5 Insane Horror Movie Crossovers that Almost Happened

As this one seems to be the most well known, we’ll start with Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash. After 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason seemed to reinvigorate interest in these classic horror movie characters, New Line was open to ordering a sequel. A compelling treatment was written by Jeff Katz for a followup film featuring Ash from the Evil Dead franchise, which would ultimately see the legendary horror hero finally vanquishing Freddy and Jason using the Necronomicon.

Initially, things seemed promising for the film, and negotiations between both camps to bring the characters together started off well enough. New Line and Robert Englund were on board with the concept, as were Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. Unfortunately, the two sides were unable to agree on a deal, and the project fell apart. According to Englund, New Line started to worry about Freddy Krueger looking weak taking another loss after Freddy vs. Jason, and Ash coming out on the losing end didn’t sound so great for Raimi and Campbell, either.

Fortunately, the undeveloped treatment was then used as the basis for a Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash comic book mini-series. If you can manage to get ahold of them, do so – they’re awesome.

So many horror movie fans were introduced to the genre with the 1987 film The Monster Squad. The charming film focuses on a group of youths taking on Count Dracula and his army of legendary movie monsters. Written by Shane Black and directed by Fred Dekker, there were high hopes for the film, and prior to its release, the two began to consider sequel ideas, and already had something in mind for The Monster Squad 2.

According to Wicked Horror, the proposed sequel would have given the kids a much bigger adversary to face by pitting them against Godzilla. After all, what would be more appropriate than having the Monster Squad challenging the King of the Monsters himself? It’s one of those ideas that sounds incredibly insane at first, but then starts to oddly make sense.

However, while The Monster Squad would go on to develop a huge cult following over the years, it wound up bombing at the box office. Against a $12 million budget, the film drew just $3.8 million in theaters. Needless to say, plans for a sequel were dead in the water once the studio took a look at the return.

When Tom McLoughlin brought the previously-killed Jason Voorhees back to the Friday the 13th series with Jason Lives, Paramount was pleased with the fan response, and offered the director the chance to do the next film. At the time, Paramount producers had been trying to get Freddy vs. Jason off the ground, and McLoughlin was approached about writing and directing the movie. However,  negotiations with New Line stalled, and the decision was made to put that crossover film on hold.

Discussions then began with McLoughlin on where else to take the series in the next installment. Perhaps inspired by the idea of a crossover, McLoughlin pitched a rather interesting idea to Paramount. Recognizing that Paramount also owned the rights to the Cheech and Chong movies, McLoughlin suggested bringing the famous comedy duo into the world of Friday the 13th. “They’re like camp counselors or something. It’s like, ‘Hey, man, I saw Jason out there.’ ‘No, man, that’s a myth,’” the director described about his pitch on a Post Mordem podcast.

While this idea does sound amusing, it seems unlikely that fans would accept it. Of course, Paramount rejected this idea, and although it’s fun to think about, that’s probably for the best.

From the very start of the series in 1988, Don Mancini has been the mastermind behind the Child’s Play franchise. Having written every film in the series, Mancini took over directing duties beginning with Seed of Chucky and has kept the cursed Good Guy alive to this very day. Last year’s Cult of Chucky breathed new life into the character, and with plans for more Universal films and a TV series, it’s clear Charles Lee Ray is here to stay.

But while Chucky has taken his series in many crazy directions over the years, one of the craziest ideas Mancini has for the killer doll is to bring him into A Nightmare on Elm Street. Dubbed Child’s Play on Elm Street, the pitched crossover film would see Chucky winding up in a home on Elm Street in Springwood, Ohio, where he would meet the dream demon himself, Freddy Krueger!

In the crossover film, Chucky would be quick to begin killing people once he arrived in Springwood. When Chucky goes to sleep soon after, he meets Freddy in his dream. At the start, there’s a rapport between the two murderers, but things soon get tense between them. “They realize quickly that Elm Street isn’t big enough for the two of them,” Mancini explains, “so in a riff on Dirty Rotten Scoundrels they have a contest: who can kill the most teenagers before the sun comes up?”

Mancini has been open about this idea for many years, feeling the film was certainly “doable.” However, when considering how insanely difficult it was for New Line to get Freddy vs. Jason made, it’s easy to see why they passed on the pitch.

This crossover between Halloween and Hellraiser tops our list, as it was the closest of them all to actually happening. According to Pinhead/Hell Priest actor Doug Bradley, Dimension Films had considered doing such a crossover film, as they owned both franchises. The idea was discussed before Freddy vs. Jason came out, but two proposed scripts were rejected with the thinking that FvJ would bomb.

Of course, that’s not quite what happened, as that film turned out to be a hit at the box office. Seeing dollar signs, Dimension then chose to move forward with the Hellraiser and Halloween crossover. The idea was for Clive Barker to write the film, and after hearing reports about John Carpenter directing, Bradley was fully on board. It’s not clear how the two characters would meet, but the idea of Michael Myers opening the Lament Configuration – giving us a much deeper look into the madman’s psyche – does sound compelling.

As it turns out, however, those in the Halloween camp weren’t as hot on the idea. “The version of events I got back on this,” Bradley explains in a 2016 interview, “is that the Akkad brothers, who produced Halloween, retained control of the sequels and didn’t want the crossover to be made.” Reportedly, this decision came about after the fan response to the concept in an online poll was extremely negative. It seems that all of the right pieces were there for the film, but nobody wanted to see it.