Much like comedy, the horror genre is always shifting trends. What might be a classic today could be forgotten by next week, or vice-versa. In such a subjective genre, it is easy for a film that was initially derided to be re-evaluated years later, whether through critical analysis or the buzz-heavy word-of-mouth campaign of the cult-film circuit.
This is especially the case when it comes to horror sequels as they are often compared to their predecessors, often unfavorably. However, there have been a handful of horror sequels in known franchises to do something out-of-the-box, subsequently appreciating a following long after their initial release. A prime example of this is Halloween III, but there are other films that have similarly found later success.
Updated on October 8th, 2020 by Mark Birrell: If horror movie fans love doing one thing, it’s reassessing older titles. So let’s look at an extra 5 examples of sequels from the genre that failed to garner much love on release but have gained a more appreciative following since.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
One of the boldest moves from a popular horror franchise, Halloween III: Season of the Witch departed from the plot threads of the first two films entirely, establishing them as fictional entities within the film’s own universe. The Halloween franchise was envisioned to be like an anthology, but Michael Myers proved to be too popular to not bring him back for Halloween II.
The plot in Season of the Witch instead jumbles together body horror, science fiction elements, and, naturally, witchcraft. The film is no doubt a bizarre ride that was almost universally derided upon release, leading the creators abandoning the anthology format for a strictly Michael Myers theme. However, the third film has miraculously gone on to have a life of its own, scoring tons of fans independently of its affiliation with its iconic series.
Hostel II (2007)
The original film was divisive enough on its own when it hit theaters in 2005. Gore maestro Eli Roth returned two years later to revile the world again with another helping of industrial viscera and “torture porn.”
The film was despised and controversial when released due to its extreme violence, though the film has gone on to maintain its own little niche in the director’s filmography as a genuine ratcheting up of the first film’s more twisted elements.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
After killing the iconic slasher killer Jason Voorhees in the fourth movie, and trying to move past him in Part V, the Friday the 13th franchise needed to think outside the box to keep the series going.
The sixth movie was the point when the sequels finally gave up all pretensions of realism and became more of a knowing wink to the audience in the fashion of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, which would eventually integrate itself into the Friday the 13th universe.
Predators (2010)
Not even the classic original movie in the Predator franchise was generally well-received by critics and the third entry didn’t buck the trend. But, like the original, it quickly found a loving audience thanks to its action, humor, sci-fi designs, and memorable characters.
The process, unfortunately, didn’t happen fast enough to save the remnants of its plot in the series, and the following reboot, 2018’s The Predator, had its own set of problems.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
At the time of its release, Freddy’s Revenge was automatically pigeonholed as an everyday mandatory sequel to a successful horror movie. Which it is, in many respects.
However, the now-undeniable homoerotic subtext within the plot has caused the second Nightmare on Elm Street movie to survive as a cult curiosity and have allowed it to stand out from the vast majority of slasher movies.
Saw VI (2009)
Long past the prime of the series, the sixth installment of the Saw franchise continued what, at this point, had become an endlessly convoluted and tired melodrama about Jigsaw’s seemingly endless array of apprentices.
Still, this installment has received a bit of retrospective positivity thanks to the screenplay’s attempts to reinject some social commentary into the gory proceedings. Additionally, there is a fan-wide consensus the film vastly improves on the fifth film and contains some of the better trap designs in the series. By no means a good film, Saw VI is still a good Saw film. And that’s enough.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Ditching the Christmas terror of the original classic in favor of a more robust hybrid of comedy and horror, Gremlins 2: The New Batch was largely unseen when it was released, likely due in part to the six-year gap between the two films. It’s a film that has now been able to garner a cult following of its own, perhaps signaling that director Joe Dante’s risky decision wasn’t a poor one.
While nowhere near as timeless and inventive as the first film, Gremlins 2 nevertheless proves to be an effective horror-comedy creature feature worth watching and remembering.
Alien 3 (1992)
The first in what was realistically a long line of black sheep in the Alien franchise after the resounding success of the first two installments, Alien 3 certainly wasn’t what it was intended to be.
However, even if director David Fincher did essentially disown it, there’s so much of the visionary style that made Alien and Aliens such memorable horror movies present in the third entry, and a longer alternate cut released over a decade later has softened a lot of the criticism against it.
Psycho II (1983)
A film that some are totally unaware of, the 1983 sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal 1960 magnum opus is a decidedly campier affair that places the spotlight squarely on Norman Bates, played once again by Anthony Perkins.
Perkins manages to turn in another creepy and effective performance as one of cinema’s scariest boogeyman and the film’s narrative manages to be intriguing enough to warrant a watch. A film that was a failure when released, it has since gone on to attract a more favorable reputation as a sequel that, at the very least, justifies its own existence.
Troll 2 (1990)
While certainly not a film revived for its underseen artistic merit, Troll 2 has nevertheless found a second life in the canon of “so-bad-it’s-good” films. The hype is real for this one as it proves to be one of the very best of the “genre” and, in the process, becoming one of the funniest films to watch with a group of friends.
The hardly comprehensible plot seems to center around a family seeking a vacation in a town overrun by humans that are, in fact, goblins.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
Another example of a movie that has been–while by no means re-evaluated as a good film (especially in relation to its original)–progressively picked over by internet denizens and genre fans since its release.
Fast-tracked after the breakout success of The Blair Witch Project, the sequel was always doomed to come off as not much more than a rushed cash grab. But the intended themes of the film’s metastory have kept its memory alive in the wider discourse about horror movies and improved its reputation over time.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)
Unfortunately, the lowest-grossing film in the Nightmare on Elm Street series is this 1994 meta-reinterpretation of the franchise from its creator, Wes Craven. Though the film did not succeed at the box office, critics reacted warmly to the film and found the proto-Scream metafiction structure to be a clever twist and a much-needed dose of energy for the struggling franchise.
Thankfully, the film has been seen much more since the advent of streaming services and home video, leading it to be a beloved entry in one of horror’s most beloved series.
Friday the 13th: Part 2 (1981)
The second Friday the 13th film lands on the list solely because many people likely confuse it with the original in the sense that this is truly the first film in the franchise to feature Jason Voorhees as the main antagonist.
The film did not recapture the success of the first film but is primarily the beginning of the series as everyone knows it now. Somewhat of a guilty pleasure for slasher fans, the film is silly. Still, this is where Jason began his cinematic journey to unbelievable schlock ahead.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Filmmaker Tobe Hooper returned to his breakout hit to make a sequel that was tonally world’s apart from its intense slasher predecessor.
The film is very much a product of its time, combining satire with southern fried terror. At the heart of the whole thing is a perfectly cast Dennis Hopper as a law enforcement agent on the trail of Leatherface and his clan of nightmarish family members. The film’s black humor tone is allegedly what Hooper had envisioned for the first film, and the film has, once again, managed to accumulate a loyal following over the last three decades.
The Exorcist III (1990)
Written and directed by the man behind the original film’s source material and screenplay, William Peter Blatty, this sequel skips the events of the second film. The film is unusually cerebral for being the third film in a horror franchise and mixed heady ideas with some truly visceral scares that continue to hold up to this day.
The film initially came-and-went with little fanfare, though through cable, home video, and communal buzz, its reputation as one of the best horror sequels of all time has been firmly cemented. It may not be as culturally important as the original, but it’s very nearly as frightening.
