What’s worse than a disappointing original horror movie? A disappointing follow-up to a beloved hit. What’s even worse than that? A sequel that takes no (successful) steps toward justifying its own existence.
From follow-ups to narratives that should have remained single film IPs to baffling sequels that were topped by other follow-ups before (or, sometimes, after), there are quite a few horror movie installments out there that just shouldn’t exist. They’re not just bad, they’re pointless. In some cases, they don’t even feel complete, which, also sometimes, is exactly the case. What follows are examples of all types of wildly disappointing horror sequels, with the throughline being they’re very much an utter waste of the viewer’s time.
10 Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
Exorcist 2
- Release Date
- June 17, 1977
- Director
- John Boorman
When it comes to the sharpest decline in horror history from part one to part two, it’d be from William Friedkin’s The Exorcist to John Boorman’s The Exorcist II: The Heretic. Nonsensical and boring beyond reason, The Heretic can’t even make the return of Linda Blair as Regan O’Neill work at all. It’s not just one of the worst horror films of all time, it’s one of the worst movies of the ’70s, regardless of genre.
The Exorcist III, However…Is Fantastic
The film is almost nothing like the original. There are a few returning cast members, but they really shouldn’t have bothered. This movie is more concerned with the uninteresting investigation into Father Merrin’s death (which the audience knows more about than the man investigating it) than what caused that death to begin with. Oh, and locusts…for some reason.
9 The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985)
Remember how we mentioned that The Exorcist experienced the sharpest decline between the first and second installments? Well, the massive disparity between the quality of 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street and 1985’s The Hills Have Eyes Part II almost certainly nabs the same backhanded award but for horror director output. Wes Craven made Part II solely for the money, and it shows.
A Cash-Grab That Ran Out of Cash
The production ended before it was supposed to because the funding ran out. But, even if it hadn’t, it’d be hard to say this film’s impact would hold a candle to that of the original. Equipped with a generic Harry Manfredini score (who made his bones in horror, particularly the first eight Friday the 13th films), it wears its slasher influences on its sleeves. So audiences are either watching stock footage from the original film, of which there’s a ton, or a mundane biker kids meet hill people stab flick, and neither works.
8 Poltergeist III (1988)
Heather O’Rourke and Zelda Rubinstein may have reprised their roles in the final installment of the Poltergeist trilogy, but not even they can bring any magic to the proceedings. O’Rourke’s Carol Anne Freeling isn’t even surrounded by her family. For one, Dana actor Dominique Dunne was tragically murdered after the release of the first film. Not to mention, the actors who played Carol Anne’s parents, JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson, had moved on to better things. Even Robbie’s Oliver Robins found himself sitting this one out.
A Series About the Freeling Family Without Most of the Freelings
Why the production wasn’t canceled shortly after filming began is a mystery. The sequel had nothing new to add to the mythology that was already made overly complicated by the boring second movie but, even if it had, there was O’Rourke’s health. The child actor passed away four months before Poltergeist III hit theaters, and it’s obvious in every frame that she’s not well. It lends the film a level of discomfort that only makes it worse.
7 Alien: Resurrection (1997)
David Fincher’s Alien³ has its flaws, but it justifies its own existence far more often than the quadrilogy-capper, Alien: Resurrection. The third film is atmospheric, the fourth is too glossy. The third movie has its scary moments (the death of Charles Dance’s character is particularly well-handled), Resurrection doesn’t have a scary moment throughout. But, even bigger than the crime of the third film’s disposing of Newt and Cpl. Hicks before the first frame, Resurrection disrespects the character of Ellen Ripley.
Wasn’t Ripley’s Death the Part of Alien³ That Actually Worked?
Ripley’s sacrifice during the third act of Fincher’s film made sense. After surviving the Nostromo and then besting the Queen, Ripley knows her stuff about the Xenomorphs. That includes what they’d do if Weyland-Yutani ever got their greedy mitts on them. Even if it meant immolation, Ripley would absolutely sacrifice herself to ensure that didn’t happen. And she does. But then Resurrection brings her back as a personality-free clone. It’s a half-step away from recasting the character and is even worse than the fourth film’s utter waste of Michael Wincott’s talent and gravel voice.
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6 The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
Brian De Palma’s Carrie never needed a sequel. Stephen King never wrote a sequel. After all, the title character dies, and, outside a jump scare in the final scene, there’s literally no indication she’s a Jason or Freddy-type that just keeps coming back.
But…Didn’t Carrie Die?
And, yet, the world has The Rage: Carrie 2. Initially, it wasn’t intended to be related to Carrie, it was just called The Curse. But, the lead was changed to Carrie White’s younger half-sister, who the audience never knew existed before this film because, well, she didn’t.
5 Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
1999’s The Blair Witch Project was a pretty singular event. People didn’t know if it was real or what to expect because, at that point, found footage wasn’t much of a thing. To its credit, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was meta before meta was really a thing. But it doesn’t remotely work.
The narrative follows a group of 20 or 30-somethings obsessed with the film. They go on a tour of locations seen in The Blair Witch Project before ultimately each being apparently possessed by the title character. The issue is the film’s execution, which makes it come across more as a generic early aughts fright-fest than anything actually related to the film whose success inspired it.
4 American Psycho 2 (2002)
Two years after Christian Bale blew audiences away in American Psycho, Mila Kunis made them question why she was in American Psycho 2. Or why it even existed. Kunis plays an ambitious criminology student who considers murder to be a suitable out-of-class learning exercise.
No Patrick Bateman…No Interest
Like other films on this list, American Psycho 2 initially had no connection to the original film or Bret Easton Ellis’ source material. And, like those other films, it shows. Because the sequel has not one ounce of the intellect seen in that 2000 cult classic, and it’s been denounced by both Ellis and Kunis.
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3 Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)
When it comes to the Hellraiser franchise, Ashley Laurence’s Kirsty Cotton is integral. Her struggle is what makes the first film work so well. And it’s her increased agency that makes Hellbound: Hellraiser II work so well. Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is fun and even manages to justify its existence by giving some organic and digestible backstory to the poster-adorning antagonist, Pinhead.
Hellraiser…Hellwatch?
But everything after that point is utterly skippable. From the final theatrical installment, which comes equipped with the distance-making moniker Alan Smithee to the direct-to-video sequels (four of which featured Pinhead star Doug Bradley before he jumped ship), they’re cheap cash-ins on a recognizable brand name. Of those four Bradley-starring DTV movies, Hellraiser: Hellworld (the eighth film overall) is the worst. It wasn’t even initially intended to be a Hellraiser movie but was reworked, and that shows (as always). Not even Bradley, Lance Henriksen, Katheryn Winnick, or a young Henry Cavill can save this one.
2 I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)
1998’s I Still Know What You Did Last Summer doesn’t justify its own existence. That is, outside continuing the narrative for Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Julie James and Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Ray Bronson. And it’s for that one reason I Still Know is not on this list but I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer is.
We Get It…You Know
Both sequels are dreadful, but at least Still Know had the decency to follow characters the audience already knew. I’ll Always Know is essentially a one-off, ultra-low-budget reboot. It never works for many reasons, not the least of which is its turning The Fisherman (AKA the flesh-and-blood Ben Willis) into a Friday the 13th Part VI-style zombie.
1 Texas Chainsaw (2013)
Texas Chainsaw, or Texas Chainsaw 3D as it was called when it hit theaters, is not the franchise’s finest hour. The only consolation is that it’s not alone in being a nearly unwatchable installment of its respective franchise. That said, thanks to an utter disregard for that pesky little thing called time, it’s by far the most nonsensical.
Came Out in the Early 2010s So Of Course It Was in 3D
The movie begins almost immediately after the events of the original film. Then, after a few brief scenes, it jumps to 2012. And Alexandra Daddario’s Heather is in both scenes. In the ’70s, she’s a baby. In 2012, she’s…20-something? If an IP movie breaks from sound logic to that extent, it doesn’t matter how scary it is (which Texas Chainsaw is not)…it wasn’t the right way to go for the franchise.
