Good analyses, even though I hate horror franchises.

>A Nightmare On Elm Street:
>-the original is a ("the") classic, scary and surreal.
>-i did eventually see the second, which is alright, but i
>skipped it for a long time because of its reputation.
>-i actually did something i rarely do now and watched the 3rd
>(Dream Warriors) before the 2nd. this one is very good, great
>setting, decent scares.
>-the first one i ever watched was the one that was new at the
>time, Wes Craven's New Nightmare. i've been meaning to rewatch
>it because it builds on the previous films. it did what the
>director did later with Scream as a metacommentary, which
>horror as a genre does anyway. it's scary and funny. this and
>the original i consider my favorites.
>-then there's Freddy Vs. Jason. i'm sure most reading this
>have seen it and have their own opinions. this benefited from
>seeing on the big screen. i found it very fun and would like
>to see it again.
>
>Friday The 13th:
>-i've seen the first 4. all fine for what they are. this
>series/character/setup just isn't as clever as the freddy
>movies nor as beautiful. if the idea of seeing adults playing
>teenage campers getting slashed up for laughs doesn't repulse
>you, these fall somewhere in the realm of "good movies."
>-Jason Goes To Hell i had to see. it's part 9, and i saw it
>before parts 2 through 4, mainly because i remember the video
>box so vividly and loved the premise. i don't put it anywhere
>above the previous parts.
>-Jason X is fucking ridiculous. i found this easy to like
>because there's just no way to take it seriously, and the
>change of setting is at least appreciated.
>-see comment above re: Freddy Vs. Jason.
>
>Halloween:
>-the original is a stone cold, influential classic. it stands
>above even other horror classics.
>-the 2nd, which carpenter had a lot of involvement in but did
>not direct (except for 2nd unit!), i also liked.
>-Halloween III: Season Of The Witch i put off watching for
>years because it's overall unpopular and doesn't have michael
>myers. i think the idea was just to have spooky movies under
>the Halloween banner. i enjoyed this quite a bit actually. if
>you don't mind that it's a detour, it's worth checking out.
>-again probably like a lot of people here, i saw Halloween:
>H2O in the movie theaters. to date, i haven't seen anything
>between this and the above. for what it is and its era, i
>liked it.
>-i also saw the rob zombie remake even though i am not a fan
>of remakes of horror films of relative recent vintage and/or
>ones that follow so quickly on legitimate sequels. i was
>surprised how much i enjoyed it even though it has the
>director's nastiness and brutality that don't jibe with the
>style of the original, but that's what remakes do, they offer
>another take. i've been meaning to see the second part.
>
>The Omen:
>-the original is considered a classic. it's the only essential
>one in the series.
>-the 2nd and 3rd are pretty good with some dumb parts, and i
>stopped there.
>-i actually ended up seeing the remake first, as a date movie,
>and i enjoyed it. in hindsight, i don't know that it really
>adds anything, but i remember liev schreiber being good in
>it.
>
>Poltergeist:
>-the original, again, is another classic.
>-part 2 manages not to fuck up exactly. it's worth checking
>out if you liked the first but isn't essential. you could end
>the story just with the original movie.
>-it would be a huge stretch to call the 3rd movie good. it's
>notoriously bad. there is enough going on in it to be fun to
>watch, and the behind the scenes story is fascinating (and
>sad). you'll know pretty quickly whether it's for you.
>
>Hellraiser:
>-the original is beautiful,
>-so is the sequel,
>-and the third i thought was pretty good. i did stop there. if
>you like surrealism, these have it and are pretty scary.
>
>The Evil Dead:
>-the original is low budget and enjoyable but was rightly
>"remade" as
>-part 2, which is awesome.
>-Army Of Darkness is good, a definite departure from the
>previous, and is widely considered a classic. i'm not quite as
>big a fan, but it's a fun ride, literally full of quotables
>and memorable gags.
>
>Phantasm:
>-first is very good,
>-second a little less good but worth watching,
>-third was fine for me to end on and be satisfied with the
>ones i watched.
>
>Saw:
>-i remember seeing the original in the movie theater and
>thinking it was so inventive, gory, and hard to take my eyes
>off.
>-i saw the 2nd and 3rd parts on cable eventually and didn't
>really see the point. they were enjoyable enough, but it's
>more of the same, not unlike the first sequels to Friday The
>13th. i personally am not someone who needs to see the same
>kind of story over and over. i wouldn't mind seeing the rest
>of the franchise eventually but am in no hurry whatsoever.
>
>Alien:
>-these are sci-fi so i won't go into detail, but they are as
>much horror IMO. excellent series.