When a horror movie finds success at the box office, it's almost guaranteed to get a sequel. And that sequel often becomes more sequels, which have an unfortunate tendency for becoming increasingly stale. By the time a horror franchise reaches a sixth installment, it's usually operating in zombie mode (meaning, crying out for a beheading).
In less than two weeks, Saw VI heads to theaters — with no plans of wrapping up the series. Saw VII is already in pre-production and plans are in place for Saw VIII. If the Saw franchise has any chance of continuing, it had better learn from the mistakes of other "part six" horror sequels. Here, we offer six critical lessons.
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Don't bring back the killer in the most ridiculous way possible
 It's hard to keep a good killer down. Friday the 13th's Jason finally got his payback in Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter when he was chopped to bits by a young Corey Feldman. Jason's death almost seemed final when Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning revealed that Jason wasn't Jason at all, but a paramedic dressing up like him to seek revenge.
But then Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives decided to bring the killer back to life — using all of three seconds to devise a plan for his resurrection. How was it done? Tommy, Feldman's character but this time played by Thom Mathews, journeys to Jason's grave to not only make sure he's dead, but also to burn his corpse. Uh, so he's certain Jason is even deader? Once Jason's coffin is unearthed, Tommy takes a pole from the cemetery fence and stabs Jason repeatedly until lightning strikes the pole, reanimating Jason like he's Frankenstein's monster. Seriously.
Sure, it's important for a horror movie to keep its killer around. But can you at least try to keep the audience from feeling cheated? Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) met his doom in Saw III and was "kept around" in Saw IV and V with flashbacks, a plot device being reused for Saw VI. Co-screenwriter Patrick Melton has promised that the Jigsaw flashbacks will "feel organic and not forced." Let's hope he's right.
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Bring back fan-favorite characters
 In an attempt to win back fans, Hellraiser: Hellseeker reinstated the heroine from the first two movies, Kirsty Cotten (Ashley Laurence). While Hellseeker doesn't totally focus on Laurence, her presence is a needed one ... and one that fans responded to positively. It also helped cover up the fact that Pinhead, the series' demonic killer, barely gets any screen time.
Saw VI sees the return of Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young, Jigsaw's former apprentice. Like Jigsaw, Young died in Saw III and will be used in flashbacks. After appearing mostly as a corpse in Saw IV and V, fans have to be pleased to see Smith get some actual screen time.
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Don't use 3-D to cover up a lame ending
 It's odd for a man who kills kids to turn around and have a kid himself, but that's just what was revealed in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. Unfortunately for Freddy, his daughter, Maggie, wasn't looking to rekindle the relationship. Instead, she enters the dream world to bring Freddy into reality ... so that she can kill him, a sequence that required audiences to don 3-D glasses to watch one of the worst endings a Nightmare movie has ever attempted.
After Maggie uses her father's glove to stab him in the stomach, she blows Freddy up with a pipe bomb — but not before father and daughter can each deliver some miserable one-liners, such as her wishing him a Happy Father's Day. The movie concludes with her saying "Freddy's dead." (Yeah, we got that already from the title.) Apparently, director Rachel Talalay thought no one would notice the unimaginative ending if it were in 3-D. Sorry, everyone did.
At least we know Saw VI dodges the 3-D bullet, which won't be used until Saw VII. And, even then, Saw VI won't have to reach very high to have a better ending than Freddy's Dead.
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Don't just give up when you run low on ideas
 The Leprechaun series began in a humble suburban basement before moving all over the world, and the universe, in its subsequent sequels. Leprechaun 2 took place in the big city, Leprechaun 3 traveled to Las Vegas, Leprechaun 4: In Space left the planet, and Leprechaun: In the Hood returned back to a new corner of earth.
So why did the producers go Back 2 tha Hood for the sixth Leprechaun installment? Were there really that many stones left unturned? Rather, it looked to fans like they were content to throw their hands in the air rather than attempt thinking up a new place to take the little green menace.
Yeah, horror movies are often criticized for repeating themselves, but Back 2 tha Hood took repetitious to a new, sad level. While Saw VI will likely repeat itself, let's hope it has the minimal creativity required to move the plot beyond a complete retread of Saw V.
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If nothing else, introduce future Hollywood stars
 Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers added a unique, and ultimately unnecessary, mysticism to the franchise by using Druid clans and rune symbols to explain Myers' "curse." (Elements that were subsequently ignored by every sequel that followed.) That said, it did have one good addition — future Role Model and Judd Apatow regular Paul Rudd. And even the god-awful Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare can boast giving Breckin Meyer his big-screen debut.
Saw VI includes newcomer Tanedra Howard, who got the role by winning the reality TV show Scream Queens. Let's just hope that doesn't turn out to be the movie's high note.
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Revitalize the franchise
 Hard to believe, but the Puppet Master series will reach #10 next year with the release of Puppet Master: Axis of Evil. The series was supposed to end back in 1994 with the aptly titled Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter. Yet fans kept asking for more, and four years later Curse of the Puppet Master brought the series back to life. While the poor special effects in that part six drew the ire of Puppet Master fans, the movie was at least successful enough to revitalize the franchise.
Melton says Saw VI will feel resolved. Is it bad to hope he's wrong? With Saw VII and VIII on the horizon, you'd think the pressure would be on for Saw VI to keep fans wanting more.
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