13 Underrated Horror Sequels

M. Night Shyamalan's misfires.Split misfires.2016's.Split.surprised audiences by proving the guy who made The Sixth Sense.The Sixth Sense.still has the capacity to make a restrained horror film.

Kevin Crumb (James MacAvoy) is a loner. His dissociative identity disorder shows up as 23 different personalities. After one violent identity kidnaps three young women, the main character fights internally over the prisoners' treatment.

A modest budget.it was reportedly made for $9 million.This budget limit helped the film's scope. Shyamalan’s habit of final-act twists pays off big, especially if you know his early work.

Oscar-winning director.Guillermo del Toro.del Toro uses a distinct visual style. His sequel to the Marvel-inspired vampire-hunter filmBlade.Blade boasts some of his most visceral imagery.

Blade (Wesley Snipes) is a human-vampire hybrid sworn to protect the blood of the living.Blade II.Blade II happens two years after the first film ends. It puts Blade in an uneasy alliance with his vampire enemies. They disagree, but they face a shared threat: a mutated line of vampires called Reapers who want to kill everyone, no matter the species.

Del Toro’s love for creative character design shows. The Reapers' faces look like blooming flowers with pitbull fangs. At the box office, the film was theBlade II the highest grossing installment.of the.Blade.franchise, and it cleared its production budget easily.

Whereas.28 Days Later.examined the fall of London after a viral outbreak.28 Weeks Later.picks up months after the virus is contained. As NATO tries to restore normal life, a second outbreak happens, causing unbelievable moments that make the original film seem mild.

While the film did not beat its predecessor’sbox office take,it delivers as a smart follow-up. Seeing zombies cut down by a helicopter blade makes slow, old-school zombies less scary.

The.Cloverfield.franchise started in 2008 and has since created two sequels. All three entries used guerrilla marketing. The straight-to-Netflix filmThe Cloverfield Paradox.came out after asingle ad.announced its existence at the 2018 Super Bowl—this has good and bad points.

The approach creates huge buzz. However, most people forget old ads after a film releases, so movies struggle to stay in public memory.

Despite the franchise's short life,10 Cloverfield Lane.is not forgettable. The film began as an original property calledValencia.,but it usedCloverfield's.signature look (shaky, handheld camera, huge reptilian monsters) to gain name recognition.

John Goodman plays Howard Stambler, a doomsday-prepper who brings Michelle and Emmett into his bunker to guard them from supposed nuclear fallout. This thriller evokes the containment horror of Panic Room or Saw.Panic RoomorSaw.

The team behindOuija: Origin of Evilset out to craft a sequel to the muchmaligned(butit was financially successful)Ouija, they built a prequel, focusing on creepy visuals, a strong cast, and a period setting for the franchise. This fits Stephen King adaptations and Netflix's mastermind style.House on Haunted HillMike Flanagan makes the result better than it should be.

The film shows the Zander family, fake spiritual mediums whose scam turns real. They add a Ouija board to their act, opening a portal to the spirit world by accident.

Lulu Wilson's disturbing performance as Doris provides real scares and lifts the film above its predecessor.

Seeing a master return to their franchise appeals to everyone. WhenNight of the Living DeaddirectorGeorge A. RomeroGeorge A. Romero decided to revisit the undead. Audiences got a treat.

Romero's second follow-up, 1985’sDay of the Dead,reunites the director with effects master Tom Savini.Tom SaviniTogether, they made a claustrophobic film about zombie apocalypse survivors trying to stop the infection and restore society. Their plan includes a bad zombie domestication scheme.

The result is a gore masterclass showing the long-term damage a disaster causes survivors.

Released in 1997,Scream 2Scream 2 focuses on Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), the first film's main survivor. Sidney moves far from Woodsboro, CA, ready for college life. Her plans change fast when copycat killers show up on campus. A media circus unfolds, hacking Sidney's attempt to hide.

Scream 2Scream 2 targets culture's obsession with victimization and "I survived" stories after violent crime. This hits political issues harder than the horror deconstruction in the firstScream,and the issues explored still feel relevant today.

Rarely does the fifth film in a franchise rank highly. The 2011Final Destination5is a notable exception.

Like earlier entries,Final Destination 5Death hunts teens who miraculously survive a disaster. This time, the averted crisis involves an elaborate bridge collapse featuring impalement and hot-tarring.

Audiences and critics responded enthusiastically for the first time to the film, which took in over three times its budget.The film took in over three times its budget.The film took in over three times its budget.

Wes Craven perfected meta-horror with the Scream movies. The seventh Freddy Krueger film shows the director trying the horror genre with knowing humor.The seventh Freddy Krueger film shows the director trying the horror genre with knowing humor.Freddy Krueger, the scarred serial killer who kills victims in their dreams, wreaks havoc on a film crew making a new Nightmare film.

Freddy, the scarred serial killer who kills victims in their dreams, starts causing chaos for a film crew making a new.Wes Craven's New NightmareThe film feels frightening. It also addresses questions about justifying exploitative slasher films. A disembodied prop hand skitters around set like The Thing.

Joe Dante began directing after a TV career. He teamed up with Steven Spielberg to produce the 1984 Christmas horror comedy Gremlins.Gremlins.

Joe Dante teamed up with Steven Spielberg after an early career on television.Steven SpielbergDante produced the 1984 Christmas horror comedy.The film moves from small-town America to a New York high-rise. It uses effects artist Rick Baker to bring the creatures to life.Gremlins II.Gremlins II swings for the fences, including a gremlin dentist and a paper shredder sequence. Though the second outing grossed less than a third of the first, the lunacy makes it worth seeing.The film hit big. It showed the world the Furby-like creatures called Mogwai.

Dante returned six years later with a new film after the first one succeeded.Bride.The film swaps the small-town America setting for a New York high-rise. It uses effects artist Rick Baker.Rick BakerThe bride shows disinterest in the original monster. This leads to spectacular moments where the audience sympathizes with the undead before the creatures act.

Paranormal Activity 3.Paranormal Activity brought in nearly $200 million at the box office, costing less than $500,000 to make. The franchise's lore mostly stays implied. New homeowners Katie and Micah are haunted by a demon, but the entity and its anger are unclear.Paranormal Activity brought in nearly $200 million at the box office, costing less than $500,000 to make. The franchise's lore mostly stays implied. New homeowners Katie and Micah are haunted by a demon, but the entity and its anger are unclear.The peerless lunacy of the first film makes this sequel worthy of a look again.

Universal’s 1935 filmThe Bride of FrankensteinThis film explores the moral sides of Mary Shelley’s main horror work. It follows the 1931 series-starter.BrideThe film starts right after the events of its predecessor.

Director James Whale expanded the series’s scope with great effects, real scares, and an early use of the invincible villain trope in cinema.invincible villainThe bride's lack of interest in the original film's monster causes spectacular moments. The audience feels sympathy for the undead before the creatures act.

While the originalParanormal Activitybrought in nearly$200 million dollarsthe box office (costing less than $500,000 to make) left the franchise's story mostly unsaid. New homeowners Katie and Micah face a demon, but the entity's identity and anger toward the couple remain unclear.

The third film shows viewers more about Katie and Micah’s tormentor. This prequel focuses on Katie’s childhood, showing how she first met Toby, the demon haunting her.

The film cost $5 million. That is small by studio rules, but it is a big jump from the franchise's start. It lets in many creepy visual effects. An oscillating fan plays a key supporting role in a horror movie like this, never before.

The original provides context for the entry.Texas Chainsaw Massacre.Director Tobe Hooper planned the final product as aThis movie is a macabre comedy.Hooper said the violence shown was so extreme people could only laugh.

After audiences found the film scary, Hooper made other projects, including 1982'sPoltergeist.before he returned to his broken Texas family to hit his desired tone.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.The film leaves no room to misinterpret Hooper’s comic vision. It uses heavy gore and slapstick massacres. Dennis Hopper plays Lieutenant “Lefty” Enright, a Texas Marshal who lost his nephew and niece in the first movie, as he tries to prove the murderers are still loose.

When Leatherface reappears, Enright uses the chance to get revenge for his lost family, but first he stops atA chainsaw retailer.He uses it to arm himself.