Like video game movie adaptations, there have been dozens of hit or miss attempts to bring big-screen horror franchises to the small screen. While series like Tremors and The Lost Boys failed in their attempt, there have been plenty of solid television series that either expanded the universe they were set in or took on their own versions of events.
A successful transition from silver screen to small screen consists of being enjoyed by fans of the franchises, surpassing the original in terms of cultural relevance, or how long the shows lasted with viewership in the millions. Some of these shows didn’t achieve their status as successful transitions until after their cancellation.
10 Chucky Returns To Continue 30 Years Of A Story
The most recent on this list, as it only started airing October 2021, Chucky is a continuation of the original timeline of Child’s Play movies, ending with 2017’s Cult of Chucky. Ignoring the rebooted 2019 Child’s Play, Chucky the series picks up on the story of Charles Lee Ray, infamous serial killer-turned-doll.
Joining franchise veterans Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, Fiona Dourif, and Alex Vincent, are a new cast of teen characters led by Zackary Arthur. The new series toes the line between creating new stories, expanding on Chucky’s beginnings, and referencing the previous 7 films, even the maligned Seed of Chucky, to great effect. When they happen, the kills are perfectly suited for Chucky’s tastes too.
9 Friday the 13th Swaps Jason For Antiques
Instead of focusing on the actual big bad of most of the Friday the 13th franchise, save for 1 and 4, Friday the 13th: The Series focuses on the two owners of an antique store filled to the brim with haunted artifacts.
The series is set up as a horror anthology, with each episode focusing on a new story. While none of the characters from the movies make appearances, long-time producer of the franchise, Frank Mancuso Jr., created and executive produced the series. For a fun reference, there is a Death Note-like episode in the first season, decades before Death Note became a property.
8 Freddy's Nightmares Sees An Expansion Of Elm Street Canon
Similar to the Friday series above, Freddy’s Nightmares was another syndicated horror television show focused on a horror anthology format of storytelling. Unlike the Friday series, Freddy Kruger, played by Robert Englund, made frequent appearances as the Cryptkeeper-like figure introducing the stories. Additionally, he would have a few episodes devoted to himself, including his trial and his torment of other teens.
This show would only last for two seasons but would feature dozens of guest stars including Law and Order’s Mariska Hargitay, Morris Chestnut, Bill Moseley, Lori Petty, and Brad Pitt. Also featured were several victims from Friday and Halloween films.
7 Beetlejuice Rewrites The Plot & Characters For Animated Fun
The only animated series on this list, Beetlejuice took the zany, comedic overtones of the original Tim Burton film and adapted it for Saturday morning viewing. Aimed at a much younger audience than the original, the animated series followed a clownish Beetlejuice performing his usual cons along with his human best friend, Lydia.
The animated series changed the canon in many ways after the drastic change of making the lead's best friends, including changing the name of the town and changing Beetlejuice’s powers and history. The show also focused on tons of sight gags with Lydia saving Beetlejuice after he gets into trouble.
6 The Purge Shows A Longer Look At The Lives Of Purgers
The Purge franchise took the world by storm in 2013 when the first film was released. After the release of three sequels, fans were shocked to learn that the “all crime is legal for one night a year” premise was heading to the USA Network.
With a successful season under its belt, the show was renewed for a second season before being canceled due to low viewership. Each season took place in a different year of the Purge, following a group of survivors trying to make it through the night and face the moral qualms of their actions.
5 Scream Told A Different Story With Plenty Of Gore
While the now 5 films in the main Scream movie series have centered around Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers, and Dewey Riley, the television show ditched that group to tell a new story about a group of teens who are being hunted and slaughtered.
Filled with a plethora of red herrings and gruesome kills, the first two seasons are generally well regarded. The third season, which tried to return to the Ghostface origins, is often regarded as one of the worst additions to the franchise and lasted only 6 episodes.
4 Ash vs Evil Dead Stays True To Its Cult Classic Status
One of the most influential final boys of horror, Ash Williams has made several attempts to return to the limelight from modernized reboots to dozens of comic crossovers. Bruce Campbell returns to the role set 30 years after the original Evil Dead trilogy.
Picking up on Ash Williams, a trailer-living suspected murderer since no one believes his deadites fighting days, the series sees the return of the deadites spawn and Ash as the watcher of the Necronomicon. Across 3 seasons, the series has the new crew fight the scourge of Hell, knights, and dark ones with a comedic flair.
3 Bates Motel Reinvents Norman Bates' History
Not the first prequel to the Alfred Hitchcock classic, Psycho, Bates Motel headed by Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga is a modern reimagining of Norman Bates' early days and the family he would eventually emulate and kill. The series opens with Norman and his mother, Norma, killing a man that attacked her, and spirals into the story that fans know, with adapted twists.
Spread over five seasons, the series introduces a stepfather, a brother, and a best friend for Norman, but his mental status continually declines until he deals with the same issues as the movie version, with “Mother” taking over his psyche. The series ends by revisiting Marion Crane, this time portrayed by Rihanna.
2 Hannibal Sees Two Men Try To Stop Serial Killers & Themselves
Known more as a cult classic television series, Hannibal follows the adventures of Hannibal Lecter, a serial killer and psychiatrist, and Will Graham, a criminal profiler and FBI agent. While Silence of the Lambs focused more on Clarice Darling, Hannibal focuses on the relationship between Hannibal and Will as they both use each other as a means to an end.
The series, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, and Laurence Fishburne, played as a police procedural akin to CSI or Law & Order while expanding on the premise of a serial killer working to take down other serial killers.
1 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Overshadows Its Movie Origins
Perhaps the most well-known adaption of a horror movie to television, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is ironically more recognized for its series than its original movie of the same name. The series picks up in an alternate version of events from the movie and starring a completely new cast including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, and Anthony Stewart Head.
The series included a cast that would often make appearances in the horror genre and spawned a successful spin-off in Angel. Notably, outside of the film and television space, the series also gave rise to intense academic studies, being used in sociology, psychology, and more. The series has also been parodied and referenced hundreds of times in pop culture.