Sequels: Hollywood loves them, and film fans love to complain about them.
With studios desperate to squeeze even the basest of horror concepts for one more curdling
scare, Hollywood's sequelitis has run as rampant in the horror genre as any other.
But not every horror tale is worthy of a sequel, and most sequels fail to live up to the films
that inspired them.
Of course, there have been a few diamonds found in the mangled rough of horror
flick sequels, so let's have a look at some of the all-time greats.
Scream 2
Re-teaming the cast and crew from 1996's surprise smash hit Scream, Wes Craven and company basically
recycled the same formula for Scream 2, and that meta mix of comedy, mystery, and terror
is just as fruitful the second time around.
It helps that screenwriter Kevin Williamson, exceedingly well versed in horror movie lore,
crafted another blisteringly original screenplay for his Scream follow-up.
"Many sequels have surpassed their original."
"Oh yeah?"
It succinctly lays out the rules for a horror movie before giddily following them to a "T."
The result is a film that knows when to make you laugh, when to make you cringe, and yes,
when to make you scream.
If only every sequel aspired to as much.
Aliens
When Ridley Scott brought his space-set chiller Alien to the big screen in 1979, the film
quite literally changed the definition of what a horror movie could be.
Seven years later, fresh off the success of Terminator, cocky young director James Cameron
released his hotly anticipated sequel, simply titled Aliens.
To the surprise of fans and critics alike, the film packed just as visceral a punch as
its predecessor, often even eclipsing Scott's film in terms of energy, effects, and unbridled
terror.
Whether or not you prefer Scott's claustrophobic slow burn approach to Cameron's action-packed,
creature-heavy confection, Aliens is still widely viewed not just as one of the greatest
horror sequels ever made, but one of the best sequels ever produced — period.
(the greatest movie line ever)
Friday the 13th Part 2
While few would argue the merits of Friday the 13th as great cinema, even its biggest
detractors have to acknowledge the film's merits as a great slasher flick that scared
up some unexpectedly impressive box office.
It came as no surprise, then, that the film's producers wanted to revisit the formula in
the form of a direct sequel.
What was surprising was that they actually made a better movie the second time around.
Make no mistake, Friday the 13th Part 2 is one of those rare sequels that actually is
better than the original, even if its setup and execution are almost identical to the
original.
It doubles down on the action, resulting in a film that feels bigger, bolder, and scarier
than the original.
It also happens to feature the debut of one of slasherdom's biggest baddies, the one and
only Jason Voorhees.
(jump scare)
Dawn of the Dead
Filmmaker George A. Romero essentially invented the zombie genre with his 1968 feature film
debut Night of the Living Dead.
Little did we know, Romero was just scratching the surface.
When he returned to the genre with 1978's Dawn of the Dead, viewers were subjected to
the full force of Romero's caustic vision for hell on earth with a sequel that included
twice as much gore and a far sharper satirical edge.
This perfect storm of zombie fiction is as shocking to the eyes as it is to the intellect,
and remains one of the greatest zombie movies, sequel or otherwise, in history.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but the same sadly
can't be said for the string of increasingly inferior sequels that followed it.
It came as a bit of a surprise, then, when Craven himself — who hadn't directed for
the franchise since the original — announced his return to Elm Street with 1994's Wes Craven's
New Nightmare.
That surprise turned to outright shock when New Nightmare turned out to be the smartest
movie in the franchise.
The film takes a daringly meta approach, with the formerly dream-stalking Freddy Krueger
terrorizing the real-life cast and crew of the original film in the real world.
New Nightmare sort of has no business being as good or as smart as it is, yet it's still
easily the second-best film in the series.
The Devil's Rejects
Rob Zombie built a reputation as one of the more intriguing directors working in the horror
genre on the strength of his debut film, the sadistically stylized House of 1000 Corpses...
and its equally stylish sequel, The Devil's Rejects.
Behind a sick classic rock soundtrack and a razor-sharp screenplay that knows when to
shock and when to pull a laugh, The Devil's Rejects is part road movie, part revenge thriller,
and part gory grindhouse extravaganza that surpasses its predecessor in almost every
way.
Evil Dead 2
On paper, Sam Raimi's giddily gory classic Evil Dead didn't exactly scream for a sequel,
even if it was sort of open for one.
Evil Dead 2 is essentially the exact same story as the original, and it's just as gory
and grueling as you'd expect.
It's also hysterically funny this go-round with Raimi's deliciously D.I.Y. aesthetic
delivering ghoulish gasps and guffaws.
You could say they just don't make 'em like this anymore, but then again, no one besides
Raimi ever really did, and Evil Dead 2 is his one unmitigated masterpiece.
"No!!!!"
"Yes!"
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