When horror sequels succeed, they deepen a film’s creepy lore, heighten the scares, or even completely reinvent their franchise. But when they fail, they remind viewers how difficult it is to recapture what made a great horror film great in the first place.
A great horror film can remain in the collective consciousness for decades, with its atmosphere, performances, and themes becoming part of the genre’s history, even influencing countless films and areas of popular culture.
But a poorly produced sequel could unravel that legacy almost overnight. When studios rush to cash in on a hit, the results can often trade off art for profit, sapping all the gore that made the original so painful to begin with.
Read more: Great movies ruined by becoming a franchise
Such puzzling consequences Exorcist II: The Heretic, American Psycho 2and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 are notorious examples of this unfortunate phenomenon. Each followed a beloved, critically-acclaimed groundbreaking film with a watered-down sequel that misunderstood the tone, rhythm, or purpose of its memorable predecessor.
Ultimately, a bad sequel not only frustrates fans, but can forever tarnish the way audiences remember the series. These gruesome pieces of horror serve as cautionary tales rather than scare stories, and the message is frighteningly clear: even the most popular and capable horror franchises can’t survive on name recognition alone.
A terrible sequel that almost ruined great horror movies
From ridiculous, vengeful shark tales to boring supernatural stories we’ve seen a million times before, these are the worst parts of horror movies that almost ruined great horror franchises.
Gallery credit: Erica Russell
10 Great Horror Movies That Audiences Got Wrong
From slow horror movies that bored viewers to classics that some moviegoers never saw to begin with, here are 10 great horror movies that audiences initially mistook.
Gallery credit: Erica Russell
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