Horror sequels tend to be really bad. It takes effort for franchises to build themselves up in a way that works within the confines of the original story, while also reinventing itself to give us a movie that’s fresh and new. Too many of them just aren’t up to snuff. Truth be told: good horror sequels are a rare thing.
There are, however, a handful of gems that really do their franchises justice; that prove the characters and villains of these series have actual staying power. Here are seven horror sequels that are actually worth watching.
1. Final Destination 2 (2003)
This film lets you know in the first 15 minutes that it’s not the average sophomore slump of a sequel. In fact, Final Destination 2 is a worthy follow-up to the terrifying nightmare that is the original. The film follows Kimberly, a young woman who foresees the deaths of dozens of drivers on a highway one morning before connecting the incident to the one on Flight 180 — the plane that the friend group in the original movie predict will crash and implode, thus leaving it to (temporarily) save their lives. Convinced something terrible will happen to her and those she knows, Kimberly seeks the help of the last remaining Flight 180 survivor (we all know how Final Destination goes), Clear Rivers. Together they attempt to keep those who survived the highway wreck from meeting death’s fate. Not only does the sequel expand on the original lore, it ups the ante on the creative deaths and sinister tension too.
2. Saw 2 (2005)
The first Saw film took the mainstream by storm when it premiered in 2004, with the following year’s sequel igniting a sensation that would reverberate through the zeitgeist for decades to come. (The 10th Saw movie is coming later this year.) The second instalment continues to crack the case of John Kramer’s Jigsaw wide open, filling us in on what else has been going on in his compound, a year after the events of the first film unfolded. You won’t be surprised to hear that this also involves the capture of another group of people awaiting their violent demise. It’s not exactly news that the Saw franchise has found ways to reinvent itself time and time again, but this film is the genesis of its metamorphosis.
3. Doctor Sleep (2019)
Nearly forty years after The Shining rattled the world, Midnight Mass creator Mike Flanagan ushered in an oft-forgotten part two to the iconic tale in the form of Doctor Sleep. The film revisits Danny Torrance as a middle-aged man forced to come to terms with his shining (that’s telepathic) abilities. When he connects with a young girl showing signs of the same gift, he realises that she’s being hunted by a pack of psychic predators who feed off those with telepathic powers. The film balances Kubrick’s iconography with King’s literary canon. It’s not to be slept on.
4. Scream 2 (1998)
In the second Scream movie, our heroine Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) goes on to attend college in Ohio two years after the Woodsboro Massacre we witnessed in the first movie, along with several of her survivor friends. Life being cruel, and this being a slasher movie, the group is hunted on campus by a copycat Ghostface killer, which upends the peace and quiet they were hoping to find. Between characters falling victim to a fresh, mysterious plot and the now-signature wit of the franchise’s meta writing, Scream 2 isn’t just the follow-up to a legendary horror movie — it is one unto itself.
5. Creep 2 (2014)
Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice’s Creep was a diamond in the rough when it debuted. A psychological found footage horror film for the ages, it took a simple premise — a videographer answers an ad to spend the day with a dying man to film his last message — and turned up the discomfort, giving horror fans one of the most compelling and unique entries to the genre in some time. A few years later, a sequel debuted to the delight of fans everywhere, one that follows Josef, the serial killer in the first film, as he struggles with a crisis of faith and identity, before meeting a woman who ignites fresh inspiration.
6. V/H/S/2 (2013)
The V/H/S franchise exploded onto the independent scene after debuting at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, becoming a found footage sensation that took the genre by storm. Naturally, a sequel was in order, but with the film’s anthology style, it was a crapshoot whether or not any of the short films that made up the second instalment would live up to the first serendipitous set. Luckily for us, V/H/S/2 doesn’t skimp on the intriguing premises and genuine scares. It also includes one of the franchise’s best stories: the penultimate short titled “Safe Haven”. V/H/S/2 is just as bone-chilling as its predecessor; thanks to its success, the franchise is still going strong.
7. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
The second instalment of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series was one that left fans scratching their heads a little, but the third film picks up where the original left us. It’s far superior to the first sequel. In this movie, which saw creator Wes Craven return as screenwriter, the story of the original’s protagonist Nancy Thompson continues. She’s now a psychiatric therapy intern at a local hospital. After meeting a group of high school kids who seem to be plagued by the presence of Freddy Krueger in their dreams, Nancy becomes determined to help them fight off the menacing child killer. Meanwhile, the adults around them decry and dismiss what is really happening. Dream Warriors is definitely the spiritual sequel to the original Nightmare film — and has just as much bite, too.