Now right about now many of you are thinking that I don't like franchise terror. Well, actually some of it is quite good. Britain's Hammer Films did rather well with their Frankenstein and Dracula movies. Okay, Evil of Frankenstein (1964) caused a bit of confusion by happening outside the chronology of the other films and Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) is open to debate by even the staunchest terror enthusiasts.

Friday the 13th inspired, if that is the word, clones from all over the world and introduced the term "Franchise Horror" into the mainstream. Paramount was quick to capitalise on its new "star" Jason Voorhees and brought him back time and again. Nobody noticed, or cared, that it was virtually the same plot over and over again just so long as the murders were gory. The studio clearly was hoping the censors were looking the other way part of the time.

George A. Romero, at one time that name was the yardstick by which independent scary movies were measured. He did not climb on any bandwagon with his first feature, Night of the Living Dead, rather he started the bandwagon!

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Okay, the title implied more than the movie was able to deliver but it is still a classic of modern terror. Tobe Hooper made the film with barely more than one camera and a crew of people whose enthusiasm was greater than their acting ability. Allegedly based on the true life exploits of Ed Gein, the movie took great liberties. The family in TCM are unemployed slaughterhouse workers and in real life Ed lived alone.

I have never cared for the word "horror" when applied to scary movies. The dictionary definition of "horror" includes words like "revolting" and we certainly don't go to the cinema to be revolted. The word "terror" seems much more appropriate, and was actively used by Boris Karloff, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee to describe their films. Ah, but people still like to say "horror movies". What can you do?