For about a decade now, Blumhouse Productions has been a major player in the horror movie scene, creating multiple franchises along the way. History has played host to many studios who've made their mark in the horror genre. Universal Pictures did it first, via their classic monster movies that reigned supreme from the 1930s through the 1950s. New Line Cinema was originally known as "The House That Freddy Built," thanks to the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise serving as its initial success story.
Dimension Films, founded by the now disgraced brothers Harvey and Bob Weintein, staked their claim to a piece of the horror market with the Scream franchise, as well as continuing installments in the Hellraiser, Children of the Corn, and formerly the Halloween franchises. In recent times, indie distributor A24 has become a major player in Hollywood horror, releasing intelligent, creepy, slow-burns like The Witch, Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Lighthouse. Then of course, there's Blumhouse.
Blumhouse boasts the best profit margin among any studio's horror output, routinely budgeting films at less than $20 million - or sometimes even less than $10 million - and regularly seeing box office returns in the hundreds of millions. They also have a nice sideline selling their non-theatrical products to the three main streaming services, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. While there will surely be more to come, here's every Blumhouse horror movie franchise so far.
Paranormal Activity
It's not often that a movie made for what most Hollywood producers might find in their couch cushions becomes a massive success, but that was the case for director Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity, Blumhouse's first big horror hit. The original tale of a young couple haunted by a malevolent demon has since been followed by five sequels, with a seventh film in the works that's set for release in March 2022. Jason Blum has hinted Katie Featherston might return, after not appearing in the sixth film.
Insidious
Blumhouse's next franchise to emerge was Insidious, which released wide in 2011, and was one of the early hits that established James Wan as a director to watch. The Lambert Family, led by stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, was the focus of the first two films, with psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), taking over as lead for parts three and four. A fifth film is said to be in the works, but it's been quite a long time since any updates were given on the project.
Sinister
2012's Sinister, directed by future Doctor Strange helmer Scott Derrickson, was a bit of a surprise hit, winning over both critics and audiences. Ethan Hawke starred as a true crime writer who discovers horrifying snuff films after moving into a house where murders had occurred. Sinister introduced the world to creepy villain Bughuul, but unfortunately, Sinister 2 flopped, and there's been no movement on a third film. Even Blumhouse can't win them all. A possible "Insinister" crossover between those two franchises has also been teased.
The Purge
Ethan Hawke also starred in the first Purge movie, as a security contractor whose home is menaced by psychopaths looking to release the beast. There's been three more Purge movies since, which have served to expand the mythology and delve into how Purge Night came to be, as well as a companion TV series that was canceled recently after two seasons. The Forever Purge, planned to be the final film, is set for release in July 2021, after Coronavirus pushed it out of summer 2020.
Ouija
A Hasbro-produced horror movie based on the classic Ouija board "game" seems like a recipe for disaster, and it definitely was, at least from a quality standpoint. Most agree that 2014's Ouija was an awful film, but it proved quite profitable thanks to its low budget. Thankfully, director Mike Flanagan came along to helm the prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil in 2017, which while not revolutionary, blows its predecessor out of the water, actually managing to be scary and suspenseful. Origin of Evil also made good money, but there's been no signs of a threequel yet.
Unfriended
2015's Unfriended wasn't exactly a show-stealer, but critics weren't too harsh on it, and it made money at the box office. The premise of a found footage-style horror movie told through the view of a webcam hadn't been driven into the ground at that point, and the deaths were pretty creative on a clearly quite low budget. Unfriended: Dark Web followed in 2018, and while many fans regard it as an improvement on the first, it flopped financially, and a third film seems unlikely.
Creep
Directed by Patrick Brice, and starring Mark Duplass as a serial killer who lures videographers to their doom, Creep was a huge critical success in 2015. 2017 sequel Creep 2 got even better reviews, and the burgeoning franchise has become a favorite of many horror fans, to the point that Creep 3 is in the works. That's all despite each film getting only a limited theatrical release from indie distributor The Orchard. The Creep films are a prime example of horror not needing much of a budget to be great.
The Gallows
2015's found footage horror film The Gallows is an odd duck, as critics despised it, and most fans seem to hate it as well. Yet, its $43 million worldwide gross on the back of a minuscule $100,000 budget made it a huge financial success, leading to a sequel called The Gallows Act 2 in 2019. Critics didn't like this one much better, but the sequel was still cheap, and got a very limited theatrical release, so Blumhouse still probably came out way ahead.
Happy Death Day
Surprisingly enough, the combination of a slasher film, a horror/comedy, and a Groundhog Day-esque time loop proved to be a winning combination, as 2017's Happy Death Day was a hit with both critics and audiences. Happy Death Day 2U followed in 2019, bringing the immensely likeable Jessica Rothe back as lead Tree Gelbman, and adding a (perhaps overly convoluted) sci-fi twist to the proceedings. Reviews for the sequel were good, but the box office was a let down, and it's unclear if a third film will materialize.