Ten Best Horror Sequels
By Heather Wixson
I have to say that I was inspired to make my list based on viewing a recent horror sequel which was beyond horrible (which shall be named in the follow-up article to this one). So, horror fans, this is The Horror Chick’s take on the ten best horror sequels ever. The rules are simple: any movie following the original counts and remakes don’t count (although I wish I could include one in particular).
- Saw II: The truth is that I HATED the first one. Such an amazing concept but the movie and script were both riddled with plot holes big enough for Sam Raimi to drive his coveted 1973 Oldsmobile Delta through them. The acting was terrible and the ending “twist” was improbable. So that’s why I was pleasantly surprised by the sequel that offered us a script that made sense, characters we could actually care about, and a twist ending that I didn’t actually see coming. Donnie Wahlberg was great in it (MUCH better than either Cary Elwes or Danny Glover in the first) and it was nice to see Shawnee Smith to get to be more than just a “victim.”
- Scream III: Please notice I did not include Part Two in this list for the simple reason that I HATED that it was Billy Loomis’ mom as the mastermind in that flick and that they killed of Randy. But Part Three redeemed itself with the “movie-within-a-movie” concept, bringing in some of my favorite B-Listers (Jenny McCarthy, Lance Henriksen, Patrick Dempsey (who is now A-List), Parker Posey, and Patrick Warburton to name just a few) and a story I actually enjoyed. The twist was plausible (how fun is it to see Scott Foley as a bad guy? Almost as much fun as he was in GO) and seeing the main characters we’ve grown to love get their happy endings in the end was picture-perfect. That’s rare in the horror genre.
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter: Okay, seriously, the only sequel of the Ft13 series I actually enjoyed for two simple reasons: Corey Feldman as a young Tommy Jarvis who shaves his head and kills Jason (well, sort of kills since we know there were many sequels to follow), and Crispin Glover gets to bust out some awkward 80s dance moves and FINALLY gets the girl…although he dies shortly after (true to horror movie rules). But seriously, it seemed like this time around the writers’ actually felt like giving us characters we wanted to care about.
- Halloween II: Normally, I might rate this higher but honestly, we have much stronger contenders coming up. In this sequel, we start immediately where the first left off (despite Jamie Lee Curtis’s hair being different and the change in the yard where Michael landed at the ending of the first), and this time we get to know Michael and his motivations more in-depth. It also is one of the reasons I really hate hospitals (this movie and the smell are what really gets me. Ugh.) The only bone I have to pick with this flick is that some of the deaths are off-screen and I tend to like to seem my body count building right in front of me. Still a classic though.
- Hellbound: Hellraiser 2: As a child, I actually saw the sequel before I saw the original but I have to say, as much as the first is still utterly frightening, there is just something about the sequel that makes my skin crawl (pun intended). From a skinless Julia seducing Dr. Phil (that takes some skills!), to an even creepier Uncle Frank’s sexually-suggestive encounter with Kristy- complete with writhing invisible naked bodies in body bags, Hellbound raises the stakes and establishes more of the mythology behind The Box than the first one. We even get a glimpse of Pinhead and the Cenobites as humans, and I feel like Doug Bradley’s performance as Pinhead in this movie particularly just felt so human and inhuman all at once.
- Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors/ Wes Craven’s New Nightmare: Okay, so it was hard for me to pick between these two particular movies because, for me, both were highlights of the series. In Dream Warriors, we see Nancy in a new role offering guidance to troubled teens who are wrestling with their own inner demons as well as a dream demon (Freddy) which symbolizes adolescence for most of us. The movie begins to explore the idea of what people can do when they’re dreaming and the cast is stellar (a young Patricia Arquette as Kristen really shows that she’s the talented Arquette and Larry (before he was Laurence) Fishburne is perfect as the sardonic orderly Max). In New Nightmare, Wes Craven takes Freddy, who had evolved into a silly punch line character, and turns him into something evil and truly frightening, and brings him into the real world. It’s only fitting that this evil entity would stalk the first person to ever defeat his essence, Heather Langenkamp (Nancy), and brings the terror right into her home. It’s no coincidence either that I also picked the two sequels starring Langenkamp; there’s just something about her screen presence that brings some warmth (which is an odd term to use when discussing horror movies, I know) to whatever project she’s involved in.
- Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness: Okay, get prepared to read blasphemy horror fans, but I actually think Army of Darkness is a better movie than the first two Evil Dead movies. There, I said it. I know that will piss a lot of people off but seriously, think about it. Better script. Epic battle sequence. Time Travel. Better opportunities for quotable Bruce Campbell. Evil Ash and tons of little Ash’s running around. I mean, this movie has everything. Campbell is at the height of his smarmiest and funniest too. Rather than fight me on this, I just say “Give me some sugar, baby.” You know I am right on this.
- The Devil’s Rejects: I almost hate to call this a sequel since it’s a complete 180 from House of 1,000 Corpses but Rob Zombie created a horror masterpiece with The Devil’s Rejects and showed audiences that Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, and Sheri Moon Zombie could bust out some seriously dramatic (and maniacal at times) acting. Any movie that can get you to feel sympathetic for serial killers by the end (when normally, you want them to pay for their crimes) just shows shades of brilliance. Zombie, as usual, builds a strong supporting cast which is mostly highlighted by the insanely frightening William Forsythe who plays the vengeful Sheriff Wydell. It makes me sad that the film industry doesn’t really respect the horror genre because I seriously think Moseley’s portrayal of Otis was strong enough to garner an Oscar nomination.
- Dawn of the Dead: I probably don’t have to really explain why this is number two on my list. It’s basically Romero taking his politics into a shopping mall displaying to audiences what we all know but are afraid to say: his mimicking zombies aren’t all that different from us- we’re all sheep, and we’re all going through the motions. It also features amazing special effects from an up-and-coming effects artist Tom Savini (who was also in the movie) who has probably helped revolutionize movie effects over the last 30 years. The movie is still just as brilliant and chilling and campy as it was in the late 70s.
- Aliens: Now I might get a lot of flak because Aliens could also be considered sci-fi and not necessarily just horror, but let’s be honest here. This movie was terrifying, about as terrifying as its predecessor. And yet, this time, Director James Cameron gave us not only a startling odyssey back to the planet LV-426 but gave audiences the opportunity see a warmth to cinema’s ultimate heroine Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) as she fights against the queen of the alien colony to save a young orphan, Newt. The cast is spot-on perfect (Paul Reiser, in the only thing I have ever liked him in, Bill Paxton, a charming Lance Henriksen as the droid Bishop, and Michael Biehn as Ripley’s yang to her yin, Hicks (and seriously, why isn’t Biehn working more?). I have found few sequels to be as satisfying as this one and stills holds up more than twenty years later.
Next time, we will take a look at the Ten Worst Horror Sequels…and believe me, there are so many to choose from!
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