7 Horror Franchises That Went to Space
In addition to being horror royalty, Pinhead, Jason, and the Leprechaun have all been to space, but they aren’t alone.
Space, the final frontier, or as showcased across the horror genre, a perfect setting for struggling franchises. There is a long history of creatives behind cash-pulling series sending their stories to space when they run out of other ideas. The results are wobbly at best, but do present some fun concepts.
But just how long does it take for a horror franchise to decide to visit space? Evidence suggests that the fourth entry is most common, though for some slightly more eager series, it is the third, with only a couple able to hold out for longer. Here’s a round-up of all the horror franchises that have gone to space.
Critters was the first horror franchise to venture into space, and did so in Critters 4. The series going into space made complete sense as technically the perpetually hungry alien furballs, the Krites, came from the deep reaches of the galaxy anyway.
Critters 4 finds franchise regular Charlie getting accidentally scooped up into space alongside two unhatched Krite eggs. He later awakens over half a century later aboard a space station only to discover that his rescuers have let the Krite eggs hatch; cue Critters’ signature brand of carnage. In addition to going into space, Critters 4 also boasts being one of the starrier entries, featuring both Angela Bassett and horror icon Brad Dourif.
After Critters 4, Hellraiser was the next horror property to conquer space, making Pinhead the first genre titan to leave terra firma. In Hellraiser: Bloodline, the story traverses both space and time, taking place in 1796, 1996, and 2127 as it chronicles the lineage of Phillip LeMarchand — the creator of the infamous Cenobite-summoning puzzle box, the Lament Configuration.
The future descendant, Dr. Merchant, is desperate to destroy the Cenobites and creates the Minos, a spaceship that forms the Elysium Configuration, which is believed to collapse the hell dimension and thus kill Pinhead and his followers. The futuristic setting gives the franchise its space entry, but by unfolding in 2127, ensures that further instalments could still be made without affecting the canon.
Leprechaun is one of those oft-forgotten horror franchises, but the series gave Jennifer Aniston one of her first credits and made a star out of Warwick Davis. After going to Vegas for the third film, Leprechaun 4: In Space was set — as the title suggests — in space.
The Leprechaun series has always been silly, but this entry is truly wacky. It opens with the Leprechaun marrying an alien princess who tries to kill him to steal his gold, before descending into pure insanity. Featuring a resurrection via a penis (don’t ask), space marines, and a giant leprechaun, there is nothing serious about this film, and that is entirely its charm.
Whereas several of his peers rushed to space in their fourth films, Jason Voorhees waited until his tenth movie, Jason X. Released in 2001, Jason X is an unashamedly early ‘00s horror complete with a heavy nu-metal soundtrack and over-the-top gore.
The plot starts in 2008 with a group of scientists realising that Jason cannot be killed and so they cryogenically freeze him. The story then jumps to 2455 where Jason’s remains, and that of a young woman called Rowan, are found by scavengers of the now ravaged Earth. They later defrost their bounty, unwittingly unleashing hell on their space station. Although Jason X has a lot of haters, it is actually a really fun time. It introduces Uber Jason, and features one of the franchise’s best deaths — the liquid nitrogen kill.
The Predator franchise began on Earth, with the arrival of two alien hunters, one who lands in the middle of the jungle to take on a group of military men headed up by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch, the other opting for Los Angeles where it hunts high-profile criminals. These hunts are revealed to be a rite of passage for the alien species, and for the third film, Predators, a collection of killers and criminals are beamed up to an alien planet to be hunted for sport.
Starring Adrien Brody, Danny Trejo, Walton Goggins, Laurence Fishburne, Mahershala Ali, and Topher Grace, Predators might be more sci-fi action than outright horror, but it did offer proof that shifting to space could work in some instances.
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Released in 2018 immediately after the Super Bowl, The Cloverfield Paradox was a surprise entry in the Cloverfield franchise. There is no direct lineage between any of the three movies, but all contain some similar DNA. Whereas the previous entries followed the initial monster attack and the aftermath of the event, The Cloverfield Paradox appears to be set in space around the same time, ending with a rescue pod encountering a monster stomping around the Earth.
Critically mangled, The Cloverfield Paradox has, for now, seemingly killed the series, but surely it won’t be too long before audiences are treated to another Cloverfield mystery.
Due to the name Amityville being in the public domain there is an Amityville horror for every occasion. The original The Amityville Horror was inspired by supposedly true events and made for a chilling haunted house story, but since then every and any scenario you can think of has been given the Amityville treatment, with over 60 movies in existence.
Technically, only a handful are actually connected to one another, but the Amityville brand (or title at least) is strong. For Amityville in Space the infamous murder house is exorcised from planet Earth, only to reappear in outer space.
