Top 10 Horror Movie Sequels That Saved The Franchise

When “Ouija” came out in 2014, nobody was impressed by the movie, the consensus being that it was another forgettable horror flick about a supernatural force offing teenagers. That isn’t surprising, given how hard it is to take a horror movie about a ouija board seriously. But then a prequel came out in 2016 called “Ouija: Origin of Evil,” and critics and audiences agreed it was much better than its predecessor, something rare with movies in general. This was in large part thanks to director Mike Flanagan, whose previous work included “Oculus” and “Hush.”

The “Child’s Play” movies made Chucky the quintessential evil doll. However, “Bride of Chucky” and “Seed of Chucky” took Chucky in a campy direction, focusing more on gags than on horror. That’s not to say you can’t have humor in a Chucky movie, but there’s obviously such a thing as too much. The direct-to-video sequel “Curse of Chucky” is a return to form, bringing Chucky back to being a menacing icon rather than the joke that earlier sequels made him. Speaking of getting back to basics, Alex Vincent, who played little Andy Barclay in the first two “Child’s Play” movies, makes a brief appearance in a post-credits scene, ensuring that fans of the series stay tuned for future installments.

The gold standard of “torture” movies, the “Saw” franchise dominated the horror genre in the mid-2000s with its gruesome traps and graphic kills. But with a new film coming out every year, the series started to get old quickly, and the traps didn’t seem as novel going four or five movies in. But in stepped “Saw VI,” which was a scathing critique of the American health insurance industry, with one of the main stories about a health insurance executive that was put through one of Jigsaw’s cruel tests. “Saw VI” is often considered the best film since “Saw II,” and it proved that the franchise wasn’t completely out of ideas. At least not yet.

The fun part of the “Final Destination” movies was watching the different ways that Death would claim its victims with intricate, Rube Goldberg-like steps. But, similar to the “Saw” movies, the “Final Destination” series had trouble coming up with ways to keep this premise fresh. However, “Final Destination 5” was able to come up with memorable deaths such as the gymnastics scene and the eye surgery scene. Plus, the twist at the end was a nice way of bringing the series back to where it started.

The cursed doll made a spooky first impression “The Conjuring,” which made things look promising when she got her own film in 2014. Unfortunately, that film wasn’t well-received with critics or audiences. However, “Annabelle: Creation” came out three years later and was the type of movie we were expecting. A prequel to the original film, “Annabelle: Creation” gives a tragic backstory to the doll and explains with greater depth how it came to be cursed. Actress Lulu Wilson was in both “Annabelle: Creation” and the “Ouija” prequel, which shows that she was someone to cast if you wanted to make a prequel that was an improvement over the original.

“Friday the 13th” is one franchise that isn’t afraid to go in different directions, but “Part V” might have gone too far with giving us a different killer to continue the series other than Jason Voorhees. Luckily, “Part VI” remedies this mistake by bringing back Jason, wasting no time by resurrecting him in the opening scene. “Jason Lives” does have humor that sends up the franchise with a lighthearted touch, but thankfully, the franchise did not continue in this direction beating a dead horse, like “Nightmare on Elm Street” did with Freddy. But we’ll get to that later.

The original “Exorcist” is one of the scariest films of all time, and “Exorcist II” is anything but. Luckily, almost 13 years after the disappointing follow-up, “The Exorcist III” came to save the day and restore the good name of the franchise. Based on the novel “Legion,” by “Exorcist” author William Peter Blatty, “Exorcist III” focuses on Lt. Kinderman, a character from the original film, investigating murders committed by the Gemini Killer. The film has one of the most memorable jump scares in horror and great performances by George C. Scott and Brad Dourif.

Released 11 years after the original trilogy had ended, “Scream 4” was a commentary on horror movies that had come out since “Scream 3.” It was also a commentary on horror reboots, acting as some sort of cross between a sequel and a reboot. One of the strengths of the sequel was fun characters such as Kirby, played by Hayden Panettiere, and Jill, played by Emma Roberts. We didn’t know we needed the film, but it was an improvement over “Scream 3” and a nice chance to see Sidney, Dewey, and Gale again.

For years, the “Halloween” franchise had been a horrific mess, with sequels that kept sinking to new lows, whether it was Paul Rudd playing Tommy Doyle in “Halloween 6,” or Busta Rhymes roundhouse kicking Michael Myers in “Resurrection,” or those Rob Zombie movies. Then “Halloween” (2018) came along, and all it had to do was pretend that all the sequels following the original “Halloween” never happened. Directed by “Pineapple Express” filmmaker David Gordon Green, and co-written by Green with frequent collaborator Danny McBride, the move paid off, giving the franchise a terrifying fresh start. Horror fans are eagerly anticipating upcoming sequels, “Halloween Kills” and “Halloween Ends” — probably the first time in a long time “Halloween” fans are optimistic about the series’ future.

Perhaps no horror character movie was hurt by sequels more than Freddy Krueger. While “Dream Warriors” was a step up from “Freddy’s Revenge”, he was cracking jokes every chance he got by “Dream Child” and “Freddy’s Dead”, and no one could take him seriously anymore. That’s a shame for such a sinister figure. That all changed when Wes Craven came back to the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise to direct a movie where Freddy was the menacing figure Craven originally intended him to be. “New Nightmare” gave Freddy the respect he deserved as a horror icon.