The progression of a horror film franchise that goes from being
good and terrifying to comedic and/or downright awful the further the franchise goes with its sequels, especially when the franchise is trying to
stay within the horror genre. This term was inspired by the Jaws films, where the first film was genuinely scary and very suspenseful. Its sequel, Jaws
2, came off as mediocre and just not as good as its predecessor. This downward spiral continued with the release of Jaws 3 and Jaws: The
Revenge, where the latter film earned the lowest amount of money in the franchise and is considered to be one of the worst movies
ever made. Other franchises
like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th have followed a somewhat similar progression.
"Did you see how
bad Jason X was?"
"Yeah, these recent sequels
don't look
like they're getting any better. The whole franchise seems like it's stuck in The Jaws Vector."