Horror movies, especially slashers are incredibly well-known for having some of the most god-awful sequels imaginable. Two of the biggest offenders might beA Nightmare On Elm Street Part II, or maybeHalloween II. Then again, you'll find people who are apologists for both of these films. Either way you slice it (pun intended) pretty much every franchise there is has someone arguing that any individual sequel is better than the original, or at the very least the best of the sequels.
RELATED:10 Best Horror Movie Monsters Based On Real Mythology
Why shouldn't they? With the film studios pumping out movie after movie to cash in on the face of Freddy Kreuger or Jason Voorhees, there's really no reason one of the 20 sequels might not better. Anyway, let's take a look at some films that are better than the first entry in their respective horror franchise, and some that most definitely aren't.
The cool thing aboutHellraiser II in comparison to the original is that it takes a deep dive into the world of the Cenobites themselves, and even though the original based onThe Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker is wonderful, we really didn't focus enough on Frank after the Cenobites showed him what suffering really was. "We have such sights to show you" exclaimed Pinhead during the first one when the true horror that was the Lament Configuration finally decided to show its face, but we were too busy focusing on Frank gaslighting his way back into the flesh to figure out exactly what it was that Frank had seen. Luckily withHellraiser II, not only are we pulled into our worst nightmares, but we see what it's like when someone else is too.
We're sorry John Carpenter. We love you, we promise. It's just that after the formative slasher hit that was the original filmHalloween, we expected just a little bit more. Fortunately withHalloween III: Season Of The Witch we saw what your vision would have been if the studio hadn't essentially forced you to make another Michael Myers film, but 2 just doesn't do what it needs to do nearly as well as the first one does. While it's decent and we shouldn't be complaining, we are. There was so much potential here, and you really just ended up setting the tone for the awful sequels instead of keeping Michael the unfeeling Shape that he deserved to be. Instead, we end up treading familiar ground inside of a hospital that for some reason has a jacuzzi inside of it? Thanks, but no thanks.
Dawn Of The Dead is just hands-down an incredible film. This isn't to say thatNight Of The Living Deadisn't a great film and we're sorry for buying so many knock-off copies of it since it isn't copywritten, but there's just something timeless and perfect aboutDawn Of The Dead.Honestly, it's your prototypical zombie film.
RELATED:The 10 Best Kills In Horror Movies From The Past Decade
WhileNight Of The Living Dead set a more than perfect groundwork for what would happen to zombie films throughout the 90s and what's still happening today, there's something about a zombie film that's set in a mall that just works so well, even influencing things as diverse as video games likeDead Rising, one of the most perfect zombie games ever to hit gaming other than maybeLeft 4 Deadand its sequels. Oh wait, this film seems to have influenced them too. Well, carry on, George A. Romero. Job well done.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre II is the beginning of Tobe Hooper's descent into "Umm... excuse me? What the hell are you doing?". While tons of people love the sequel toTexas Chainsaw Massacre,it's really unclear what they're seeking to do. Are you attempting to expand on the tone of the first one? According to interviews, not enough people understood that apparently the first film is supposed to be a comedy. Oh you didn't laugh when a woman is thrown onto a meat hook in a film that's supposed to be based on true events? The issue for both the viewer and the filmmakers is that no one did. While they say it's supposed to be a black comedy, one could argue that it is after investigating the southern gothic themes and the critiques of capitalism which are admittedly quite poignant. The only issue is that they don't land the way they're supposed to, and at the end of the day, we're just watching flesh-hungry hillbillies catch dinner.
The issue here might be with the directing in Rob Zombie's debut. No one is arguing thatHouse Of 1000 Corpsesisn't fun, the issue is that it may be too fun. It's essentially a Rob Zombie music video that lasts over an hour, even if you only pull out the narrative bits and leave in the interstitials.
RELATED:10 Horror Movie Villains You Cant Help But Root For
What The Devil's Rejectsdoes so well is make you realize that the Firefly family doesn't live in a vacuum. Even if you haven't seen the film before, you understand that the cop is going to die, and Otis and Sherri Moon Zombie (who is very weirdly done in this movie as a kind of cannibalistic Harley Quinn) are going to get off scot-free with absolutely no repercussions for what they're doing. WhileThe Devil's Rejects is dark and hard to watch, it's much more real than anything that came before it.
The originalNightmare On Elm Street is a classic and for this particular film, Wes Craven is an absolute genius. No one is arguing that that isn't true. The only issue is that when the studio picked it up for a sequel, they really had no sense of suspense when attempting to make what is to come. While Freddy Kreuger isn't quite "Welcome to prime-time bitch!" Freddy just yet, it's obvious that he's well on his way there. There's also the intentional gay overtones that no one on the film was aware of other than the writer, set designer, and lead actor, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just that if you go into it unaware, you might not get what you're expecting.
Sam Raimi really outdoes himself withThe Evil Dead II. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the first one, in fact it's very nearly on-par with the second. The thing is that the story of the first one was so good that it only could have done with a bigger budget, and despite Sam Raimi being a fledgling director, he knew exactly how to put that to use. He made the movie funnier, more gory, more violent, and let Bruce Campbell really show the world what he could do. Also for those of you who don't know, Bruce Campbell is incredibly charming.
The Howling II is only the start of a series of missteps in a franchise that's almost completely missteps anyway unfortunately. While it does its best to be fun even though it's a direct sequel to the original that just doesn't work, it still falls apart anyway. The author of the books didn't even like the first one, and after the second maybe he's not wrong. And that's not even to mention the Ausploitation travesty that wasThe Howling IV: The Marsupials. It's exactly what it sounds like.
VHS 2 does everything the initial entry does in the series, but much, much better. While not every small vignette hits precisely the way it needs to, when this film is good, it's incredibly good.
RELATED:16 Most Exciting Horror Movies Coming In 2020
We'd hate to say that this entry is on the list for only one piece of the anthology, because it isn't, but there's definitely a little snippet in this film about a cult that still stands today as one of the greatest pieces of media about what happens when a cult goes wrong.
If you were a fan of William Peter Blatty and William Friedkin'sThe Exorcist, otherwise known as one of the greatest films of all time, let alone horror, we're profoundly sorry forThe Exorcist II: The Heretic.The film decides that it still wants to follow a 16-year-old Regan who is somehow still suffering from demonic possession after all of the events of the first film. We promise, just don't watch it.
NEXT:10 Scariest '80s Horror Movie Monsters, Ranked
NextGame of Thrones: 10 Hilarious Jon Snow Memes That Will Have You Cry-Laughing
Cody is an author from Ohio. When he's not writing, he enjoys improv comedy, making music with friends, and consuming whatever media he can. Before working for Valnet mainly on the Screen Rant site, he got his writing experience in doing music reviews and comic book scripts.
See the rest here:
5 Horror Movie Sequels That Bested The Original (& 5 That Flopped) - Screen Rant
- 'Immaculate' ending explained: Was the baby a demon? - Business Insider - April 2nd, 2024
- 10 Horror Movies That Would Have Ended Earlier If Their Heroes Were Smarter - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 2nd, 2024
- Terrifier 3 director reveals they filmed 'most insanely horrific scenes' that nearly made lead actor vomit on set - UNILAD - April 2nd, 2024
- The Latest Stephen King Horror Movie Has A Killer Cast And Director - SlashFilm - April 2nd, 2024
- THE FIRST OMEN 2024: Release Date, Cast, Plot, And Everything You Need to Know - FANGORIA - April 2nd, 2024
- Sting Review | Excellent Creature Feature with an Emotional Backdrop - MovieWeb - April 2nd, 2024
- IMMACULATE Interview with Director Michael Mohan, Discussing the Making of the Film, Reactions to the Ending, and ... - Daily Dead - April 2nd, 2024
- Mood 'Windigo' - Book and Film Globe - April 2nd, 2024
- A 2016 Thriller Is The Top Movie On Netflix Right Now - HuffPost - April 2nd, 2024
- 10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Beetlejuice, 36 Years Later - Screen Rant - April 2nd, 2024
- All the Horror Movies We Can't Wait To See in 2024 - The Mary Sue - April 2nd, 2024
- A Buzzy Korean Horror Movie Is Sneakily One Of The Biggest Box Office Hits Of 2024 - SlashFilm - April 2nd, 2024
- Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 3 horror movie confirmed, after second film debuted to a surprise perfect Rotten ... - Gamesradar - April 2nd, 2024
- Fear Street 4 Is Reviving An Old Horror Trend That Was Perfected 48 Years Ago - Screen Rant - April 2nd, 2024
- Lisa Frankenstein Hides The Fact That It Cast The Real Star Of 2023's Viral $181 Million Horror Movie - Screen Rant - April 2nd, 2024
- Finally, Someone Confirms That A Sequel To HELLRAISER Is In The Works - FANGORIA - April 2nd, 2024
- We're definitely hard at work on: Hellraiser Sequel Promises to Be Even More Terrifying as Producer Vows to Take ... - FandomWire - April 2nd, 2024
- Future Chucky Movie Will Connect To The Series, Says Don Mancini - Screen Rant - April 2nd, 2024
- After Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, Freddy and Jason Need to Cameo in the Poohniverse - MovieWeb - April 2nd, 2024
- Chucky Creator Reveals He is Working on a New Child's Play Movie: 'Whatever Keeps Me Working' - MovieWeb - April 2nd, 2024
- AI In Late Night With The Devil Sparks Controversy - Forbes - March 24th, 2024
- A horror movie based on a Stephen King novel with a disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score is climbing Netflix's top 10 - Gamesradar - March 24th, 2024
- This is why we're so obsessed with nuns in horror movies - according to the official source, a nun - Gamesradar - March 24th, 2024
- Stephen King reveals the one horror movie he couldn't sit through as he was too scared - UNILAD - March 24th, 2024
- Late Night With the Devil directors address the use of AI art in the film - JoBlo.com - March 24th, 2024
- David Dastmalchian on Late Night with the Devil, The Life of Chuck and Good Fiend Films - Kansas City Pitch - March 24th, 2024
- Welcome to the Poohniverse: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Team to Unite Pooh, Bambi, Tinkerbell and More in Low-Budget Horror Crossover (EXCLUSIVE)... - March 24th, 2024
- Late Night with the Devil is the best horror movie of the year so far - Yahoo Movies Canada - March 24th, 2024
- Sydney Sweeney 'wanted to be drenched in blood' in 'Immaculate' - Entertainment Weekly News - March 24th, 2024
- Film of the Week: 'Stopmotion' - The best horror film of 2024 so far - Euronews - March 24th, 2024
- How to Watch Immaculate: Is the Sydney Sweeney Movie Streaming? - TheWrap - March 24th, 2024
- THE FIRST OMEN: A Battle With The Devil And An NC-17 Rating FANGORIA - FANGORIA - March 24th, 2024
- Elevated Horror: The New Wave of Artful Scares Taking Over Hollywood - LRM Online - March 24th, 2024
- Late Night With the Devil Plot Explained: The True Meaning of the Movie - The Direct - March 24th, 2024
- David Chase is directing his first film in 12 years. Its a horror movie. - NJ.com - March 24th, 2024
- Us Was The Box Office Hit That Gave Jordan Peele True Power In Hollywood - SlashFilm - March 24th, 2024
- Cast of 'Gremlins': Catch Up With the Stars of the '80s Hit - First For Women - March 24th, 2024
- 'Immaculate' Review: Sydney Sweeney Is Wide-Eyed but Sly - The New York Times - March 24th, 2024
- Sydney Sweeney explains that bloody 'Immaculate' ending - Entertainment Weekly News - March 24th, 2024
- When Will Sydney Sweeney's Horror Film, 'Immaculate,' Be Available to Stream? - AOL - March 24th, 2024
- Blumhouse to Return Insidious and Other Titles to Theaters for Halfway to Halloween Fest - Hollywood Reporter - March 16th, 2024
- Every Movie In The Wrong Turn Franchise Ranked - SlashFilm - March 16th, 2024
- Blumhouse Celebrating 'Halfway to Halloween' With Five Horror Movies Returning to 100 AMC Movie Theaters - Bloody Disgusting - March 16th, 2024
- DeWanda Wise Sings Creepy Theme Of New Horror Film: 'Imaginary' - The Root - March 16th, 2024
- Hostel: Part II (2007) WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? - JoBlo.com - March 16th, 2024
- New LEPRECHAUN Movie Will Be Funny, Scary And Full Of Practical Effects - FANGORIA - March 16th, 2024
- Blumhouse Celebrating Halfway to Halloween With Five Horror Movies Returning to 100 AMC Movie Theaters - IMDb - March 16th, 2024
- The Horror Nail-Biter On Max With A Controversial Ending - Giant Freakin Robot - March 16th, 2024
- "Says the person who was in Madame Web": Sydney Sweeney is Getting Skewered for Saying Modern Horror Movies ... - FandomWire - March 16th, 2024
- First trailer for horror movie reboot The Crow features an unrecognizable Bill Skarsgrd on a bloody mission of revenge - Gamesradar - March 16th, 2024
- You'll Never Find Me Is Unforgettable Horror, See The Terror In Action - Giant Freakin Robot - March 16th, 2024
- The First Omen star has seen all of your internet theories about the horror movie prequel and, well, they're all wrong - Gamesradar - March 16th, 2024
- Sltface take on horror movies with their new single, 'Final Grl' - Dork Magazine - March 16th, 2024
- From 'Five Nights at Freddy's' to 'Imaginary': Why Blumhouse loves PG-13 horror - theday.com - March 16th, 2024
- The First Omen's Big Death Reveal Really Doesn't Bode Well For The Prequel - Screen Rant - March 16th, 2024
- 20 Scariest Horror Movies to Come Out in the Last 5 Years - MovieWeb - March 16th, 2024
- 'The Animal Kingdom' Exclusive Clip Previews the Gnarly Body Horror of Magnet's New Movie - Bloody Disgusting - March 16th, 2024
- 'Oddity' Review: This Supernatural Horror Film Will Tear You To Pieces | SXSW 2024 - Collider - March 16th, 2024
- "Marketing is failing this movie tremendously": David Dastmalchian's Late Night With the Devil Dubbed as One of the ... - FandomWire - March 16th, 2024
- STOPMOTION is a handcrafted tale of beauty and horror - Moviejawn - March 16th, 2024
- Horror Lovers Will Love this Dining Spot in Texas - klaq.com - March 8th, 2024
- Is Late Night With The Devil Based On A True Story? - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- Kooky King: 6 of the Weirdest Stephen King Film Adaptations - Nightmare on Film Street - March 8th, 2024
- The Unknown, the Viral Willy Wonka Experience Villain, Is Already Getting Their Own Horror Movie - IGN - March 8th, 2024
- 13 Original Horror Movies We Can't Wait to See in 2024 - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- From 'Imaginary' to 'Five Nights at Freddy's.' Why Blumhouse loves PG-13 horror - Los Angeles Times - March 8th, 2024
- Imaginary Movie Review: M3gan Meets The Boogeyman - Mama's Geeky - March 8th, 2024
- Christopher Nolan Originally Conceived Inception As A Horror Movie - SlashFilm - March 8th, 2024
- 'Whalefall' Movie in the Works From 'No One Will Save You' Director Brian Duffield - The Mary Sue - March 8th, 2024
- Horror Movie Based On THE UNKNOWN From Glasgow's WILLY WONKA Experience In The Works Horror Movie ... - CBM (Comic Book Movie) - March 8th, 2024
- Horrifying 'Late Night With The Devil' Trailer Released - Outkick - March 8th, 2024
- Imaginary review: M3GAN, take the wheel - Dexerto - March 8th, 2024
- The Unknown: Horror Movie Based on Unofficial Willy Wonka Experience Is in the Works - ComingSoon.net - March 8th, 2024
- Imaginary Film Review: Light on Frights - Loud And Clear Reviews - March 8th, 2024
- Dead Mail Directors on Their '80s Horror Influences - MovieWeb - March 8th, 2024
- HORROR BEAT: Blumhouse offers a non-update on the future of THE EXORCIST - Comics Beat - March 8th, 2024
- And the Oscar for best picture doesn't go to ... horror! - NPR - March 8th, 2024
- Shaitaan OTT Release: When And Where To Watch R Madhavan And Ajay Devgn Starrer Horror Thriller Film - Indiatimes.com - March 8th, 2024
- The 'Wonka Experience' Is Being Turned Into A Horror Movie - UPROXX - March 8th, 2024
- 8 new horror movies on Netflix, Max, Shudder and more in March 2024 - TechRadar - March 8th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero