Things normally come in twos, so the saying goes. I haven’t done a blog for a while and then two come along at once! The number two seems to have been following me a bit recently. The horror sphere is alive with the talk of how good The Black Phone 2 was, I’ve just started on the Puppet Master series for the first time through all 12 (yes really) films, watching II recently and then I watched the fantastic documentary Best Worst Movie about Troll 2 and its car crash cinematic perfection. I also recently watched Twins of Evil and revisited A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge which I have criminally underrated through the years based on my experience this time round.
So, the number two has been following me. We know how it works in Hollywood. Your film does well, let’s make a sequel and earn more money. Disney have been keen proponents of this in recent years after not making a sequel through the first 50 years of the studio’s existence. In the horror world soon, we will be seeing Talk 2 Me, Five Nights at Freddy 2, another entry in the 28 Days Later franchise and we’ll also be returning to Silent Hill. I’ve always been pretty ambivalent to this phenomenon. Some reach a state of mental psychosis if a studio declares they’re going to remake a beloved franchise. Take the announcement of a new Gremlins film over the past few weeks. The reaction was a huge mix of excitement, frustration and anxiety. If anything, I’m more in the anxious area of this but, at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter. My view will always be ‘I have the original and that can’t be taken away from me’. If the time comes and I think the new Gremlins film looks shit, I just won’t watch it. Simple as.
I digress though. We’re in a world where sequels are pretty much guaranteed if a film makes a certain threshold at the box office. Everyone knows about Aliens, Predator 2, Halloween II, Friday the 13th Part 2 etc etc etc. Sometimes these sequels land, again, and we land in a world of 10+ film franchises or sometimes they bury the franchise quicker than you can say Green Lantern. I thought I’d compile a list of lesser spoken of sequels that are a mixture of those successes, the failures, the obscure, the unloved and underappreciated.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
How do you follow up one of the most successful, low budget and culture permeating horror films of all time? You scrap the found footage element, slap an alt-rock soundtrack over it and write a truly bizarre story that acknowledges the first film but also ignores everything that makes it great. Released in 2000 following The Blair Witch Project in 1999, tales of studio interference and post-production hell plague this interesting sequel. I’m not saying it’s amazing but personally, I enjoy it a lot.
10 Cloverfield Lane
Another film born out of a found footage horror that surpassed all expectations. 10 Cloverfield Lane might not be for everyone who was a fan of Cloverfield but there’s a big fan typing this out. A completely unexpected turn from a fairly paint by numbers alien invasion flick, 10 Cloverfield Lane strips back the alien carnage of the first and instead focuses on 3 survivors trapped in an underground bunker. A claustrophobic and unsettling scenario added to by a monstrous performance from John Goodman. I went into this with zero expectation and came out cheering and pinning it as one of my best of the past decade.
Psycho II
People should be and probably are aware of Anthony Perkins reprising his role as Norman Bates in not one but three sequels to Hitchcock’s original masterpiece. I avoided these films for years because, how do you follow Psycho?! Well, the answer is, to ramp up the gore, craziness and lean into Perkins’ one-off portrayal of a killer you know you shouldn’t be rooting for but you just can’t help loving. Seeing Bates come out of prison and pick up his life and motel? Yes please. A must watch for horror fans alongside III.
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
An underrated and underappreciated sequel to one of the most enduring and relevant horror films ever. Candyman 2 picks up and expands the story of the original with Tony Todd reprising his role and again lending gravitas and sympathy to the ruthless ghost. Moving the story to New Orleans is a masterstroke and adds to the racial themes that elevate the original. The story leaves a little to be desired but some of the kills and the general atmosphere of the film are right up my street.
Xtro II: The Second Encounter
Xtro is one of those films that you will either love or hate. It’s a bonkers, beautiful and British science fiction horror about a man who is abducted by aliens and then returns to earth 3 years later. Made for $60,000 it ended up taking $1m which is truly mad if you’ve seen the film. It has some truly mind-bending scenes and some fantastic special effects in amongst the bizarre. The Second Encounter, however, does not hit the spot on any level. Several years on, Xtro director and writer, Harry Bromley Davenport, found out that whilst he did not retain ownership of Xtro’s story, he had a legal claim to the title itself. This led to two sequels, completely disjointed and alien (pun intended) to the beauty of the original. The Second Encounter is particularly heinous due to its disgustingly cheap looking costumes, set and effects. With a budget of $1m, this should have been infinitely better. A third sequel, Watch the Skies, was released by HBD and whilst still pretty abject, at least looks better than this.
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II
Straight off the bat, Prom Night sucks. It’s boring beyond belief, it makes no sense whatsoever and it completely wastes Leslie Nielson in a rare foray into serious territory. Such was my dislike for the original, I always swerved the sequel. However, Hello Mary Lou is an absolute blast. A shot of pure 80s camp, excess and imagination, this film completely ditches the drab and dire tone of the original. In writing this blog, I did discover that originally this wasn’t intended as a sequel to Prom Night but due to Prom Night’s success (pardon?) the name was changed, and 80s horror history was made. Hello Mary Lou is followed up by Prom Night III: The Last Kiss which is also well worth a watch for fans of schlocky slasher horror!
The Exorcist II: The Heretic
So much like the question of how you follow the Blair Witch Project or Psycho, how do you follow The Exorcist. In 1977’s The Heretic, John Boorman decided it was to focus on Regan’s tap-dancing skills, plagues of locusts and shitting on the original’s premise. The Exorcist is a simple story of good vs evil told through the eyes of religion. The Heretic is a fucking mess of ideas that are sloppily executed and poorly acted throughout. This said, there is SOMETHING about it. Unanimously derided as the worst sequel of all time and one of the worst films of all time by critics, I would argue I have seen much worse films. I proudly state that The Exorcist is my favourite film of all time, but I don’t think this is so bad as to tarnish the original. It’s not good but have these critics watched The Hills Have Eyes II or An American Werewolf in Paris? The reaction to this was so poor that The Exorcist III didn’t arrive until 13 years later. At this stage I will also advise any readers to not indulge in any of the films in this franchise outside of the original or Exorcist III. They are all hideously bad.
The Fly II
There’s becoming a slight theme to these now of them being the follow ups to beloved and renowned horror films. The Fly is up there as one of the greatest films, let alone horror films, of all time in my opinion. A truly haunting meditation on humanity, science, love and everything else. Oscar worthy performances, stunning set pieces and expert direction throughout. So why does no-one talk about The Fly II really? Well, simply put, it’s just not in the same orbit as the original. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad film though. The sequel focuses on the offspring of Veronica and Seth, with an icky birth seen for Veronica (not a returning Geena Davis) who gives life to an insectoid sac containing a normal baby boy, Martin. The story, partially written by the great Mick Garris, is as you’d expect in terms of trying to capture some of the key set pieces from the first but in a slightly different way. We have deformed creatures, acid grotesquerie and human mutation. It’s a really interesting idea but its execution leaves a little to be desired. However, for fans of the original, it’s well worth watching if you haven’t already.
That’s 8 underappreciated and lesser talked about sequels there. Whilst writing this blog aside from the films I’ve gone over in a little more detail I would also strongly recommend that you track down the below films too.
- House II
- The Rage: Carrie 2
- Creepshow 2
- Ginger Snaps II
- Night of the Demons II
Let me know via Twitter or Instagram or on the contact page if you think I’ve missed any you love. I genuinely love getting feedback from you all and it’s great chatting to everyone about films so give me a shout!
