A Quiet Place and its sequel are two of the most popular and critically acclaimed horror movies of recent times, and the series is now getting a prequel, as A Quiet Place: Year One will be released in 2024. The series isn't the first horror franchise to get the prequel treatment, as Insidious, The Excorcist, and so many others have delved into their worlds' origins.
But Year One won't be the last either, as there are tons of horror flicks that not only deserve a prequel but would be improved by one too. Whether it's a vampire-based horror comedy that could capitalize on What We Do in the Shadows' popularity or exploring Pennywise the Clown's relationship with a turtle, these movies have so much prequel potential.
I Am Legend (2007)
I Am Legend is a horror movie that follows the last survivor of a plague that turned the whole of New York into vampires. Unfortunately, the movie didn't have a lasting impression on audiences, it wasn't very scary, and the thing viewers remember most about it is the Batman and Superman poster that hangs in New York.
As the movie was more of an action popcorn flick than a terrifying horror film, a prequel could fix that by depicting the human race becoming overpowered by the vampiric zombies. The film could either tell much smaller, personal stories about the attack, or it could be an epic horror on a global scale.
Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Following the original Spider-Man trilogy, director Sam Raimi returned to what made him so popular in the first place: horror. Drag Me To Hell is about a banker who has a curse put on her when she denies a Romani woman a bank loan, and she then tries to fight off evil spirits and even more evil goats.
The movie could have been a huge franchise, as a sequel could have seen her fighting her way through hell after she was dragged there at the end of the first movie. But there could just as easily be a prequel too. The 2009 film opens with a seance in 1969 Pasadena where a young boy is dragged to hell, and a prequel could be a period movie like how Paranormal Activity 3 is set in the 1980s.
The Live (1988)
They Live is one of John Carpenter's most overlooked horror movies, as the Big Trouble in Little China director has so many undisputed classics like The Thing, and the 1988 release deserves way more attention. The film follows Nada, who finds out that everyone who works in the government and the media are really skull-faced aliens.
A prequel could be from the perspective of the aliens as they quietly invade and take over Earth. And given that it could have an underlying social commentary on today's politics, there'd be no better director than Jordan Peele to helm the reboot.
It (2017)
It: Chapter One and It: Chapter Two are two of the most accomplished horror movies based on a Stephen King novel ever, as they're truly terrifying and almost completely faithful to the source material. However, there's one specific storyline that the two-part series didn't attempt to tell, which is Pennywise's true origin.
In the original novel, the evil clown's arch nemesis is the Space Turtle, also known as Maturin, who created the known universe after vomiting from a stomachache. A prequel could explore this relationship and why they're enemies, and even though it sounds virtually unfilmable, it could also be a visual spectacle.
World War Z (2013)
Like I Am Legend, World War Z wasn't all that scary despite being about a zombie apocalypse, and the 2013 movie completely betrayed the source material too. The film is based on the 2006 novel of the same name, but instead of being a linear story about one man living through it, each chapter follows a different person with a unique perspective of the disaster.
Director David Fincher was attached to direct the sequel, but that seems like it's stuck in development hell. However, instead of a follow-up, the thriller auteur could make an incredible prequel that's way more faithful to the novel, though it'd be more like a sidequel than a prequel.
The Lost Boys (1987)
The Lost Boys follows a family who learns that a small Californian town that they've recently moved to is riddled with vampires. Based on the movie's very last line, "One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach: all the damn vampires," hints that the residents see vampires as nothing more than irksome. While fans want a Lost Boys remake, a prequel about the town's residents coping with the vampire problem could make for a great horror comedy.
Because it's full of comedy horror, a prequel to The Lost Boys would be better now than ever. As the TV series What We Do in the Shadows is getting more and more popular with each season, there's a huge target audience that the prequel would appeal to despite it being a follow-up to a 35-year-old movie.
The Platform (2019)
Netflix might not have the best batting average when it comes to its exclusive movies, but The Platform is one of the biggest exceptions. Though The Platform wasn't produced by Netflix, the streamer distributed it, and the film is one of its biggest critical successes. The 2019 movie is about a vertical 200-floor prison. The prison has a levitating platform full of food that starts at the top and lowers to each floor. It's the only food that the prisoners get, and it's usually all gone by floor 190, which leads the lower floors to cannibalism.
There's so much world-building in the film, but just as much is left unanswered. And while The Platform is intentionally ambiguous, it leaves some big itches left unscratched. A prequel would be the best way to fill in the gaps about the people behind the prison, their reasoning for doing such a thing, and how the mechanics even work.
The Descent (2005)
The Descent is about a group of six spelunkers who get trapped in a cave, but that's the least of their worries when they find out the labyrinthian cave is full of monsters known as "crawlers." The 2005 film is genuinely terrifying and one of the best horror movies of the 2000s. Most of it is completely dark so the audiences' other senses are heightened, just like the characters', which makes for an incredible adrenaline-fuelled fright-fest.
There was already a sequel that essentially rehashed the original, but a prequel could be a refreshing and unique approach to the property. Just like the upcoming Prey, which is a prequel to Predator, a Descent prequel could be set hundreds or even thousands of years in the past. The film could follow a group of cavepeople taking on the crawlers with their period-specific tools and weapons.
Triangle (2009)
Triangle is a criminally overlooked 2000s horror movie that, on the face of it, seems like a pretty simple slasher flick. The film follows a group of friends who find refuge in a mysteriously empty cruise ship in the middle of the ocean after a storm capsizes their sailboat. Weird and inexplicable things occur on the boat, including a masked killer who picks off the friends one by one.
But the film has a few surprises up its sleeve, as it plays with the idea of time loops. However, while Jess is destined to repeat the same terrible experience forever, there's still a lot of the boat's history that is left untold. And if the popular theory that the vessel is Jess's purgatory is correct, does everybody who has sinned have their own cruise ship? It'd be interesting to see a prequel that is more of an anthology follow-up that follows a different protagonist.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
There have been two direct-to-DVD sequels and a subpar and short-lived TV series adaptation, but the original From Dusk Till Dawn deserves so much better. The 1996 release is a unique vampire movie that's full of unique characters, ridiculous one-liners, and creative set and costume designs. It follows two criminals who take refuge at a strip club only to find out that all of the employees are vampires.
What follows is an epic battle between the humans and vampires, and the ending reveals that the club sits on top of a partially buried Aztec temple. The ending lends itself perfectly to a prequel movie that's all but set up; a vampire film that's set in the 1400s and sees the Aztecs vs. vampires is the incredible historical horror audiences didn't know they needed.