Ah, when sequels attack. Cubbie fans have nothing on us horror movie buffs. We know our hopes are going to be cruelly dashed, yet we still shuffle off to the bad-seed spawn of perfectly good movies because just maybe this one will be that grail: The sequel worthy of its parent.
Your Scream Queen says the No. 1 sequel is “Aliens.” That shriek you just heard was from every “Alien” die-hard who felt betrayed when its sequel traded the original’s exquisite moodiness and intelligent treatment of its audience for a triple helping of action/adventure. I like action/adventure, so I wasn’t offended. And the films are so different that it’s tough for me to see them as a direct A-to-B line instead of exclusive movies.
Also in my good column are George Romero’s “living dead” movies. (More on zombies next week here on Scream Queen.)
I find most sequels are merely inferior or just lean toward the smelly side of mediocre, and the disappointment doesn’t descend to rage. I’m thinking “Halloween 2,” “Poltergeist 2,” “Aliens 3” and “The Ring 2.” And most of them fall into my “take the money and run” category.
But so many are truly heinous, and not in a good way. Here are the worst of the ones I’ve seen; I’ve managed to avoid dozens.
1. “Exorcist 2: The Heretic (1977) The prequels “Exorcist: The Beginning” and especially “Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist” were also a travesty. (See the video over to the right. It’s hilarious. And sad. At the same time.)
2. “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2” (2000) A close second to my No. 1 choice.
3. “Jaws 4: The Revenge” (1987) As in, Montezuma’s
4. “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” (1985) See above.
5. “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch”)
6. “Hellraiser: Bloodline” (1996)) As Justin “Big Game Hunter” Arnold would say, “Oh, bollocks.”
7. “Friday the 13th Part Pretty Much All of Them”
8. “Child’s Play 3” (1991) Chucky goes to military school? Hooyah hooey.
9. “Poltergeist III (1988) Unfortunately, she’s ba-ack.
10. “Omen IV: The Awakening” (1991))
Post below and tell me the sequels you love or love to hate. I’ve left the door wide open.
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