Copyright Screen Rant
Being part of a horror movie franchise comes with a lot of baggage, and there are plenty of films that would have been so much better if they weren't sequels. Perhaps more so than any other genre, horror movies spawn a lot of sequels. While horror franchises are known for their varying quality, some series have produced bona fide gems. Many sequels fail to live up to their predecessors, while others are so different that they can hardly even be linked back to the original film. Association with a larger franchise isn't always a good thing, and some horror sequels are hated merely because they are linked to a more popular film. Horror history is littered with decent movies that are reviled merely because they are sequels. If those movies were produced as standalone stories, they probably wouldn't have earned the same ire from critics and fans. Even if they aren't perfect, a lot of hated horror sequels are done a disservice by being part of a larger franchise. Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993) The first Friday the 13th movie produced by New Line Cinema (and the ninth overall), Jason Goes to Hell feels nothing like its predecessors. Instead of a simple story of Jason hacking his way through a gang of young adults, the absurd horror flick involves his demonic soul in worm form, possessing people's bodies. New Line Cinema acquired the rights to Jason, but weren't allowed to use the Friday the 13th name. There's no debate that Jason Goes to Hell is a bad movie, but it's the association with the Friday the 13th lore that ruins things. If Jason was replaced with another character, the supernatural horror story could have worked as an over-the-top gore-fest. The early 1990s was lacking a horror movie identity, and copious sequels to old franchises weren't helping. Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) Of all the rushed and unnecessary sequels in history, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 might be the most notorious. Released a year after the first, Blair Witch 2 involves tourists who visit the sites from the first movie to stoke their fascination with the occult. It was reviled, though it turned a tidy profit at the box office. While Blair Witch 2 was guilty of early 2000s cheese, there was a kernel of an idea at the center of the story that could have been saved. Essentially, the movie is a meditation on media-driven hysteria, a prescient topic at the turn of the new millennium. Sadly, The Blair Witch Project had already made that point a year earlier. Hellraiser: Inferno (2000) Hellraiser: Inferno currently holds a 22% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but that doesn't do the sequel justice. The first Hellraiser movie to be released straight-to-video, Inferno concerns a crooked cop who discovers the evil puzzle box during the course of a murder investigation. After the fourth movie took things too far, the fifth brought the franchise back down to Earth. The movie presents itself like a thriller with horror elements, and the bits with the Cenobites are the weakest part. It's a great addition to the Hellraiser franchise, though its changes to the lore have been heavily scrutinized. The association with an already played-out series made audiences and critics less open to its unique story. Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin (2021) The found footage genre found an explosion in popularity in the Aughts thanks to Paranormal Activity, and the sleeper hit suddenly became a franchise. 2021's Next of Kin is the seventh movie in the series, and tells the story of a documentary filmmaker who tracks her family history to a strange Amish community. Since there is only a tenuous connection in the franchise to begin with, Next of Kin didn't need the Paranormal Activity title. However, that association meant many were completely vexed by the found footage horror flick involving demons and strange creatures. Drop the title, and it becomes a perfectly serviceable thrill ride with slick visuals. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) The Cloverfield franchise is one of the oddest in recent memory, and the trilogy intentionally creates disparate sequels. 10 Cloverfield Lane follows a young woman who is trapped in a house with a strange man who claims the outside world has become uninhabitable due to a chemical attack. The gripping thriller got good reviews, but is somewhat forgotten. The movie was a smash hit, and really stands on its own merits without the Cloverfield label. However, the franchise association keeps it from being an all-time great sci-fi horror film. Because it's so different from Cloverfield, the sequel is overshadowed by its own originality. 2018's The Cloverfield Paradox suffers from the same problem. A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) Slasher icon Freddy Krueger came late to the party, but 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street was one of the best horror films of the '80s. The rushed sequel, Freddy's Revenge, concerns a teen who is suddenly possessed by Freddy's evil impulses. It was long the black sheep of the franchise, but is finally getting its due. Retrospective assessments have noted the film's Queer themes, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 is by far the most original sequel. However, it's loose connection with the first is a weakness, and the Freddy lore is confusing and doesn't match the rest of the series. Being a Freddy Krueger movie detracts from what is a memorable supernatural terror. Prometheus (2012) Ridley Scott's return to the Alien franchise was one of the most anticipated moments of the 2010s, but Prometheus wasn't what fans were expecting. A crew of astronauts travel to a distant planet that might explain human origins, but they find something much bigger in the process. Philosophical and weird, Prometheus lacked the overt horror of its predecessors. As an Alien movie, Prometheus kind of stinks, but as a standalone piece of sci-fi horror, it's a chilling film with a lot to offer. It would be impossible to separate it from the larger Alien franchise, thus it suffers by association. The movie certainly has problems, but it's superior to many of the Xenomorph-centric films in the franchise. Psycho II (1983) Released nearly 25 years after Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, Psycho II was the most shocking addition to the early '80s slasher craze. Norman Bates tries to put his life back together, but is haunted by hateful neighbors and a string of killings. More shocking than the movie itself was the fact that Psycho II is actually superb. Obviously, nothing could ever match the importance of Psycho, but the mystery slasher is taut and surprising. However, it remains one of the most underrated '80s horror films because of its association with such a gem. Psycho II is immediately written off because it's a sequel, but it has a lot to offer for fans of thrillers and early slashers. Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982) After two movies that chronicled the knife-wielding Michael Myers, Halloween III: Season of the Witch took the franchise in a totally new direction. A doctor heads to a remote seaside town to investigate a strange mask company linked to several mysterious deaths. Season of the Witch offered a path for the Halloween franchise, but was resoundingly rejected. Because Michael Myers wasn't in the movie, the threequel was immediately hated. However, the cult classic has grown a huge fanbase because of its quirky horror concept and memorable score. Since the anthology approach was dropped, it's very easy to view Halloween III as a standalone film. In that way, it's a wonderful addition to the '80s horror canon. The Exorcist III (1990) William Peter Blatty's Legion was beaten into submission until it became the Exorcist sequel that the studio wanted. Detective Kinderman investigates a series of murders in Georgetown that resemble the work of a long-dead serial killer. After the disastrous Exorcist II: The Heretic, the third film was a breath of fresh air.
