A lot of beloved horror franchises started as solo movies destined to remain nothing more than scary stories with the sole purpose of terrifying the audience. However, more than once, these films were so groundbreaking that the viewer wanted to learn more about the plot, the heroes, and most of the time, the villains too. As a consequence, the producers, to satisfy the fans, had to expand the story and devise new twists to bring back both its leading characters and the antagonists.

One of the best ways to do that is by retconning the original story. The use of retcons is to change previously established facts in a story to reshape the narrative. Often, it is done to keep a franchise evolving and dynamic. Whether by rewriting character fates, erasing entire sequels, or perhaps also introducing thrilling plot twists and keeping the audience entertained, this literary device has been used multiple times in the history of the horror genre.

10

Michael Is Laurie’s Brother

Halloween II (1981)

One of the most famous and significant horror/slasher franchises in the history of cinema, the Halloween saga, has multiple times changed previously established facts about the idenтιтy and story of its serial killer. Michael Meyers is a terrifying presence that looms over the story, terrorizing anyone who comes face to face with him. His origins, however, have been readapted according to the movie.

In his first appearance, Michael is said to have killed his sister when he was only a kid, to later return to his childhood town and go on a murder spree. However, Halloween 2 turned the tables and revealed that Michael was actually the brother of Laurie Strode (Jaime Lee Curtis), who also happens to be his favorite victim. The plot twist, albeit divisive, changed the motivations of the notorious killer, making his unreasonable and obsessive hunt for Laurie a more personal matter. The retcon explained Michael’s obsession with Laurie.

9

Roman Manipulated Billy & Stu

Screams 3 (1997)

The original Scream film ended with a mᴀssive plot twist when it turned out that Sydney’s psychopathic stalker, Ghostface, was her boyfriend, Billy Loomis, with the help of his friend, Stu Macher. Billy, in particular, had a personal vendetta against Sydney’s mother, Maureen, whom he confessed he had murdered after finding out about her love affair with his father. The conclusion was already shocking enough. However, the creators wanted to bring the original story a step further.

In Scream 3, the audience finds out that Billy and Stu, albeit guilty, were not the masterminds behind the horrors that took place in the first film. On the other hand, the man behind the show was Roman Bridger, Sydney’s half-brother on his mother’s side. Roman orchestrated the murder of Maureen, who he blamed for rejecting him, and manipulated Billy into seeking revenge by revealing his father’s affair with the woman. This retcon expanded Sidney’s tragic backstory and shifted Billy and Stu from independent killers to pawns in Roman’s scheme, completely reframing the narrative and the characters’ arcs.

8

The Xenomorph’s Life Cycle Is Never The Same

Alien: Covenant (2017)

The Alien franchise has undergone numerous changes over the years, but one of the most glaring retcons concerns the life cycle of the Xenomorph. The original film that came out in 1979 introduced the creature’s development in a straightforward manner: an egg hatches a facehugger, which implants an embryo into a host, leading to the birth of a chestburster that matures into the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly adult Xenomorph.

However, the later films of the franchise completely changed their life cycle. For instance, in Alien: Covenant, the creatures appear to leave the chest when they are already developed, completely eradicating what we had learned in the first movie. The permanent changes in the nature of these creatures allow to keep the mystery, and therefore also the terror, surrounding them alive, but makes their story and idenтιтy slightly confusing.

7

The Timeline & Personality

The Omen Franchise

The final film of the Omen series completely changes the timeline of the original story. In The Omen, Damien Thorn is a five-year-old kid. The movie came out in 1976, and the sH๏τs, costumes, and environment all seem to suggest that the story is also set in the mid-’70s.

Aside from this peculiarity, the franchise had other twists over the years that changed the origin story, especially concerning the character of Damien. Perhaps, the most significant retcon occurs in the First Omen. Contrary to what was established in the 1976 film, where it was said that Damien’s mother was a jackal, we find out that the boy actually has a human mother, Margaret, a novice nun and the protagonist of the prequel.

6

Leatherface’s Idenтιтy Constantly Changes

The Texas Chainsaw Mᴀssacre Franchise

One of the most consistent aspects of The Texas Chainsaw Mᴀssacre franchise is its inconsistency when it comes to the main villain of the story: Leatherface. The idenтιтy of the serial killer has gone through some significant changes over the various films, especially when it comes to his earlier story, family composition, and motivations. The first installment introduces us to the masked monster as a degenerate man who kills his victims and then gives them to his brother to cook. However, the sequels and spin-offs proposed many different narratives surrounding him.

While in the first two films, Leatherface’s family remains more or less the same, in the other productions of the franchise, new relatives are introduced, while others are abandoned. Similarly, the character of Leatherface seems to change names. He is called Bubba Sawyer in The Texas Chainsaw Mᴀssacre 2, and Jed Sawyer in Texas Chainsaw 3D.

5

The Doll Is Haunted

Brahms: The Boy II (2020)

The Boy might not be the horror cult that some of the other movies on this list have become over the years, but it certainly has its merits. One of the most ingenious ideas of the film was to subvert the trope of the haunted doll. The shocking ending revealed the toy was not possessed. It was merely a decoy for the real threat: Brahms Heelshire, the supposedly ᴅᴇᴀᴅ son of the film’s couple, who had been alive and hidden in the mansion’s walls for the whole time.

However, the producers, probably driven by the desire to continue the story, completely undid the clever plan of the first movie. Brahms: The Boy II reveals that the famous doll is haunted and possesses supernatural abilities and the ability to influence those who own it. The movie completely ruined the plot twist of the first installment and fell into the older and over-used trope of the evil doll.

4

Jason Is Alive

Friday The 13th Franchise

One of the biggest retcons in the history of horror cinema belongs to Friday the 13th and its sequels. The whole plot of the original film centers on the fact that Jason Voorhees drowned as a child at Camp Crystal Lake because of the staff’s negligence. His tragic fate serves as the backstory for his grieving and vengeful mother, Pamela Voorhees, who is the film’s killer. However, the future films of the franchise reveal a different story.

Friday the 13th Part 2 drastically rewrote the original story. The film shows Jason had actually survived the drowning and had been living in the woods all along. This retcon completely revolutionized the trajectory of the film series. From a tragic and innocent victim of circumstances that act as a catalyst for the murders taking place in the saga, Jason becomes the central antagonist of the story. This rewrite completely contradicted the premise of the 1980 film and turned Jason into one of the most iconic slasher villains.

3

Ben Willis Is A Serial Killer

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)

I Know What You Did Last Summer is one of the 1990s cults that revitalized the slasher genre. The film features a group of teenagers who supposedly kill a man in a car accident and attempt to cover up the crime. However, as it turns out, the man, Ben Willis, was not ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at all and decided to go on a killing spree to avenge the fact that the kids had left him for ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. In the original film, Ben appears like an angry man seeking revenge against those who wronged him. However, the second installment completely modifies the character.

In I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, it is shown that Ben was already a serial killer before the accident. This strange development almost destroys the idenтιтy of the first movie’s villain, transforming him from an avenging man crushed under the wrongdoings he felt was the victim of to a sadistic and cruel serial killer

2

There Is A Way Out

Final Destination 5 (2011)

One of the central points of the plot of the Final Destination franchise is the finality of it. It does not matter how much our beloved heroes try, fight, and brainstorm to find alternative solutions. Once they are marked, there is no escaping death. However, Final Destination 5 flips this idea on its head. The last installment introduced a major retcon to the series’ core rules by revealing that there might be a way to flee the terrifying design of Death. All the character has to do is kill someone else and take their remaining lifespan.

This revelation completely changed what the fans thought they knew about the rules of the Final Destination‘s universe, making the story more disturbingly complex while also introducing a moral dilemma. As horrifying as the reveal is, the viewer is left with a new perception of the events that occurred in the previous films, leading them to rewatch the entire saga with different eyes.

1

There Was A Secret Cave Under The Haunted House

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

Poltergeist was a critical and commercial success when it premiered in 1982. The story about a seemingly normal family whose house is haunted by malevolent spirits is a popular concept for a reason. However, the motivations behind the presence of the ghosts in the home provided an interesting twist, revealing that the family’s house had been built on top of a graveyard. By the end of the film, the place is destroyed. Nevertheless, given the major success the movie received, the creators had to find a way to continue the story.

Poltergeist II: The Other Side completely rewrites the backstory of the house, giving a different meaning to the events that occurred in the first movie. The sequel introduced a hidden tunnel beneath the building and a different, albeit also terrifying, villain, Reverend Henry Kane, a cult leader who had caused the death of his followers in said underground cave. This change contradicted the original horror story about the spirits being angry at having their graveyard desecrated.