Movie sequels are always difficult because a lot of the time a larger story wasn't planned and the studio wants it quickly, so you end up with a forced, sloppy story that was only made to generate some easy money on an already established good name. Horror movies are synonymous with beating a dead horse, so here are 13 sequels of great horror movies that were so bad they nearly tarnished the original.
1. "The Ring 2" (2005)
"The Ring" is one of those rare remakes that's as good as, if not better, than the original, so a sequel came as no surprise. What was surprising is how absolutely terrible it turned out to be, even with Ringu director Hideo Nakata running the show. Samara, who we only got brief glimpses of in the original, just seems to be hanging out and walking around in this one. It feels as though no one watched "The Ring" and had someone tell them it and made a sequel from what they overheard.
2. "Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows" (2000)
"Blair Witch 2" should be a required viewing for all filmmakers to know exactly how not to make a sequel. Granted, it was probably very difficult to come up with a continuation of the first "Blair Witch," but just about anything would have been better than this mess. The characters are laughable and the reveal of what's really going on at the end will leave you absolutely furious that you wasted your time on it.
3. "Jaws: The Revenge" (1987)
It seems like making a sequel to "Jaws" would be simple. You bring in a bigger shark to a new location where someone from the original has moved to get away from their past. Instead "Jaws: The Revenge" plays out like one of those terrible romance novels in your grandma's attic. There's barely any scenes that feature the shark and most of the time we're stuck watching Martin Brody's widow trying to find love. It's downright bizarre.
4. "Halloween 3: Season of the Witch" (1982)
Speaking of bizarre choices for sequels, "Halloween 3" may go down in history as the most mind-blowingly bad sequel concept of all time. The studio decided Michael Myers wasn't really necessary for a Halloween movie, so why not make a totally different movie about an evil company that makes deadly children's masks? Shockingly enough, this was not a good idea and the franchise immediately went back to Michael Myers.
5. "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" (1998)
First of all, that title is ridiculous. It was at least two summers ago at this point. The original took some liberties in relying on you to suspend your disbelief, but this one just went nuts with it. The killer makes a fake radio contest to get Jennifer Love Hewitt and company down to a secluded tropical island during rainy season so he could kill them. How on earth is this practical in any way? On top of that we also get Rastafarian Jack Black, for some awful reason. The other original cast should be thankful they were killed off to avoid this monstrosity.
6. "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge" (1985)
You know how the original Freddy lurks in the shadows of your dreams and uses subtlety to horrify teenagers? Well not this time around! Freddy is jumping around at pool parties slashing away like an unruly guest. Plus the whole story turns into a tale of a guy struggling to figure out his sexuality more than battling against Freddy Krueger.
7. "Saw 2-6" (2005-2009)
The original "Saw" was a dark and gritty crime thriller. The sequels just had vague pseudo-plots built around a bunch of random torture devices. By the time the final sequel came around the murders didn't even relate to the story anymore and the crimes certainly didn't fit the punishment. One girl got cut in half because she was seeing two different guys. It might be time to settle down just a bit.
8. "The Birds 2: Land's End" (1994)
If you're a fan of the Hitchcock classic, don't tarnish it for yourself by watching this insanely unnecessary and poorly made sequel. It seems as though they didn't have the budget or special effects to bring in swarms of birds, so you might see around a dozen or so in any given scene. Maybe the strangest part of all is that Tippi Hedren, from the original film, makes a return, but as a totally different character. I would love to hear their logic on that casting decision.
9. "Blade: Trinity" (2004)
Instead of another round of Blade fighting super-powered vampires, we get Jessica Biel, blind Patton Oswalt and the most obnoxious Ryan Reynolds character you could possibly imagine fighting against Parker Posey and professional wrestler Triple H. It's seriously like a Mad Lib of characters and plot points. Oh, and on top of all that, Blade is barely in the movie at all. What more could you ask for from a...Blade movie?
10. "Texas Chainsaw 3D" (2013)
There have been quite a few subpar "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remakes and sequels, but none come close to the terribleness of this train wreck. First of all, it's in 3-D, which is never a good start. But by the time it's over, the girl who has been chased and hunted the entire film and watched all her friends die, is now working with Leatherface to fight some dirty cops. When she yells, "Do you thing, cuz." and tosses him his chainsaw, you'll feel yourself actually die a little inside.
11. "Jason Goes to Hell" (1993)
It got bad with "Jason Takes Manhattan," but at least Jason was actually in that movie. In this one it's mainly just his spirit jumping from one body to the next, because no one watches a "Friday the 13th" movie to see Jason; they just want to see random characters walking around in a creepy way after some blurry special effects have smacked into their stomach. At least we got "Jason X" after it.
12. "Jeepers Creepers 2" (2003)
The first "Jeepers Creepers" movie certainly wasn't great, but the sequel was so bad it had to be included on the list. Jeepers Creepers goes from a mysterious figure stealing body parts to what appears to be a perverted goblin that wants to have sex with a bunch of teenage boys trapped in a school bus. Go watch it again and tell me he's not the most unintentional horny movie monster you've ever seen.
13. "Halloween Resurrection" (2002)
That's right, Halloween gets TWO entries on the list and rightfully so. "Halloween H20," while it had its flaws, was a very satisfying ending to the Michael Myers story. But no, they just couldn't leave it alone and kept it going with an absolutely ridiculous explanation of how Michael survived his sister beheading him and then KILLED HER OFF! What!? To make matters even worse, he goes from that to bare knuckle boxing with Busta Rhymes. Say what you will about the other bad sequels, but none of them slapped their fans in the face harder than this one.
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