killer, if you can think of a way to replace him as the "boogeyman" of these films. Keep in mind that in "H20", Laurie had a teenage son, who "Resurrection" never even touched upon. What if Michael's brand of murderous insanity runs in the family? Can you have a "Halloween" movie without Michael Myers (as long as there are no haunted masks)? Also, I have to say, I was sad when I realized that "H20" had chosen to ignore "Halloween"s 4-6, because I really liked Jamie Lloyd, as well as Paul Rudd as the adult Tommy Doyle. If they had honored that continuity as well, they could have brought back Jamie's baby who Tommy and company saved in Part 6, and it could have been indoctrinated by the Druid cult in that film to be a new, unstoppable killer. Wasted opportunities are always sad...
ImmortalSidneyP Wednesday 10/19/2011 at 09:47 AM | 85447
Thanks for your thoughts, Matt, but you really defeated the purpose of the thread. Rather than rain on our parade with your (extremely debatable) opinion that the franchises you complain about are completely hopeless and should be given up on entirely, you should have condered it a challenge to try to think of a way to turn one of those franchises around. This was a hypothetical where you could have literally done ANY kind of sequel to ANY franchise in ANY way you wanted. Instead you bacally chimed in just to say you weren't going to answer the question.

I meant this as a thread where people could have fun and show some creativity, not as a thread for people to refuse to show any creativity at all. Also, horror franchises in general don't ever completely go away, they keep piling on the sequels, retooling and ring from the proverbial grave in new forms. If you're into movie series that reach a definite end and then stop trying, horror isn't the genre to look in.

well, i just did a post pretty milar to this with the halloween series directly targeted, so I didnt really want to invest the time in crafting a bunch of thoughts on something that i bacally "chimed in on" just a week ago. I offered my input as to where I feel the franchises stand. But, if you'd rather I not reply in the future, well, that's cool - will do... or not, for that matter lol

BTW, I'd recommend checking my post history before attacking my level of creativity.
Matt_Molgaard Wednesday 10/19/2011 at 01:56 PM | 85452
I would want to see all to continue but of course mostly the SAW franchise
SAWfreak Wednesday 10/19/2011 at 06:04 PM | 85460
well, i just did a post pretty milar to this with the halloween series directly targeted, so I didnt really want to invest the time in crafting a bunch of thoughts on something that i bacally "chimed in on" just a week ago. I offered my input as to where I feel the franchises stand. But, if you'd rather I not reply in the future, well, that's cool - will do... or not, for that matter lol

BTW, I'd recommend checking my post history before attacking my level of creativity.Matt, I am certainly not telling you where you can and can't post. That's up to your discretion. As far as I'm concerned, everyone is welcome to respond to my posts and even if I felt otherwise, I obviously have no authority to banish people from my threads. I was merely confused by why you chose to reply with something that was a little off topic, although I still thanked you for sharing your thoughts. I occaonally reply to what people say on my threads, and I never mean to offend, but it's pointless to reply at all unless I share my honest feedback. I try to be polite while still getting my point across, and to make note of what I liked about a post along with any (hopefully constructive) criticism I might have.

Your post was relatively short, otherwise I'm sure I would have found something more in it to appreciate or agree with.

I most definitely did not "attack your level of creativity" in general, nor do I think I "attacked" at all. I didn't call you names or tell you to go away or anything of the sort. My comments were reserved to the subject at hand - THIS particular topic. In my personal opinion, you did not creatively address the topic at hand in this ngular instance. You might feel differently. I have no doubt that you are a creative person and have shown that in other posts, some of which I actually have already encountered in my short time on this te. Also, I noticed you are one of the top posters (congrats on that) something I doubt you would achieve without being creative.If you already addressed the "Halloween" series elsewhere, you could have chosen ANY other franchise this time around. I was actually hoping my comments might inspire a more substantive response from you, because I was interested in what you had to say. You seem to have different opinions than me on several franchises, and honestly, it's sometimes more stimulating to converse with someone who DOESN'T agree with me as opposed to someone who might just parrot my thoughts back to me in slightly different wording. Obviously, you can do whatever you want and reply to posts however you like, as can I and everyone else here. I didn't mean to run you off the thread and I apologize if you had an adverse reaction to my honest thoughts about your post. I appreciate you taking the time to clarify your reasons for not offering a more in depth response this time around and I look forward to reading more of your writing in the future.
ImmortalSidneyP Thursday 10/20/2011 at 06:43 AM | 85531
Let's pretend Sean S. Cunningham is serious about doing Friday the 13th right. I'd t him down with the other big shot suit and ties at New Line and tell 'em how a true Friday the 13th (IMHO) would go...

ME: The platinum dune crew kept saying they wanted to homage the first 4 fridays in their remake, but i personally didn't feel they really did that. CUNNINGHAM: You're right. It could've been so much better. ME: I'm your guy. Give me the keys and let me loose. I can do it better.

We open on a full moon hanging above a deathly quiet Camp Crystal Lake. SUDDENLY a beautiful young woman wearing a Camp Crystal Lake t-shirt comes running out of a cabin with good ol' Mrs. Voorhees in hot pursuit. The girl runs to the edge of Crystal lake where she is confronted by the Mad Mama, who begins to reveal her bloody motives, relating the story of Jason. There's a scuffle and a tussle. At the last second, The Final Girl grabs the machete and...OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!

Pamela Voorhees is dead...

And young Jason saw the whole thing.

Now here comes the twist, good people!!!

A new crop of counselors are huddled around a campfire, miliar to Part 2. The main guy in charge was telling the story of Jason's mother. The camera is on him as he begins to tell of Jason.

"I thought he drowned" someone says.

"No," says the head counselor. "Mama only thought he drowned. She was so distraught he was afriad she was angry with him, so he went into the woods to hide. She came back later that night with a vengence. He saw her beheaded."

"That's fucked up."

"You're tellin' me."

As he continues to relate the story of Jason, living off the land, stealing to survive, being the phantom guardian of the cursed Crystal Lake, someone jumps out with a spear and a mask ala Friday the 13th Part 2. Only it's a hockey mask. Someone comments that "Jason doesn't wear a hockey mask."

Things mmer down. Campers spread out to do their own thing...

...someone watches from the deep dark woods.

A YOUNG COUPLE skinny dipping in the lake. The man keeps looking for an excuse to get out of the water. We (the audience) think it is a ploy to get him out of the lake for a cheap kill.

MAN: I gotta take a piss. WOMAN: We're in a lake. MAN: You're gross. WOMAN: I'm going right now as we speak. MAN: I knew there was something about you.

They make out...

MAN: I gotta go get the rubber out of my pants pocket. WOMAN: We don't need it.

Someone watches from the shore as the proceed to have "relations". They're up against a pier for support. They're getting after it pretty instense. They don't notice as...

A MACHETE slams into the back of the girl's skull, imbedded. WIth a quick yank, the girl's naked body is ripped from the lake. The man freaks out, not sure what just happened. He's now under the pier, calling her name, looking around in a state of panic.

SUDDENLY, a fist smashes through the pier above the man, grabs him by the head, rips him out of the water, through the hole in the pier.

Elsewhere, a young man and woman are strolling close to the cabins when they hear the man screaming.

girl: Did you hear that? guy: What the hell was that? girl: Probably so-and-so playing another prank on us. guy: Let's get him. (Friday the 13th Part 3 homage)

The young couple go to the lake to investigate. They find the huge hole in the pier. A lot of blood on the pier. No bodies. They're perplexed. The guy turns around and a machete cuts through the air, taking his head clean off, which lands in the lake. The girl falls on her butt, screaming. Jason stands, menacingly. He's wearing the dirty, tattered white hood over his deformaed head. He walks with heavy footsteps over to the girl, quickly raises his machete...

Jason stalks a couple more counselors wearing the hood. The aim is to get some hood screentime in before he finds the iconic hockey mask, dangling from the spear. This is a direct homage to part 2. When Jason finds the spear, his attention is turned to the hockey mask hanging off it. He takes it off the spear, holds it. He then puts it on. He's near a mirror. He looks in the mirror and sees himself with the hock. It just feels right.

Meanwhile, a couple is getting busy upstairs. Jason bursts in on them and slams the spear right through them, double impale.

Jason is much more brutal in this re-telling.

Now I'm not gonna write up 90 pages worth of matieral, and what I have isn't perfect and would need some serious ironing out as far as pacing and execution, but you get a sense of how i would homage the first 4 fridays in my remake. Jason wouldn't take a prisoner. There would be a barn, maybe even some children thrown in for good measure. Ultimatley, Jason's fight with The Final Girl would be a cross between Part 2, 3 and The Final Chapter. Hell, you could have a disturbed little kid camper slam the axe or machete in Jason's dome.

And just before we fade to black, as the paramedic is belting Jaosn in, his eyes come open, and he grabs the medic.

I would try to retain the flavor of the original series, building up suspense, maybe even tosng in a little tenon, while giving it a fresh spin. Oh, and beg Harry Manfredini to come back and do the score. Or at least hire someone who could emulate the scores from the original.

ME: Give me 35 million dollars, and we'll make it awesome! Have we got a deal? CUNNINGHAM: Do you take cash? THE END
the_vengeful_machete Thursday 10/20/2011 at 02:07 PM | 85538
I gotta say Jeepers Creepers. I mean why not! He has a lot more killings we need to see from him! As for a pitch... if I was feeling better I would probably pull one out, but for now no haha.
BloodyAdored Thursday 10/20/2011 at 08:02 PM | 85556
I love all the movies from all the pics that were represented. Honestly, I would watch Nightmare on Elm Street / Friday the 13th / Hellraiser movies far beyond the 40th sequel. They have just become cornerstones of American horror pop culture.

That being said, and this is just my personal wish... I'd love to see more horror icon crossovers in movies. Which, will probably not happen any time soon due to stupid trademarks and ownerships and dick wagging... But still! I want to see a Pinhead Vs Ash Vs Devil's Rejects Movie. Something along those lines! Or maybe a Dr. Satan movie, with special guests!
Jonny Sicko Friday 10/21/2011 at 02:49 AM | 85587
BloodyAdored, I'm with you. I love the "Jeepers Creepers" movies. At least, the first 2. I haven't seen the 3rd yet and can't seem to find it anywhere. From the previews, it looked like it might have some continuity issues. Have you seen it?Hope you feel better soon!
ImmortalSidneyP Saturday 10/22/2011 at 04:16 AM | 85682
BloodyAdored, I'm with you. I love the "Jeepers Creepers" movies. At least, the first 2. I haven't seen the 3rd yet and can't seem to find it anywhere. From the previews, it looked like it might have some continuity issues. Have you seen it?Hope you feel better soon

JC3 hasn't been made yet. The script is written but there are problems with MGM getting it greenlit.
joshk1986 Saturday 10/22/2011 at 06:59 AM | 85693
There was a trailer for it before some other movie...Gina Phillips was in it. How can it not exist? I thought it just went straight to DVD.
ImmortalSidneyP Saturday 10/22/2011 at 11:23 PM | 85721
There was a trailer for it before some other movie...Gina Phillips was in it. How can it not exist? I thought it just went straight to DVD.

I don't know what you saw but it's definitely not made yet. It must have been a fan made trailer.
joshk1986 Monday 10/24/2011 at 09:22 AM | 85775