As most of us are well-aware, Hollywood is a business, and if a hit film comes along boasting a formula the studios can endlessly replicate, there’s not much we can do to stop them. Horror movies are particularly prone to this sort of mass feeding frenzy by the powers-that-be, and sadly the quality of the copycat films often suffers in the rush to capitalize on the success of a box-office hit.

I’d like to point out that there is a tendency – particularly by younger filmgoers – to believe this sort of voraciousness is more of a recent phenomenon, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact remains that Hollywood has always been a business, and those pulling the strings behind the scenes have always been businesspeople – though you could certainly argue that these trends are much more an American phenomenon than an international one.

In this, the third feature in Bloody-Disgusting’s “100 Years of Horror” series (celebrating the release of Edison Studios’ 1910 version of Frankenstein), we take a look back at some of the most shameless money-grubbing trends in horror movie history, from the early-era spate of Universal “monster-mash” movies to the remake debacle of the 21st century. In each case, I will highlight both the films that started it all, the artistically-bankrupt imitators that followed in their wake (leading inevitably to the burnout of the trend), and the rare examples of quality films to emerge from the resulting whirlwind. The point is to illustrate how, throughout horror movie history, greed and creative bankruptcy have served to dilute the artistic process and flood the market with inferior product in the wake of a commercially successful film, in the process doing a disservice to the moviegoers who made the trend-setter such a hit in the first place. Of course, it must be remembered that not every film can be a five-star classic, and why would we even want that? It would simply deprive us of that warm, tingly sensation we all feel when we finally discover a true gem in the midst of all the uninspired garbage.

Years: 1931-mid 1950s

Perhaps the longest-running horror-movie trend in history, the Universal monster movies began as hugely successful, top-shelf films based on classic works of literature and ancient mythology (Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), et al.) and ended with a whimper in the unfortunate “monster-mash/rally” series of films that plagued multiplexes, beginning with Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man in 1943 and continuing on with House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945). By the late 1940s all the pathos and mystery of the Golden-Age monsters had been stripped bare, as they’d essentially been reduced to walking punch-lines in a series of Abbott & Costello Meets… comedy films. The genre was further diminished following an infusion of cheap, non-Universal rip-offs (i.e. Bride of the Monster and The Return of the Vampire, both featuring a then “slumming-it” Bela Lugosi). In the midst of it all, the rare bright spot did emerge in 1954 with The Creature from the Black Lagoon, although that film was itself followed by two inferior, quickie sequels.

Years: 1950-1960s

Right around the time the supernatural-tinged monster movies of the `30s and `40s were sinking to the depths of artistic disgrace, a new renaissance came in the form of sci-fi/horror hybrids that capitalized on newfound fears of alien invasion following “flying saucer” sightings around the U.S. beginning in the late 1940s. Early, commercially-successful classics like The Thing From Another World (1951), The War of the Worlds (1953), and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), however, went on to spawn a ridiculous number of often laughably-bad imitators – the most famous being Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space – that became a drive-in staple throughout the 1950s and early `60s. Indeed, it’s hard to choose just one or two terrible examples, as there’s a virtual treasure trove for any camp aficionado to choose from: from Robot Monster (1953) to The Brain From Planet Arous (1957), from It Conquered the World (1956) to The Creeping Terror (1964), these imitators are without a doubt some of the biggest turkeys ever produced.

Years: 1953-1960s

Co-existing quite comfortably with the above-mentioned “space invaders” trend, the giant-monster movie – though it had already been introduced with the 1933 classic King Kong – didn’t really take off until 20 years later, with the release of the hugely successful The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953), featuring superior stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. The trend continued with classics like Godzilla (1954, with an American version following in 1956), giant-ant movie Them! (1954), and the popular It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955), also with effects by Harryhausen. Sadly, the success of these films unleashed a virtual deluge of terribly schlocky copycats featuring bargain-basement special effects, with titles like The Giant Claw (1957); Monster from Green Hell (1957); Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959); and The Giant Gila Monster (1959) representing the depths to which the sub-genre had fallen in only a few short years.

Years: 1962-mid 1970s

One of the more out-of-left-field trends in horror history started following the unlikely critical and box-office success of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), a horror/thriller starring Bette Davis as an aging former child star terrorizing her disabled sister, played by Joan Crawford. The formula of putting past-their-prime movie actresses in horror/thriller vehicles became a hot commodity after that, with follow-ups including William Castle’s Strait-Jacket (1964) starring Joan Crawford; Dead Ringer (1964) starring Bette Davis; and Robert Aldrich’s Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland. While the early imitators continued to be commercially successful, the quality of the outings dropped considerably in later years, with titles like What’s the Matter with Helen? (1971), starring Shelley Winters and Debbie Reynolds, and Persecution (1974) starring Lana Turner scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel.

Years: 1968-early 1980s

While Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby had been a critical and commercial success in 1968 and spawned a minor wave of Devil-themed horror films, the trend didn’t really kick into high gear until the release of The Exorcist in 1973, which became the top-grossing film of all time. Following in its wake came a horde of demonic horror movies hoping to capitalize on The Exorcist‘s massive success, and while 1976’s acclaimed The Omen was a breath of fresh air among all the inferior product glutting the marketplace, it also extended the trend by inspiring its own raft of copycats. Some of the worst offenders included Ovidio G. Assonitis’ obvious Exorcist clone Beyond the Door (1974); Joan Collins demonic baby vehicle I Don’t Want to be Born (1975); and Omen rip-off The Godsend (1979). Sadly, even the three acclaimed films that inspired the trend would be followed by second-rate sequels, most disastrous being Exorcist II: The Heretic in 1977.

Years: 1975-early 1980s

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws became the top-grossing film in history on its release in 1975, leaving the studios scrambling to cash in on its unprecedented success. While some of its imitators functioned as more direct rip-offs, including Michael Anderson’s Orca (1977) and New World Pictures’ Up From the Depths (1979), others copped from the general formula while substituting all manner of man-eating beasts in the place of Spielberg’s killer shark. Some proved to be enjoyable, above-average B-movie fun – i.e. Joe Dante’s Piranha (1978) and Lewis Teague’s Alligator (1980) – but most were just plain awful, including William Girdler’s Grizzly (1976) and Day of the Animals (1977); The Pack (1977); and Crocodile (1981). The trend quickly died out by the early `80s, though not before Universal managed to milk the Jaws franchise for all it was worth in a series of increasingly-lame sequels, culminating with 1987’s god-awful Jaws: The Revenge.

Years: 1978-late 1980s

Maybe the most famous of all horror-movie trends, the slasher film craze began with John Carpenter’s Halloween in 1978, up to then the most successful independent film ever. The bandwagon was officially up and running after that, with every major studio rushing out several mostly-uninspired copycats. While some –Friday the 13th (1980) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) in particular – were very successful and spawned their own franchises, and others were slightly more artful and original than the rest of their ilk (i.e. Tourist Trap [1979], The Burning [1981], Alone in the Dark [1982]), most were cheap, artistically bankrupt parrots. Unimaginative entries like New Year’s Evil (1980), Graduation Day (1981), Final Exam (1981), and Hospital Massacre (1982) – not to mention endless Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street sequels – led to the temporary death of the slasher film by the late 1980s.

Years: 1979-mid 1980s

Alien, released in 1979 and undoubtedly one of the greatest horror/sci-fi hybrids ever produced, unfortunately had an avalanche of completely transparent Z-grade copycats nipping at its heels directly following its blockbuster release. These included Roger Corman’s Galaxy of Terror (1981) and Forbidden World (1982), Luigi Cozzi’s Alien Contamination (1981), Norman J. Warren’s Inseminoid (1982), William Malone’s Creature (1985), and David DeCoteau’s Creepozoids (1987). In fact, unlike many of the other listed trends it’s hard even to find a gem among the rip-offs, unless you’re looking for an infusion of campy goodness, in which case any of the above-mentioned examples will suffice. Besides the terrific Aliens (1986), Predator (1987) was perhaps the lone entry in the “alien horror” sub-genre of the `80s to boast some level of quality, though it was different enough from the Alien films not to count as a direct imitation.

Years: 1996-early 2000s

Following the overwhelming profusion of derivative slashers in the `80s, the sub-genre was resurrected with Wes Craven/Kevin Williamson’s tongue-in-cheek Scream in 1996, which grossed over $100 million in domestic receipts alone. The following year, both its hit sequel Scream 2 and Williamson-scripted I Know What You Did Last Summer (over $70 million domestic) cemented the trend, which would quickly burn out – much as the slasher fad the original Scream had parodied – after a series of shallowly clever, coattail-riding teen horror films were pumped out ad nauseam. While a few were decent – Jamie Blanks’ Urban Legend (1998) and James Wong’s Final Destination (2000) being two examples – an equal number were just WB-lame. Low points include Disturbing Behavior (1998), awful sequels like I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), and Wes Craven’s belated tongue-in-cheek werewolf horror film Cursed (2004).

Years: 2002-ongoing (but weak)

Though Ringu became a sensation in Japan in 1998, it wasn’t until the American remake starring Naomi Watts hit theaters in 2002 that “J-Horror” fever hit the States. Grossing nearly $250 million worldwide, The Ring‘s success led to the green-lighting of remakes of other successful Japanese horror films, including The Grudge (2004), Dark Water (2005), and Pulse (2006). However, while The Grudge grossed over $187 million worldwide, later entries in the trend suffered from diminishing ticket sales, for the simple reason that most of them weren’t very good. Subpar remakes of horror films from other Asian countries also followed, including Mirrors (2008) and The Uninvited (2009), both based on Korean movies; and The Eye (2008), a remake of the Hong Kong-Signaporean-Thai film. These remakes were no better, though the trend – while not nearly as strong as before – still seems to be barely hanging on for now.

Years: 2003-ongoing

Probably the most prolific ongoing trend has got to be that of creatively bankrupt Hollywood studios focusing their attentions backward and remaking classic – and some not-so-classic – horror films for a modern audience. Starting in 2003 with the highly successful Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes, the trend does include a couple of surprisingly good reboots – Dawn of the Dead (2004) and The Hills Have Eyes (2006) in particular – but an even greater amount of truly awful ones, including The Fog (2005), When a Stranger Calls (2006), The Wicker Man (2006), and Prom Night (2008). However, there is one important quality that nearly all of these remakes have in common: horror fans continue to go see them, and therefore they continue to rake in the dough (see: this year’s bland A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, with a $63 million domestic gross). The cash-grab continues…

Years: 2004-ongoing

James Wan’s Saw was one of the biggest moneymakers of 2004, grossing over $103 million worldwide on a meager $1.2 million budget and leaving executives at rival studios drooling with envy. Though controversial in its grisly depictions of human suffering, the film was a hit with fans of hardcore horror, and when Saw II was released the following year it proved an even bigger smash. Sealing the deal was 2006’s Hostel, which grossed over $80 million worldwide on a $4.8 million budget. Unsurprisingly then, we were “treated” to a host of copycats over the next couple of years, none of which (gasp!) would match the quality of their inspirations. Among these were Turistas (2006), Captivity (2007), and I Know Who Killed Me (2007). None are perhaps as guilty as the Saw series itself, whose sequels have more or less (and, yes, arguably) dropped in their level of quality as the years have gone on. The trend seems on tap to continue, with, notably, an American remake of Pascal Laugier’s “New French Extremity” film Martyrs currently in development.

Years: 2010-

What do you think the next big trend is shaping up to be? What would you like it to be? Sound off in the comments below…