Let’s be real; in terms of quality and cultural respect, the horror genre has something of a mixed reputation. While some are truly great examples of cinema, others are, to put it mildly, bad. The same holds true for sequels, and, while some horror movie sequels manage to uphold the quality and chills of their predecessors, far more of them end up falling flat.
What’s more, quite a few of these horror movie sequels end up becoming far more ridiculous than their predecessors could ever be, and sometimes they even threaten to damage the original’s very important legacy.
The Birds II: Land's End (1994)
Alfred Hitchcock was one of those directors who seemed to have an uncanny knack for creating potent, suspenseful movies that plumbed the dark depths of the human psyche. As he proved in The Birds, he could also just lean into the full horror spectrum, and, even now, the movie has the ability to terrify its audiences with its story about avian beings that go berserk and star killing humans—and there's a lot that audiences still don't know about it! Unfortunately, the sequel has none of the artistry of the original, and it verges into the realm of bad camp far too frequently.
Psycho 2 (1983)
There should be a law against making sequels to any of the movies made by Alfred Hitchcock because, let’s be honest, he truly is one of those directors whose work stands on its own. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped people from trying, and Psycho 2 was but one of several sequels to his original hit horror movie, which, decades later, remains scary as ever.
While it does have the advantage of starring Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, everything else about it is just plain silly, and it comes across as being something of a waste.
Lake Placid 2 (2007)
Lake Placid is one of those horror movies that tends to divide audiences. Everyone acknowledges, though, that Betty White is something of a highlight of this movie about a giant crocodile haunting a northeastern lake.
Unfortunately, Hollywood can’t seem to leave anything well enough alone, and so the world was cursed with this sequel. In addition to lacking White, the special effects are just plain ridiculous, and the whole affair feels very cheap and superfluous, and the rest of the sequels aren't any better.
Anaconda
Anaconda is another one of those horror movies that has a rather divided reputation, but it is true that the idea of an extremely large and malevolent snake is a potent one. sadly, as with so many other horror movies, it spawned several sequels, each of which is more ridiculous than the last—there's even a crossover with Lake Placid!
This one is especially silly, though, since it takes place in Southeast Asia. As anyone who knows anything about anacondas knows, they don’t live anywhere close to Asia.
An American Werewolf In Paris
Anyone who’s seen An American Werewolf in London can attest to the fact that it’s nothing short of a brilliant mixing of horror and comedy elements, and there’s even a touch of the tragic in the ending, making it a truly great werewolf movie. However, the same cannot be said of its sequel, which moves the setting to Paris.
The elements seem to be there, but the whole affair just doesn’t quite click in the same way, and that’s deeply unfortunate. It certainly doesn’t help that they opted to use CGI rather than make-up.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
In the annals of horror movies, Jaws looms large. It’s one of the first true blockbusters of the modern era of moviemaking, and, even now, its sinister music is as iconic as anything that’s ever appeared in a movie.
Hollywood, however, goes by the rule that there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, and so it spawned several sequels. By the time of this one, the franchise was pretty clearly worn out, and there’s just not that much that this movie has going for it.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
Say what one will, there’s a lot to like about I Know What You Did Last Summer. Sure, it doesn’t really do anything new with the slasher genre, but it’s still an entertaining movie, and that’s enough.
Yet, the sequel basically hits all of the same notes as its predecessor, and, by the end of the movie, it’s hard not to wonder what exactly the people who made it thought they were going to accomplish with it. It ultimately feels like a rather silly waste of time.
Pet Sematary Two (1992)
Stephen King is, without a doubt, one of the masters of the horror genre, which makes it rather frustrating that so many of his books have been turned into rather lackluster movies. The original Pet Sematary was something of an exception, and it was actually pretty scary—and it's one of his works that's been adapted more than once).
Unfortunately, nothing is sacred, and, of course, it had to get a sequel. While there were some things about it that were decent, the plot basically feels like a ridiculous retread of its predecessor, leaving much to be desired.
Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
Whether one loves or hates The Blair Witch Project, no one can deny that it was pretty ingenious to make a movie on such a low budget that managed to become a huge success and evolve into one of the most popular found footage films of all time.
Such success, however, often has the seeds of its own undoing, and so it proved with this sequel. It seems to go out of its way to be the opposite of its predecessor, and it leaves one wondering what the point of the entire enterprise was, to begin with. Not exactly the best way for a horror movie to be received.
The Wicker Tree (2011)
The original Wicker Man—the original, that is—is a true delight of a horror movie, full of suspense and mystery and terror, with hidden depths that people can still explore. The director, Robin Hardy, deserves a lot of credit for his ability to craft such an extraordinary effort.
Yet, the same is in no way true of the sequel, which is both boring and ridiculous. It really does try to hit some of the same notes as the original, including having Christopher Lee briefly appear, but, alas, the whole thing comes across as feeling very faded and weak.