The idea of a shared cinematic universe may be the hottest concept in Hollywood right now, but for years crossover films existed almost primarily in the world of horror. Marvel proved that a series in which a group of characters co-existed with each other in the same world, crossing paths in huge tentpole blockbusters, could make a huge financial risk pay off. However, it was the earlier crossover horror movies that truly paved the way for these types of productions.
From the Universal monsters to the ghosts in The Conjuring series, horror is no stranger to shared universes and battle royales between iconic characters. Not all of these ventures were successful, but even the failures provided enough entertaining material to address the hypothetical fight scenarios of many a horror geek. In many cases, these films also definitively retconned their respective franchises' canons to create the potential for more cross-universe interactions.
The following is a list of all the shared universe horror films, explaining how the properties came together and what eventually happened to them. Some enjoyed immense success and prosperity, while others dwindled into obscurity. However, they are all examples of the potential for horror to spawn sheer audacious wish fulfillment.
Universal Monsters
The Universal monsters created a landmark franchise not only for horror but for all of Hollywood cinema, for these creepy cohorts laid the groundwork for blockbuster crossover films decades before The Avengers brought the concept to the modern era. Universal was already enjoying the success of their monster movies throughout the 1930s and the early 1940s when, in 1943, the studio brought two of their icons together for an all-out brawl in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Dracula joined the crew in The House of Frankenstein in 1944 and House of Dracula in 1945, though both of these films disappointingly lacked all three monsters sharing screen time.
Ironically, it was the parody Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein that featured the big three interacting with each other and thus provided the most definitive crossover. This marked the end of Universal's initial venture into a shared universe, but the legacy of the monsters would live on for years to come. However, this impressive cultural status wasn't enough to save Universal's Dark Universe, in which revamped versions of the classic monsters would have appeared. This initiative ended up crashing on arrival with the dismal financial and critical reception to The Mummy when the film was released in 2017. Time will only tell if Blumhouse's much better-received The Invisible Man will result in a new crossover series.
Alien vs. Predator
The conflict between the two baddest names in sci-fi horror started off as a Dark Horse comic book miniseries that ran from 1989 to 1990. Screenwriter Peter Briggs wrote an adaptation of the series in 1992, but the project suffered in development hell for years as more comics and video games expanded on the lore. There was even a Xenomorph skull on the trophy room wall in Predator 2. A cinematic Alien vs. Predator finally arrived in 2004, albeit with a completely different script than in 1992. Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, the film explains that ancient humans worshipped the Predators and sacrificed their bodies in order to breed Xenomorphs for their gods to hunt. When a team of explorers accidentally awakens a Xenomorph hive in the ruins of a pyramid, a group of Predators intervenes.
Critics panned Alien vs. Predator for its silliness and its PG-13 rating, but the film made enough money to warrant a sequel. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was even more of a critical bomb, though, eschewing both series' deep mythology for an exploitative slasher-esque flick as a "Predalien" hybrid creature terrorizes a small town. This time, the movie was a financial bust, and plans for a third film were quickly cut short. Shane Black's The Predator (2018), subtly features the spear made out of a Xenomorph tail from the first AVP, but there hasn't been talk of any continuation of this universe in recent years.
Freddy vs. Jason
Much like Alien vs. Predator, plans for a Freddy vs. Jason crossover movie began more than a decade before the actual film was released in theaters. The ending to Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday excited fans in 1993 when Freddy's hand suddenly popped out of the ground and pulled Jason's mask down below. However, audiences had to wait another ten years for the highly-anticipated crossover movie. The long and arduous journey was because two different studios, New Line and Paramount, separately owned the rights to the Nightmare and Friday properties respectively. Plans for a crossover film began as early as 1987, but the two studios couldn't come to an agreement on the script.
When New Line finally acquired the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise, producer Sean S. Cunningham still found difficulty in finding the right the story as he considered over a dozen scripts. Freddy vs. Jason in its finalized form features a powerless Freddy appearing in the guise of Jason's mother in order to convince the machete-wielding menace to go on a killing spree. The reawakened fear allows Freddy to gain his power back, but he must fight with Jason in order to secure his victims back from him. Despite positive fan reception, there are no more plans for continuing the story. However, one proposed ending featured the two slashers meeting Pinhead in hell, and fans wanting more horror mayhem can read the comic book Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash, a crossover with the Evil Dead franchise.
Full Moon Features
Full Moon Features is the production company of schlockmeister Charles Band, most known for creating the cult horror Puppet Master franchise. Band has curated an impressive array of pulpy B-movies ever since he released the first Puppet Master film in 1989, and his characters have crossed over into each other's movies on more than one occasion. Dollman vs. Demonic Toys was the studio's first foray into shared universe-building, demonstrating Band's obsession with killer dolls. Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys built on this world, although the film was technically not a Full Moon production and thus not technically canon.
Band's whacky stoner horror Evil Bong, released in 2006, brought together several characters from previous Full Moon films such as Blood Dolls, Trancers, and Gingerdead Man. The latter reappeared in 2013 to fight the evil bong in the aptly-named Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong. The Full Moon monsters may not be as revered as the Universal icons, but Charles Band is the mastermind of a schlocky cinematic universe nonetheless.
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda
The SyFy channel is known for its seemingly countless movies pitting giant, mutated animals against each other. Who could forget Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus or Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf? However, Lake Placid vs. Anaconda is unique in the SyFy lineup for bringing two monsters from separate theatrical franchises together. Released in 2015, the film picks up immediately after the events of the previous movie Lake Placid: The Final Chapter and pits giant crocodiles against giant snakes. The film was a swan song for Anaconda until news of an upcoming reboot released in 2020, but Lake Placid: Legacy told the crocs' origin story in 2018.
Sadako vs. Kayako
J-horror got its own crossover brawl in 2016 with this clash of ghostly titans, Sadako vs. Kayako, which started off as an April Fools' joke. Eventually, it became a real movie, bringing together the vengeful spirits from The Ring and Ju-On, known in the English-speaking world as The Grudge. The film is probably more known for its marketing than its actual story, which features a group of expendable victims trying to get the two ghosts to destroy each other in a fight in order to lift their respective curses. Japanese social media heavily promoted the film with a Twitter poll asking fans to vote for their favorite character, complete with election campaign videos from the candidates. Sadako and Kayako also appeared for the opening pitch at a baseball game, and were even featured on Hello Kitty merchandise, but the crossover itself seems to be one and done.
The Conjuring Universe
By far the most successful of all the crossover horror franchises in the modern age is the shared universe of The Conjuring films. The main series centers on Ed and Lorraine Warren, the famous paranormal investigating couple who help those who find themselves being terrorized by malevolent entities. The Warrens' extensive collection of supernatural objects, based on their real-life museum in Connecticut, has served as the basis for a number of spin-off films that give backstory on the couple's supernatural encounters. These include the Annabelle series, The Nun, The Curse of La Llorona, and the The Crooked Man, which is in development.
These low-budget, Conjuring-adjacent movies have helped Warner Bros. rake in a huge profit based on the studio's massively lucrative brand. Considering the fact that The Conjuring movies remain some of the highest-grossing horror films of all time, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight for the franchise. The Conjuring 3 is set to be released in September 2020, and a sequel to The Nun is currently in development. Annabelle Comes Home, which featured the evil doll releasing even more spirits, opened the door to the possibility of even more spin-offs in this shared universe.