5 Horror Sequels That Don’t Suck
Sequels are both the best and worst thing to happen to the horror genre. Loved the original? We’ve got more of that for you! Really love the original? We have ten more installments exactly the same as the original for you. Some horror sequels are lazy, some are outright bad (Jason Goes to Hell), I’m looking directly at you. Below are five horror sequels that we recommend for a lot of reasons. One of the key reasons is that they remain faithful to their predecessor while, at the same time, adding something new and original to the story. Now THAT is the key formula to making a successful horror sequel.
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
“Cabin Fever 2″ is a messy, gory, bloody cherry on top of a demented sundae. From the opening (poor Rider Strong) to the blood bath of an ending, nearly everything about this sequel works. This is one of those slasher movies where I just don’t understand the hate. Had this movie been made in the 1980′s and directed by Sam Raimi, horror fans would be praising this as the next second coming of horror. The gore is demented, the kills are extremely disgusting, and the central love story is actually quite sweet. I was actually touched at the sacrifice that one friend gave so another could live. So the epilogue doesn’t really work (poor Ti West got his movie taken away from him and had his ending completely butchered just to go in some producer cameos) but this is splatstick at its very best. If John Waters directed a horror film in the 1980’s, it would look something like this. Bloody
recommended!
Final Destination 2 (2003)
“Final Destination 2″ is wittier, smarter, and bloodier than its original. It is clever in the way that it ties our characters from this film with characters from the previous installments. The deaths are incredibly inventive and stand as the best deaths of the entire series. The ending in particular is a black comedy miracle that shouldn’t work but does. Granted some of the acting can be a bit over-the-top and melodramatic and some of the effects don’t hold up as well as others. Nonetheless, this is still the rare sequel that takes everything that works about the original film and adds to it. A definite must see for fans of the original.
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
“Friday the 13th Part 2″ is the kind of sequel that takes a lot of chances and most of them work. The film is well paced, well acted (big props to Amy Steel who does an incredible job as Ginny), and the deaths are effectively gruesome. Also, for what its worth, I’ll take potato head Jason over hockey mask Jason any day. This is a fun sequel that doesn’t exactly advance the series (the godawful Part 3 actually does more to define Jason than this one does) but doesn’t destroy its legacy either. The characters aren’t particularly memorable but they aren’t particularly annoying either. This is really the last point in the series were you actually still feel some affection for the characters. They aren’t quite stereotypes…yet. Furthermore, it contains the two best “jump scares†of the series and the ending is pretty damn scary. Sure the middle act drags a bit but don’t let that stop you, “Part 2″ is a fine slasher film that does the series proud.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
“Dream Warriors” is just all around a great sequel. I love that Nancy’s back for one last final battle with Freddy. A new addition too is the fact that Freddy is now able to target the teen’s fears and use it against them in their dreams. This makes the deaths more frightening and some of the use of special effects (the puppet scene, the television scene, etc) are just ingenious. Everything about the sequel works and when Freddy and Nancy have the one last showdown there is a bit of sadness at the end. It’s ***SPOILER ALERT**** always sad to see your hero die in the arms of the villain but it’s nice to see that Nancy isn’t willing to go down without a fight. In all honesty, the series should have ended with this installment.
Scream 2 (1997)
Although at times I feel as though I am in the minority, I truly believe that “Scream 2″ is the best film in the Scream franchise. This is that rare sequel that takes everything that works about its predecessor and manages to take it to another level. The deaths are suspenseful, the characters are charming and likable, and the twist ending works better than it has any right to. I also truly believe that this is some of Craven’s finest directing and the “cop car†scene is a hide-your-eyes-behind-your-fingers chiller of a scene. More than that, this film is just a hell of a lot of fun from beginning to end.
Not Quite Horror: “Tombstone” (1993)
Not Quite Horror contains reviews of films not traditionally considered horror films. By analyzing them as horror films (identifying the monster, discussing the shared worry for the audience and the main characters, and understanding the depth of horror available to the viewer), who knows? There more than one way to watch a movie.
The Monster: Johnny Ringo may have been a real man, but the Johnny Ringo character in Tombstone (played by Michael Biehn) is more demon than man. To begin with, he’s played by a well-respected horror actor. He sports a satanic goatee. Early in the movie, he guns down preacher without a second of hesitation. Later in the film, he even confesses to having made a deal with the devil and screams that he wants his enemies’ blood.
The Shared Fate: Ringo is an exaggerated representation of violent, relentless people who make headlines for all the wrong reasons. When heroic Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) is drawn closer and closer to a confrontation with Johnny Ringo, he echoes the audiences’ own worries about being victimized by violent people when he laments, “I can’t beat him, can I?â€
Interestingly, he voices this doubt even after he himself has become tainted by the evil of violence, declaring he was bringing the forces of Hell with him in his quest for revenge on Johnny Ringo and his gang.
The Horror: Tombstone’s extended running time (over two hours) and large assortment of characters drain the suspense and terror from Johnny Ringo’s relentless thirst for death. Edited to focus on the confrontation between Ringo and Earp (and Earp’s friend Doc Holliday, played by Val Kilmer), the film could have been billed as a thriller instead of a western.
Even while hidden in the grand scenery and historical subplots, the unstoppable violence of Ringo’s gun is more than enough villain to make the hero demonstrate his bravery. With the less-than-subtle insinuations Ringo might be supernaturally possessed by an actual demonic evil, it doesn’t take much imagination to picture how much further this gunslinger could’ve taken his fury.
— I am indebted to Noel Carroll’s The Philosophy of Horror for his ideas on defining horror, as well as John Skipp and Craig Spector’s article “Death’s Rich Pageantry, or Skipp & Spector’s Handy-Dandy Splatterpunk Guide to the Horrors of Non-horror Film†in Cut! Horror Writers on Horror Film for a similar idea.–
–Axel Kohagen
Kevin & Steve’s Slashers: “Prom Night III: The Last Kiss” (1990)
Kevin: Prom Night III: The Last Kiss continues that story of Mary Lou Maloney (the very beautiful and quite voluptuous Courtney Taylor), the vengeful spirit from Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II, who is still haunting the halls of Hamilton High. She is a lonely ghost who is looking for a little bit of love and romance. Into her life walks Alex Grey (the bland but quite likeable (Tim Conlon), the painfully average high school junior who is looking for a little bit of excitement in his life. Little does Mary Lou know that Alex already has a girlfriend, Sara (played by underrated Scream Queen Cyndy Preston), and will do whatever it takes to get her our of his life.
Steve: The story if nothing too unique or too convoluted that would cause the audience to lose interest in the film. We are given the classic love triangle and some jealous girls that help make this film into and interesting watch. Prom Night III set out to be a comedic horror movie and succeeded all around. Nothing too pretentious here.
Kevin: Prom Night III: The Last Kiss is an interesting blend of comedy (very broad Student Bodies style splatstick) and horror, slasher and supernatural, and tongue-in-cheek and clever. It is mostly a lot of fun to watch and Taylor delivers some great zingers as Mary Lou. At 97 minutes,
the film is a bit on the long side. At least ten minutes could have been cut from the final act within losing anything storywise. That said, it is consistently funny and quite often very entertaining. The production values are solid throughout and the script is helped out immensely by a game cast that appears to be having just as much fun as we are.
Steve: The comedy found within Prom Night III may not suit every movie-goer, but I found the silly, yet oh so clever jokes to hit each and every time. There are some fun shots as well, like when Alex uses the pay phone to call his parents. He doesn’t necessarily address the audience, but he does look directly into the camera and while you have this on your mind, you then here the Charlie Brown like voices come from the phone. A great sequence to say the least.
Kevin: Please note, if you choose to watch this film (and it is indeed recommended), the DVD version released in a double feature DVD along with Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil is a cut TV broadcast version. Most of the gore, swearing, and nudity is all but removed. However in the VHS version it is uncut, with all gore, profanity and nude scenes left intact.
Steve: Please, if you have not seen this, I urge you to do so. Like I said, the comedy may be hit or miss depending on your taste, but it is a must for the true horror fans in the world! So, search for that elusive VHS tape today and have some go wild with Prom Night III.
To purchase Prom Night 3: The Last Kiss from Amazon: Prom Night III: The Last Kiss [VHS]
So Bad It’s Scary: “Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings” (2010)
In the horror world there is a loyalty that you won’t find in any other genre. No matter how many bad sequels, awful remakes, and painful prequels Hollywood brings us, we just keep coming back for more. Case in point, “Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings.” The original “Wrong Turn” was a fun if fairly derivative slice of hillbilly horror that struck the right cord with horror audiences. It was not a box office hit making just $16 million on a budget of $12 million but the film sold millions of dvds and we can thank it with starting the series that no one really asked for. “Wrong Turn 2” turns the tables by turning the first film into a reality show. It was fun, campy, and delightfully over-the-top. The less said about the third film the better. Now, eight years after the first installment, we have “Wrong Turn 4” a prequel that sets to up the stakes. But…does it succeed?
The film opens in 1974 at the Glenville Sanatorium with Dr. Ryan (Arne McPherson) showing a local psychiatrist Dr. Ann McQuaid (Kristen Harris) around the psychiatric hospital. The cannibals from the previous films-One Eye, Three Finger, and Saw Tooth now are locked up in the institution as children. But the cannibals escapes and sets other insane patient free in the hospital. Then cannibals savagely murder an orderly, Guard, Dr. Ryan and Dr. McQuaid. The film then switches to present day where a group of college kids, Kenia (Jennifer Pudavick), lesbian couple Sara (Tenika Davis) and Bridget (Kaitlyn Wong), Lauren (Ali Tataryn), Jenna (Terra Vnesa), and Claire (Samantha Kendrick), along with their guy friends Kyle (Victor Zinck), Vincent (Sean Skene) and Daniel (Dean Armstrong) are going snowmobiling. They are heading to their friend Porter’s cabin in the mountains. They get lost in a storm and seek refuge inside the now abandoned Glenville Sanatorium. Little do they know, the three now adult cannibals are hiding out in the sanatorium and murdering trespassers. The movie makes it unclear as to the whereabouts of rest of patients set free by cannibals.
The group of teenagers explore the asylum, and decide to wait out the storm. After a montage of rolling around in wheelchairs, acting on illegal drugs, drinking booze and acting like teenagers, the storm still hasn’t stopped so the teenagers are forced to sleep in the desolate building. In the middle of the night, Vincent, suffering from insomnia, walks around the asylum and finds Porter’s mutilated body – apparently he didn’t make it to his cabin either. He is then killed by Saw-Tooth having a metal rod shoved into his chin and out through the top of his head. The next morning, everyone discovers they are still snowed in, and Vincent is missing. The gang splits up to look for him, and Jenna witnesses the cannibals cutting Porter up. She runs back to tell the others and they all meet up in the auditorium. Something wrapped in Porter’s jacket is thrown at them and Kenia opens it up to reveal Porter’s severed head. Screaming and panicking, the group flocks around the door, trying to get out but the doors are locked. The three cannibals-up in the balcony, throw down a strip of barb-wire and loop it around Claire’s neck, pulling her up to the balcony. Kyle tries to save her, but it is too late and the barb-wire tightens, severing Claire’s head. Horrified, those who are left of them (Kenia, Sara, Bridget, Lauren, Jenna, Kyle and Daniel) run outside and try to escape on their snowmobiles, but the engines won’t turn and it is revealed that the cannibals had stripped them of their spark plug wires. Lauren sets off to ski down the mountain to retrieve help and the other six run inside to try to defend themselves.
“Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings” is all sorts of lame. Bad CGI, atrocious acting, and thoroughly unlikable characters are just the start of this film’s problems. When will filmmakers realize that when we don’t like their characters, we don’t care who lives and who dies. When we don’t care, the movie is robbed of any and all suspense. Speaking of suspense, it is fairly obvious that ****SPOILER ALERT*** all of our “teen” characters die and all three hillbillies live as we know they were around for the “first” installment. This is just lazy filmmaking all around with some effects that have to be seen to be believed and no I don’t mean that as a compliment. Any turn away from the cover box at your local video store is a turn in the right direction.
Slasher Movie Posters: “Humongous” (1982)
The 1982 film, Humongous definitely has its fun moments, and then it also has its dark moments. That’s what is so great about the two posters shown here. The first one is very light-hearted with a cartoonish drawing and baby blocks spelling out the title. A fun poster, but does not really tell you what you will be in for as you begin to watch the film.
The second poster featured here has a much darker feel to it. The emotions are deep and the colors are rich. This version really lets the viewers in on a little more of what is to come. The addition of the dog was a nice touch. Overall, both posters are drastically different, but both great additions to any horror poster collection.
In Defense of 90’s Slashers
Talk to just about any studio in America right now and they will all tell you the same thing. Slashers are out and they aren’t coming back anytime soon. What was extremely popular in the 80’s and brought back to the mainstream in 1996 with the release of “Scream”, is just about dead today. For more proof, let’s take a look back to last year. Of the horror films that were given a wide release, zero can be classified as a slasher. That’s right…not a single wide release horror film last year was of the slasher genre. In 2011, we had the release of “Scream 4” which sold less tickets in its entire run than “Scream 3” sold opening weekend. Sad, isn’t it? Two of my favorite films of last year, “Silent Night” and “The Sleeper”, were both sent straight to dvd with fans eager to seek them out. The news is just depressing isn’t it?
Let us flash back to year 1995 when the highest grossing horror movie of the year was “Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight” grossing a paltry $21 million. Horror was dead and slashers were dead right along with them. In 1996, a little film called “Scream” was released to critical acclaim and an enthusiastic fan base eager to gobble up the carnage candy. The film went on to gross $103 million at the box office and remains the only slasher in history (along with its sequel, “Scream 2”) to break the $100 million mark. After this film was released, every studio in Hollywood was eager to make their own version of the slasher hit. Sony jumped on the teen bandwagon with “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Idol Hands,” and “Urban Legend,” Warner Brothers released the 80’s style “Valentine” a few years too late, LIVE unleashed hell with “Wishmaster,” MGM turned Stepford with “Disturbing Behavior,” and Universal buried “Cherry Falls.” Some of these films were more successful than others but none of these films lost money for their studio and all were more or less accepted by horror fans.
If that were only the case today… Take a look at the message boards on various horror sites like Bloody Disgusting or Fearnet and you will see that there is a great disdain for 90’s slashers. These films are not just disliked in today’s horror market but actively hated. While I can understand how not every horror fan will dig on the post-modern vibes of a lot of these horror movies, none of these films are particularly worthless. In the world of horror fans, if something is success, it can’t possibly be good. Forget the fact that all of the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street films made money. Those films are classics whereas today’s horror fan tends to view a film like “Scream 2” as junk. I wish this wasn’t the case and I know there are exceptions to the rule. Does anyone really know why this is the case? These films are fun and enjoyable. Sure they are flawed but so are most of the slashers from the 80’s (yes, even the best ones). So, before you dismiss another one of the films as worthless, or predictable, or far fetched ask yourself one question: Is the ending to “Urban Legend” any more preposterous as the ending to a “classic” 80’s slasher like “Happy Birthday to Me?” I think you’ll find the answer is no.
Not Quite Horror: “Crash” (2004)
Not Quite Horror contains reviews of films not traditionally considered horror films. By analyzing them as horror films (identifying the monster, discussing the shared worry for the audience and the main characters, and understanding the depth of horror available to the viewer), who knows? There more than one way to watch a movie.
Crash (2004)
The Monster: Crash won the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture in 2006 despite being more of a failed horror film than a successful drama.
The monster in Crash is racism, and it is portrayed as nearly supernatural in origin. Throughout the film, various characters are “possessed†by racism. Those possessed behave horribly, and often criminally, toward each other. The film portrays the afflicted as caring and human outside of the context of their racist “possession,†to remind us the villain is racism and the people can be saved.
The Shared Fate: Like Crash’s characters, any person is vulnerable to a damaging racist encounter. People are also vulnerable to being “possessed†by racism and doing racist things, regardless of the total quality of their character. It seems likely people who enjoyed the movie Crash were more likely to identify with the former point than the latter.
The Horror: Few films try to be as horrific as Crash does, regardless of what genre it has been classified. If you consider each upsetting racist moment as a scare tactic, the movie just like any scary movie. Something upsetting happens regularly, to keep people from falling asleep. Like traditional horror films, Crash creates dramatic tension by constantly raising suspicions of different characters, making people wonder who the real villain really is.
There are two major differences between Crash and The Haunting, The Haunting of Hill House, and The Legend of Hell House.. The first is that Crash is more concerned with discussing topical issues than entertaining an audience (although an argument could be made the latter point was also important to the filmmakers).
Secondly, Crash does not offer a thrilling climax to all of the tension and suspense it spends it running time building. Without this final showdown, the movie fails as a thriller. There’s no release of pent-up energy. Viewed as social commentary, this lack of resolution becomes a challenge to move the showdown to the world outside of the theater, to create change.
When Crash won its Best Picture Oscar, it was clearly because people appreciated the film as social commentary. Years later, it makes just as much sense to view the movie as a failed horror film.
— I am indebted to Noel Carroll’s The Philosophy of Horror for his ideas on defining horror, as well as John Skipp and Craig Spector’s article “Death’s Rich Pageantry, or Skipp & Spector’s Handy-Dandy Splatterpunk Guide to the Horrors of Non-horror Film†in Cut! Horror Writers on Horror Film for a similar idea.–
–Axel Kohagen
Kevin & Steve’s Horror Movies: “Humongous” (1982)
Kevin: Like all just about great slasher flicks from the 1980’s, today’s criminally overlooked “Humongous†begins on a holiday. It is Labor Day weekend, 1946. A young woman named Ida Parsons is taken from a formal dinner party and raped in the back of the house on the island. The man is killed by her dogs who protect Ida and the house and the woman is pretty much left for dead.
Steve: This initial scene really pulls you into the film right away. We have a super creepy guy taking part in an all-too-real rape scene that is at times difficult to watch, but filmed in a way that keeps your eyes glued to the screen. The addition of the barking dogs creates even more chaos that ramps up the emotional connection with the audience. These scenes can be hard to film and hard to watch, but if done in a way like found in Humongous, these shots can become powerful and can really set the tone for the rest of the film.
Kevin: We jump ahead thirty years and we meet a group of five college students who are going for a little cruise out on the boat. When trouble starts between two brothers leading the boat, the fivesome is forced to spend the night on Dog Island…the same island the woman was raped on thirty years ago. Someone or something is going to make sure they don’t survive the night…
Steve: We find many of the classic slasher characters with this college group. The jock, the pretty boy, the slut, ect…we are given the full package here. The characters are fun and the a-hole jock, Nick, provides a needed comedic relief. I wish he would have survived a little longer within the film because I was having a great time with this character and was sad to see him go. As far as Dog Island is concerned, this place is character in itself. We are shown a great beach location with a lush forest and the house the kids stumble upon is absolutely perfect! It has the old run-down feel but still is livable and very creepy.
Kevin: “Humongous†is a fun, homage filled 80′s slasher that rips off a dozen other, better slasher films but still manages to be a lot of fun. Remember the scene at the end of “Friday the 13th Part 2″ where Amy Steel pretends to be Jason’s mother? This film sure does as the exact scene is repeated here to lesser effect. That being said, the kills are fun and characters are a tad bit better developed than most of the other 80′s slashers out there.
Steve: This is an enjoyable film to watch for no other reason then to see almost exact scenes that are found in fellow slashers. A couple movies with the Friday The 13th series have scenes that are like twins to certain scenes in Humongous. It is fun to see how these similar scenes are played out in different films and then to point out what works in each and what doesn’t. This film is definitely worth a repeat screening as there will be certain parts of the film that you will pick up on the next time you watch it.
Kevin: David Wallace is particular is quite strong as our lead twin Eric. Most of the time in 80′s slasher, guys are given nothing to do but not so here. He almost becomes the film girl by being smart, likable, and even given a chance to emote. Lead Janet Julian possesses similar qualities and has a lot of fun with her “last girl standing†appearance. This is a must watch for fans of the early 80′s slasher genre. I can’t say that everyone is going to enjoy the film as much as I did as the film is quite slow and repetitive at times. Nonetheless, it is one of the better examples from the under-appreciated genre.
Steve: I do believe that this 80’s flick has flown under the radar for much too long. It is a fairly strong film and the acting and characters do the job that is needed. The production value is high with water and fire scenes that can be tricky to film and are both high risk during production. The film does have it’s lulls in the action and I do feel that the villain could have been amped up a notch to compete with Michael and Jason, but overall, this is a solid piece of filmmaking and any slasher fan should check out.