Nicolas Cage recently broke free of the direct-to-video market with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and, while his best films haven't come from the past decade, the low-rent film market has proven successful for him and others.
This includes film franchises, which can find a second life in the straight-to-streaming/direct-to-video market, regardless of whether or not the first film did well. Most are nothing to write home about, but some of them are worth watching on their own, perhaps even coming close to matching the quality of the theatrically-released original, according to their scores on IMDb.
American Pie Presents: Beta House (2007) — 5.3
After the American Pie trilogy wrapped up with American Wedding, the franchise began its second life on the DTV market with American Pie: Band Camp.
While nowhere near the quality of American Pie, American Pie 2, or the later American Reunion, Band Camp had an asset in the form of Tad Hildenbrink's Matt Stifler, cousin to Steve. Furthermore, it even managed to bring back two cast members from the theatrical installments: Chris Owen's Chuck Sherman and Eugene Levy's Mr. Levenstein.
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) — 5.4
As one of the best direct-to-video horror movies, sequel or otherwise, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End breathes rare air. In fact, there's a consensus among critics on Rotten Tomatoes and fans of the franchise that the second installment is better than the theatrical one that preceded it.
However, while the first sequel isn't the highest-rated on IMDb, it's towards the top of the seven total entries outside of only the original and the 2021 reboot.
Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020) — 5.4
The seventh and most recent installment of the Tremors franchise, Tremors: Shrieker Island, defied expectations of a sixth sequel and stands as one of the best entries. It also pleased fans by giving series mainstay Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) one of the Tremors series' most intense deaths.
The Tremors films were never considered high art, but quality dipped substantially after the second installment, with Tremors 3: Back to Perfection jumping the shark by introducing a flying Graboid: the "Ass-Blaster." The prequel fourth film, The Legend Begins, strove to take away the mystery of the Graboids, one of the franchise's great lingering questions that are best left unanswered. Tremors 5: Bloodlines and Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell brought on Jamie Kennedy as Burt's son, Travis B. Welker, whose dialogue turned off many remaining franchise proponents. While Shrieker Island's swap for Jon Heder is still cited as a weak point, overall reception considers Burt's final go-round with the Graboids to be one of his best.
Bring It On: All Or Nothing (2006) — 5.5
2000's Bring It On, starring Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union, spawned an unlikely franchise that's made it to seven installments if counting the upcoming horror spin-off, Bring It On: Cheer or Die.
The third installment, Bring It On: All or Nothing, stars Hayden Panettiere as Britney Allen, a popular cheer captain whose family's dire financial situation forces her to side with her former adversary. No longer the captain, Allen has to follow Camille (Solange Knowles) in an effort to be backup dancers in a music video for Rihanna, who makes a cameo appearance. Both critics and fans of the franchise agree that the series' best installments are its first and third, and at the very least there's little doubt both films are equally well-cast.
The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (2009) — 5.6
The Butterfly Effect, starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart, wasn't a critical darling, but it made over seven times its budget, according to Box Office Mojo. So, The Butterfly Effect 2 was released two years later but was met with a dreadful response from both critics and fans of the first film.
The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations was deemed a massive improvement over its predecessor, even if diehard fans of the Kutcher film still didn't think it was a sequel worthy of the original.
K-911 (1999) — 5.6
1989's K-9 is a buddy cop action-comedy featuring Jim Belushi and a German Shepherd named Jerry Lee. Belushi portrays San Diego detective Michael Dooley, a rough-around-the-edges cop who gets himself in the sights of an equally ill-tempered drug lord. Dooley's higher-up, Sergeant Brannigan (Ed O'Neill, Modern Family), assigns him Jerry Lee for protection, but the dog may end up being more trouble than he's worth.
The original film made a decent amount of money at the close of the 1980s, so why there was a full decade's wait until the release of K-911 is a mystery. Like the first film, the sequel was bashed for straining credibility, but the work of the pup was praised.
Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown (2011) — 5.6
The original Never Back Down (2008) was a moderately successful theatrical film starring Cam Gigandet, Amber Heard, Evan Peters, and Djimon Hounsou. However, only Peters returned for Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown (2011).
Michael Jai White (Spawn) made the film his directorial debut, and even stars as seasoned martial arts vet "Case" Walker, a character new to the franchise. Like with other well-reviewed films of the martial arts subgenre, the combat sequences received far more praise than the dialogue.
The Prophecy II (1998) — 5.7
There are plenty of performances that show why Christopher Walken will make for a great emperor in Dune: Part 2, and the cold, cruel archangel Gabriel is one of them.
Like the first film, The Prophecy II is a fast-paced horror movie with an excellent cast. This time, the lineup includes Jennifer Beals (Flashdance), the late Brittany Murphy, and Eric Roberts, with Walken again in the lead role. While not held in quite the same regard as the original film, The Prophecy II does a lot for a DTV project. Walken even came back for what was intended to be the franchise's conclusion, fellow DTV film The Prophecy 3: The Ascent.
Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996) — 5.9
The original Tremors didn't set the box office on fire, but it did make a killing on the home video market. A follow-up was put into development, this time for the very market where its predecessor was a success. Unfortunately, Kevin Bacon did not return in his role of Val McKee, but the sequel did keep on the late Fred Ward in his iconic role of Earl Bass.
McKee and Bass' camaraderie and smart-aleck dialogue helped make the first film an imminently rewatchable, top-tier creature feature, and that aspect of the film is replaced by the grating Grady Hoover, an excitable and ambitious young man who recruits Bass for some Graboid hunting. But for the most part Tremors 2: Aftershocks is a more-than-suitable continuation of the first film, and impressively plays more like a theatrical feature than a DTV one.
Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing (2006) — 7.0
Undisputed was a 2002 film starring Ving Rhames in the lead role of former boxer George "Iceman" Chambers. That film was buoyed by an excellent supporting cast that included Wesley Snipes, Peter Falk, Michael Rooker, and Fisher Stevens, yet it still didn't make a dent at the box office. However, it did very well on the home video market and a franchise was born.
In Undisputed II: Last Man Standing, Michael Jai White takes on the Rhames role and is forced into the ring with Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka (Scott Adkins). While a villain in the second film, Adkins' Boyka would go on to become the face of the franchise for the third and fourth installments.