Second time's the scare! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most worthy follow-ups to great horror movies. We may be delving into some significant plot points here, so a spoiler alert is now in effect.
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00:00 [Sounds of a car crashing]
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most worthy follow-ups
00:10 to great horror movies. We may be diving into some significant plot points here,
00:15 so a spoiler alert is now in effect.
00:18 "She's alive! Alive!"
00:21 Number 10. 28 Weeks Later
00:27 "Get out! Get back! Get back! Get in the car! Get in the car! Get in the car! Get in the car!"
00:36 What makes a great horror sequel? For that matter, how far should future installments
00:41 differentiate themselves from the OG? 28 Weeks Later couldn't feel more removed from its
00:46 predecessor, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. This sequel from director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
00:52 fills in line with audience expectations for a more typical zombie outbreak scenario.
00:57 "Wait! Sunny, there's no time! Sunny, come on! For God's sake, go!"
01:04 The loneliness and sprawling empty landscapes of Boyle's vision are replaced with a more
01:08 action-orientated role of how the rage virus is spread and what humanity is doing to combat
01:14 the inevitable. "Why the hell are you here?" "Their mother had very special blood."
01:21 "Natural kind of immunity to the virus."
01:26 28 Weeks Later, as a result, feels like both a sequel and a companion piece of sorts,
01:32 and you don't need to be familiar with Boyle's original to enjoy the ride.
01:36 Number 9. The Exorcist 3
01:38 William Peter Blatty, author of the original Exorcist novel, helmed this second sequel to
01:43 the genre-defining 1973 adaptation of his work. "It's a problem that I'm working on, father."
01:50 "All this bleeding."
01:54 The Exorcist 3 combines elements of police procedurals and occult terror as Lieutenant
02:03 William Kinderman investigates a series of violent killings. These ritualistic murders
02:08 all contain the meticulous handiwork of the long-deceased Gemini killer,
02:13 which raises questions as to what in the devil is going on.
02:16 "The Gemini is dead." "No, I am not! I'm alive! I go on! I breathe! Look at me! Look at me!"
02:27 George C. Scott and his co-star Brad Dourif both deliver career-defining monologues,
02:32 while the set pieces are creepy and ultra-disturbing.
02:36 "I believe in murder. I believe in pain. I believe in cruelty and infidelity."
02:46 Oh, and The Exorcist 3 also contains one of horror cinema's
02:51 finest jump scares, full stop. Number 8. Halloween
02:55 "Happy Halloween, Michael."
02:56 We're living in the era of the "requel" — direct sequels that reboot a franchise,
03:02 while ignoring all previous sequels. This can often be a dicey proposition,
03:06 and usually delivers mixed results, but 2018's Halloween was a notable exception.
03:12 "I'm sorry, I can't do it!"
03:14 "Gotcha."
03:19 Director David Gordon Green captured the menace and unpredictability of John Carpenter's original,
03:25 while also updating some of the brutality for the late 2010s. Sure, some fans lamented the
03:31 changing of key plot points, such as Laurie Strode now not being related to Michael Myers. Then again,
03:37 these sorts of controversial decisions are often what sets certain sequels and
03:42 "requels" apart from the pack.
03:44 "Goodbye, Michael."
03:46 Number 7. Scream 2
03:52 Wes Craven's original Scream wasn't the first film to contain meta-commentary about slasher
03:57 cinema, but it's arguably one of the most influential. "Never, ever, ever, under any
04:02 circumstances say, 'I'll be right back,' because you won't be back." "I'm getting another beer,
04:06 you want one?" "Yeah, sure." "I'll be right back!"
04:09 Its 1997 sequel, Scream 2, also has a lot of fun dissecting and deconstructing many of the
04:17 tropes that we love within the genre. "Are you suggesting that someone's
04:20 trying to make a real-life sequel?" "Statue? Who'd want to do that? Sequels suck."
04:25 "No way." "Come on, man." "Oh, please, please, by definition alone,
04:29 they're inferior films." Screenwriter Kevin Williamson pokes gentle fun at the horror
04:34 sequel's reputation for diminishing returns, while at the same time employing some black humor
04:39 amidst all of the grisly slayings. The production of Scream 2 was complicated and chaotic,
04:45 but the end results speak for themselves. "I've got my whole defense planned out.
04:51 I'm gonna blame the movies. It's a pretty girl, huh? It hasn't been done before."
04:56 6. Doc to Sleep The task of creating a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's
05:01 landmark adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining couldn't have been easy.
05:05 "Here's Johnny!" Writer-director Mike Flanagan had some gigantic shoes to fill,
05:16 yet many fans couldn't wait to step back into the Overlook Hotel for another trip into darkness.
05:23 Doc to Sleep isn't without its problems. "You said you'd come back. And you did. Good."
05:31 However, Flanagan's eye for composition allows his updated vision to successfully distance itself
05:38 from both King's source material and Kubrick's austere film. Doc to Sleep feels very much like
05:44 its own thing, rather than a legacy picture, and this helps Flanagan's work step up to the plate
05:49 and take a swing at greatness. "Are you gonna take your medicine?"
05:53 "I'm not." "Oh, look at that. I'm sorry."
06:03 5. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 - Dream Warriors "This is it, Jennifer. Your big,
06:10 frightening TV." This franchise has done better than most when it comes to successful sequels.
06:16 Wes Craven's New Nightmare, from 1994, was an admirably meta take on Freddy Krueger,
06:22 but fans of a certain age will likely point to 1987's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 - Dream
06:27 Warriors as a series high point. "We're here." "We're here." "We're in a dream."
06:35 This entry has it all, from Dockin's amazing theme song to a memorable and
06:39 likable cast of characters. Dream Warriors is also where Krueger's wisecracks begin to filter
06:45 in more prominently, balancing proper scare tactics with moments of mean-spirited levity.
06:50 "Sorry, kids. I don't believe in fairy tales." We celebrate a lot of the Nightmare sequels,
06:57 but Dream Warriors stands the test of time when it comes to rewatchability.
07:02 4. Bride of Frankenstein Back in 1935, the genre of horror sequels was
07:07 in its infancy, with filmmakers still testing the waters in regards to what they could achieve. This
07:12 makes Bride of Frankenstein all the more amazing to watch today, since it gets so many things correct,
07:18 right from the jump. "The cunning of Frankenstein in his mountain laboratory,
07:22 taking dead men apart and building up a human monster."
07:26 There's the insertion of more humor into the proceedings, which works,
07:30 but these moments are then juxtaposed against classic horror scares and scenes of real
07:35 emotional pathos. "Go! You live! Go! You stay! We belong dead!"
07:47 Meanwhile, Elsa Lanchester's portrayal of the titular bride is nothing short of iconic,
07:53 a word that's tossed around a lot, but which definitely fits the bill here.
07:57 "Ahhhhhh!" "She hate me."
08:02 Bride of Frankenstein is truly as good as everyone says it is.
08:06 3. Evil Dead 2 "There's something out there.
08:09 That... that witch in the cellar is only part of it."
08:17 Writer-director Sam Raimi and co-writer Scott Spiegel could have easily rehashed their gruesome
08:23 horror masterpiece, The Evil Dead, for a quick cash-in sequel. We probably wouldn't be talking
08:28 about either Evil Dead 2 or 1992's Army of Darkness if they had done that, however. That's because
08:34 Evil Dead 2, instead, chooses to revisit that cabin in the woods with a knowing sense of humor
08:40 to go along with all of the red stuff. "What do you say we have some champagne,
08:44 huh baby?" "Sure."
08:45 "After all, I'm a man and you're a woman. At least last time I checked."
08:50 The film still possesses many genuinely gross and frightening moments, but Bruce Campbell's
08:56 performance as Ash Williams adds physical comedy beats that help make Evil Dead 2 feel like one of
09:02 a kind. "Hail he who has come from the skies to deliver us from the tails of the dead! Hail! Hail!"
09:12 2. Dawn of the Dead George A. Romero helped change the game with his original
09:17 Night of the Living Dead, while also delivering two sequels that cemented his reputation as a
09:22 legend. 1985's Day of the Dead was outstanding, but 1978's Dawn of the Dead is perhaps the perfect
09:30 zombie movie, full stop. "Can't they smash the glass?"
09:33 "Nancy, stop. Put it in the truck. They got no levers under the truck.
09:37 Hoping they'll just go away after they find they can't get in."
09:41 Much has been said about the film's "intended or not" commentary about commercialism,
09:46 but beyond this, Dawn of the Dead has become a tentpole for the genre.
09:50 "With those bay doors open, there's gonna be a thousand zombies in here.
09:54 Better take the heat off us. These guys are gonna have their hands full."
09:58 The undead hordes seem unstoppable, and our protagonist's sense of desperation
10:02 leaves the audience with a profound feeling of hopelessness. The world is, quite simply,
10:08 on its knees, and Romero ensures that the stakes feel high from moment one to his harrowing finale.
10:14 "How much fuel do we have?" "Not much."
10:19 "Alright."
10:21 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:24 Saw X, a long-anticipated direct sequel to the original Saw.
10:29 "Please don't kill me." "That's the last thing that you should be worried about.
10:34 Now, I wanna play a game."
10:39 A Quiet Place Part II, don't speak, don't breathe, or else.
10:44 "Give me the key." "Jesus Christ, I'm going back."
10:50 "No, no, no, my family." "Alright, listen to me."
10:53 "I have to get back to my family."
10:55 Friday the 13th Part VI, Jason Lives, The Man Behind the Mask is Back.
11:04 "Meghan, no!"
11:09 Conjuring 2, Ed and Lorraine Warren continue to find spirits everywhere they look.
11:14 "There's only children, a group, and a mouse, and they all live together in a little..."
11:21 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, thrills, chills, and laughs. The Saw is family.
11:30 "You had to find out about it, didn't ya? You just couldn't leave it alone.
11:35 If you wanted to know about it that whole bad, why didn't you ask me? You wanna know about it?"
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11:54 1. Aliens
11:56 "Get away from her, you bitch!"
12:00 The argument over whether Ridley Scott's original Alien is science fiction or horror
12:05 could also be applied to its sequel, but ultimately, it doesn't really matter,
12:09 because James Cameron's blockbuster sequel is a beautiful example of both genres,
12:14 scary, action-packed, and futuristic.
12:16 "I order you to hold fire!"
12:18 "I'm coming out of the wall! I'm coming out of the goddamn wall! Fuck!"
12:23 If the first Alien emphasizes isolation and fear, then Aliens underlines the hopelessness
12:29 humanity feels against the xenomorphs as opponents. Heck, Hudson says as much himself,
12:35 "It's game over for almost everyone in Aliens."
12:38 "That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over!"
12:41 The audience, of course, reaps the cinematic rewards of this relentless, high-octane thrill
12:47 ride. What's your favorite horror sequel? Do you like any more than the original?
12:51 Let us know in the comments.
12:53 "I loved every minute of it."
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13:08 [outro]