The 2016 psychological horror movie Better Watch Out ends with the perfect set up for a sequel, but will it ever happen? In Chris Peckover's holiday themed horror flick, a babysitter must keep the child in her care safe from a home intruder. In this midst of her night-long fight for survival, several major twists take place that all lead up to an ending worthy of the sequel treatment.

Olivia DeJonge stars as Ashley the babysitter. DeJonge may look familiar, as she portrayed Becca from 2016's The Visit and Elle in Netflix's on-again, off-again series, The Society. Ashley is set to watch over Luke Lerner (Levi Miller), who has a notable crush on the young woman, which he reveals in the very beginning of the movie. Throughout the movie, viewers are led to believe that this will be a classic case of a holiday home invasion gone wrong, except it's not. Luke has plans to torture and subsequently kill Ashley and her ex-boyfriends, one of whom is played by Dacre Montgomery of Stranger Things fame. By the end of the boy's sadistic, Home Alone inspired killings, Luke believes he's covered his tracks and there is no possible way he could get caught. While Luke's unexpected role as the killer was a major twist in itself, Ashley's ability to survive was an even bigger one, which led the movie into prime sequel territory.

Related: Better Watch Out vs. The Babysitter: Which Horror Movie Is Better (& Why)

Holiday horror movies are relatively common, with at least one releasing every year. They commonly fall under the umbrella of B-rated flicks, and usually don't make much of an impact on the genre. Better Watch Out is a very special case, as it is a home invasion movie with a major twist alongside its holiday flare. Its current rating on Rotten Tomatoes is much higher at 89% than one of the most popular home invasion movies of the 21st century, Bryan Bertino's The Strangers, which sits comfortably at 78%. With its high ratings, inventive storytelling in two horror sub-genres, and an impeccable ending, it's astounding that Better Watch Out 2 hasn't happened yet.

Better Watch Out Ashley Escape Attempt

As the frame pans from Ashley giving Luke the middle finger, he asks his mom if they can go visit her in the hospital to make sure that she is okay. It's likely that he plans to go to the hospital to finish what he started by killing her. If it gets out that he's killed numerous people in the span of one night, it could be the end of his freedom as he knows it. This closing scene allows for Peckover to expand the story of Ashley and Luke by situating the two in a hospital environment, similar to Halloween 2, where Jamie Lee Curtis's Laurie Strode evades her would-be killer, Michael Myers, in Haddonfield Hospital. The director could have also potentially set the sequel several years in the future, with Luke running free and Ashley in a psychiatric facility for claiming that he's a killer.

There are several routes that could be taken if a sequel for Better Watch Out happens, but, as of this writing, there is still no word about a follow-up movie. At this point, it's unlikely that it will ever happen if Peckover hasn't said anything. The movie does work well as a standalone, so he may not even view a sequel as entirely necessary. As of 2020, Peckover is working on a supernatural movie that he's keeping fairly under wraps. With his sights set on different projects, the likelihood of him revisiting Better Watch Out is very slim. This could be attributed to the director's choice in retaining Better Watch Out's uniqueness, but it's also possible that he recognizes the failures of the holiday horror franchises that proceeded his movie.

1984's Silent Night, Deadly Night is one of the best examples for how a relatively successful Christmas themed horror movie expanded into a franchise with sequels that could never hold up to the original. While the opportunity for a sequel was set up by Better Watch Out's ending, it works perfectly as a standalone feature that will retain its uniqueness for many years to come.

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