For years, we have been let down from less than stellar sequels to movies that had blown us away. I find that the horror genre really suffers from this sequel curse.
Usually, if a horror movie is scary or made a lot of money at the box office, we are usually “rewarded” by an unoriginal and disappointing sequel involving a whole new cast with the same scares and gimmicks.
I, myself love sequels that continue the story with the same characters and harder and scarier obstacles to overcome. ( e.g. Halloween 2, Scream 2, The Devil’s Rejects,) Nowadays in Hollywood, all we see being made are sequels( and now remakes) of mediocre movies that should have been left alone.
Why not use the money they’re wasting on glamorized and inferior crap, to actually follow up on horror movies that actually could use another installment? Here is my list of “stand alone” horror films that I wish could have had a sequel.
1. The Lost Boys
I don’t think I’m the only one who has thought, ‘When the f*ck is the sequel to The Lost Boys coming out already? For years, I have heard rumors from there being a “Lost Gi(which I’m so glad was just a rumor) to an actual sequel with the same players. Is the revival of the “Coreys” such a frightening thought? To me, The Lost Boys is my favorite vampire movie of all time. I always thought it would become a franchise, and I never understood why it hasn’t. It’s not too late! Make The Lost Boys 2 already!
2. Seven
I always thought that this movie didn’t need a sequel, until Joblo got me and other movie fanatics excited with his “cruel” April Fool’s joke a few years back. Since then, I have been salivating for another installment. Finding out what has happened to Mills and Somerset years later would be very interesting. Even though I think it’s a slim chance that a sequel to this film will be made, (and to be quite honest, it might be a good thing if they leave it alone.) I still have my fingers crossed.
3. The Thing
Out of all the John Carpenter/Kurt Russell collaborations, I was surprised that Escape from L.A was the sequel they decided to make. I’ve been waiting for the sequel to The Thing for many years now. Instead, die-hard fans like myself had to settle for playing the video game that is a follow up to the movie. I would like to know the fates of R.J MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David) and I would also like to see a sequel to Big Trouble in Little China, but that’s a stretch.
4. Buffy/Angel Movie
Technically, this wouldn’t be a sequel to a movie, it would be a much needed follow up to two popular and beloved vampire shows. For years, they have been talking about taking the Buffyverse to the big screen, and considering both of the shows left many unanswered questions in both their finales, the fans are due for a theatrical release with their favorite characters (Hey..it worked for Firefly!)
5. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
A lot of people may think that George Romero’s “Dead” series are considered sequels to “Night of the Living Dead,” but they really aren’t. They’re just different stories from different perspectives of people dealing with the unexplainable phenomenon of zombies taking over Pittsburgh. I wanted a follow up to this film, because I wanted to see what eventually happened to Peter and Francine once they escaped the zombie-infested mall via helicopter. Did they survive? Did she have her baby? I guess I’m going to have to settle with reading the theories of the hard core fans over the internet.
6. Shaun of the Dead
This Rom Zom Com needs to become a franchise or at least needs one more sequel. I would like to see Shaun, Liz, Dianne, and Ed (the loyal and now undead best friend to Shaun) take on other monsters such as vampires, werewolves or ghosts. (Although, I think they might need something stronger than a cricket paddle to fight them off.) From Dusk til’ Shaun? The Shauning? I guess time will tell with this one.
7. The Monster Squad
Mr. Alucard. Scary German Guy. Amulet. Fat Kid. Frankenstein. If any of those words mean anything to you, it means you too were a huge fan of this 1987 cult horror/comedy movie. As a child, I used to watch this Goonies meets all the Universal Studio monster classics all of the time. It was one of those movies that your parents let you watch even with the mild swearing and scares. To this day, I still get weepy when Frankenstein gets sucked back into his dimension. (I know, I’m a nerd!) I always thought it would be a cool idea for a sequel to be made when the kids were all grown up and they had to battle more monsters. I hope I’m not the only movie geek that wanted that.
8. The Craft
Although, it seems too late for a follow up, I always wanted to see what happened to the four outcast witches. This movie had potential to have a franchise, and if it hadn’t made three out of four of the main characters turn all psycho bitch in the last third of the movie, it probably would have had a bigger demand for another installment.
9. Wrong Turn
I was a little hesitant of putting this one on my list, for the fear of all the hate mail I was going to get, but I don’t care, because I really enjoyed this slasher flick. I liked the main characters, and the inbred psycho hillbillies scared the crap out of me. Although, I know that the only sequel this movie is going to get is probably a straight-to DVD release, with no-name actors and cheap ass scares. You can hate me if you want, but I would love to see a sequel with Desmond Harrington and Eliza Dushku’s characters battling the inbred redneck killers, one more time.
10. Hostel
This film was so creepy, graphic, and a little mysterious. The reason why it freaked me out so much was only because it left some important questions unanswered. For instance, what’s going to happen to Jay Hernandez’s character? Is he going to go catatonic or is he going to turn psycho after the shocking events? What happens to the torture chambers? Are they going to be shut down or will it stay in business? I know this film is most likely going to have a sequel, and I hope Mr. Roth can answer those questions for us inquisitive and hard-core fans out there.
