It may be controversial in the online horror lovers group, but I actually love a good horror sequel. I will happily look past unrealistic twists for more of the same slasher goodness. However, every now and again a sequel comes and leaves me hanging my head in shame for wanting to watch it. I uploaded a '10 Horror Sequels That Were Better' blog post, so this is my follow-up with the 10 that thoroughly disappointed me.
Jeepers Creepers 3
Starring: Victor Salva, Stan Shaw, Meg Foster
Jeepers Creepers is a great franchise. The Creeper really creeped (heh) me out as a child, especially in Jeepers Creepers 2. The overall story is fun without being corny and I think they tied the first two movies together wonderfully. They both stand up, which is rare for horrors. When they announced Jeepers Creepers 3: The Cathedral years ago, I was enthusiastic. The original plan as to combine both the two survivors from the movies and have them go hunting for the Creepers. Yes! However, it then kept getting postponed and eventually just vanished. Then out of nowhere they released Jeepers Creepers 3. Oy vey, what a hot mess. Not only was the story severely lacking but the acting was atrocious. The only reason to watch it is for the last 60 seconds which will hopefully lead to 'Jeepers Creepers 4' with the original plot idea for 'The Cathedral'. Painfully disappointing.
It Chapter 2
Starring: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader
I didn't grow up watching the 1990 version of IT so I wasn't a huge fan. However I thoroughly enjoyed the remake that was released in 2017. The child actors were awesome and I loved the Stranger Things vibes it gave. I was looking forward to the second chapter, especially as it seemed to take forever to get released. But... meh. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it definitely didn't stand up to the first movie. All the actually creepy scenes were shown in the trailers or teasers and though the actors were well known, no one really stood out with a great performance. I also didn't care for the death scene of a queer character, it felt very unnecessary and a little icky given Stephen King's questionable retweets or comments. All in all, I just wouldn't give it a rewatch. Highly disappointing.
Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort
Starring: Sadie Katz, Aqueela Zoll, Anthony Ilott, Chris Jarvis, Roxanne Pallett
Granted, I should've stopped watching after Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, but I love a good cannibal horror so me and my mum have stuck with this series through the good, bad, and truly ugly. I thought the 3rd and 4th movies were bad, but I just didn't know about the trainwreck that was coming with Wrong Turn 6. This would very likely be on a list of the worst horror movies I've ever watched, and I've seen some idiotic movies. There are so many things that I hated about this movie but the main points would be the unrealistic plot 'twist' that the writers took with the villain family, it makes absolutely no sense if you've watched literally any of the other movies. And the stupid amount of nudity that we see of only the female actresses - we didn't see one wiener but have no fear, we see every single actress butt naked at least twice. There's rape of a man that is dismissed as 'he got hard'. Just, blegh. It's awful, never watch it. At this point, if a horror stars Roxanne Pallett just run away.
I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer
Starring: Brooke Nevin, Torrey DeVitto, David Paetkau, Ben Easter
This one probably breaks my heart the most. I Know What You Did Last Summer is a great 90's slasher with an impeccable cast. I personally equally love I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, the 2002 sequel, though I know some found it disappointing. However, I think we can all agree that the third installment was just embarrassing. Not only do they fully remove the scare factor by making the killer a literal ghost, but the characters don't connect to anyone from the previous movies making it pointless. The acting was iffy, the death scenes were so badly done, and the plot was laughable. Let's just pretend this doesn't exist!
Leatherface
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Lili Taylor, Finn Jones
In the style of the Rob Zombie 2008 remake of Halloween, this Texas Chainsaw movie is the origin story of Tommy aka Leatherface. We follow a group of teenagers who escape from a psych hospital and make their way across Texas (most being forced by a gun wielding duo). I had hope for this movie but it fell incredibly flat. Instead of resembling anything like it's franchise, it instead felt like a cheap knockoff that you'd find in a bargain bin. It lost the entire spark of Texas Chainsaw and made absolutely no sense if you're familiar with Leatherface's timeline.
The Strangers: Prey At Night
Starring: Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison
At this point, I think The Strangers is the ultimate cat/mouse horror. You enclose a couple in a house who are being psychologically tortured by a masked trio and you have a fun horror time. Most horror fans were anticipating the much wanted sequel but Prey At Night just wasn't it. It majorly messes with the timeline of the story and all the characters seemed to be making an effort to do the stupidest things possible. It was very hard to care when they died and as they weren't just in a house, it made the overall movie lose it's scare factor.
Halloween III: Season Of The Witch
Starring: Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Nancy Kyes, Dan O'Herlihy
Do I even need to say anything? This seems to be a cult classic for people but I really do not get it. Even if this didn't connect to the Halloween series it just.. isn't a good movie?
The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death
Starring: Phoebe Fox, Helen McCrory, Jeremy Irvine
This is the most recent sequel that disappointed me. I wasn't a huge fan of The Woman In Black but I did enjoy it's eerie atmosphere so when my husband wanted to watch the sequel, I was done. I was hoping for some more creepy shots and maybe a jump-scare or two. However, this wasn't even creepy. It didn't feel like a horror movie in the slightest, nor did it feel like gothic horror. It was incredibly slow without very many atmospheric scenes. I have never yawned more.
Joyride 2 (Known as Roadkill 2 in the UK)
Starring: Kyle Schmid, Nicki Aycox, Nick Zano, Laura Jordan
I love the first Joyride movie. It's arguably the best of the road cat/mouse movies. Paul Walker, Steve Zahn, and Leelee Sobieski make for a great early 2000's cast. The sequel, however, is a huge mess. It's way too torture scentric for the franchise, and Dusty Nail really lost his touch at making your spine shudder. In the sequel he becomes your average killer without any backstory.
Jigsaw
Starring: Laura Vandervoort, Callum Keith Rennie, Brittany Allen
The Saw franchise has had highs and lows but as a whole it's enjoyable. I personally preferred the later movies in the series as it had more of a continuous storyline. When Jigsaw was announced I was thoroughly confused as I think the series had done a swell job of wrapping everything up. Nevertheless, I had a tiny bit of hope. What a waste of hope! I said it above with Leatherface, but again, this just felt like a poor attempt at making a movie that's inspired heavily by the Saw franchise. It was incredibly unnecessary and seemed like a money grab with no substance.
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