One week 'til Halloween
Oct. 24th, 2003 09:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiSo, one week until Halloween.
Let's talk sequels.
We all remember the scene in Scream 2, when the film class talks about how sequels are never better than the original (ooh, irony!)? Yeah, Horror flicks are plagued by that worse than almost any genre.
Sometimes, as with the Scream series, it's simply a matter of each film not being as good as the one before it.
Sometimes, as with Warlock and Urban Legend, the sequels are almost completely unrelated, with only a common cast member (at best) tying the plotlines together.
And sometimes, the series just takes the original concept, and waters it down to the point of no return. The original Nightmare on Elm Street, for example, was a nasty, scary movie, in which Freddy had a sense of humor, but was always trying to amuse himself, not his audience. In the later films, he became a jokester, setting up elaborate pranks that only someone watching the movie could appreciate.
So, what are your favorite horror sequels, and your least favorite?
My faves: The aforementioned Scream 2, which, if not exactly a great flick, is actually pretty nifty in a lot of ways, and feels like a natural extension of the characters. I also enjoyed many of the later Friday the Thirteenth movies better than the original, which just doesn't hold up all that well. And, much as I admire the first movie, Evil Dead 2 was the best thing Sam Raimi ever did. There are a few more (Dawn of the Dead is every bit as good as the original NotLD, although I wouldn't necessarily say it's better -- each is a masterpiece), but I'm sure you have some of your own to name.
Worst: Aside from Urban Legends - Final Cut, there's American Psycho 2 ("The Film so bad, we just had to get Shatner for it"), and Cube 2 (Hypercube), proof that when people want a bad sequel, they call Nick Knight.
Again, there are plenty of other bad sequels (anyone else remember the fucking dog having a flashback in The Hills Have Eyes 2), but again, let me know some of the ones that come immediate to mind for you.
Let's talk sequels.
We all remember the scene in Scream 2, when the film class talks about how sequels are never better than the original (ooh, irony!)? Yeah, Horror flicks are plagued by that worse than almost any genre.
Sometimes, as with the Scream series, it's simply a matter of each film not being as good as the one before it.
Sometimes, as with Warlock and Urban Legend, the sequels are almost completely unrelated, with only a common cast member (at best) tying the plotlines together.
And sometimes, the series just takes the original concept, and waters it down to the point of no return. The original Nightmare on Elm Street, for example, was a nasty, scary movie, in which Freddy had a sense of humor, but was always trying to amuse himself, not his audience. In the later films, he became a jokester, setting up elaborate pranks that only someone watching the movie could appreciate.
So, what are your favorite horror sequels, and your least favorite?
My faves: The aforementioned Scream 2, which, if not exactly a great flick, is actually pretty nifty in a lot of ways, and feels like a natural extension of the characters. I also enjoyed many of the later Friday the Thirteenth movies better than the original, which just doesn't hold up all that well. And, much as I admire the first movie, Evil Dead 2 was the best thing Sam Raimi ever did. There are a few more (Dawn of the Dead is every bit as good as the original NotLD, although I wouldn't necessarily say it's better -- each is a masterpiece), but I'm sure you have some of your own to name.
Worst: Aside from Urban Legends - Final Cut, there's American Psycho 2 ("The Film so bad, we just had to get Shatner for it"), and Cube 2 (Hypercube), proof that when people want a bad sequel, they call Nick Knight.
Again, there are plenty of other bad sequels (anyone else remember the fucking dog having a flashback in The Hills Have Eyes 2), but again, let me know some of the ones that come immediate to mind for you.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:14 am (UTC)2) I liked An American Werewolf in Paris greatly (like I said yesterday, was freeeeeeaky) although the only tie it really has to its' predecessor An American Werewolf in London is that American tourists are unlucky enough to become lupine.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:55 am (UTC)I'm surprised you haven't mentioned the Highlander sequels.
Not horror movies, you say? Oh, I beg to differ!
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 08:14 am (UTC)The plot of it is that a precog helps his friends escape death, so Death goes after them, finding freaky and innovative ways to kill them. So you have the personification of Death itself running around killing people. And it's supposed to be scary. That's just _wrong_. It's not a horror movie. It's a Terry Pratchett plot. I couldn't be scared because I kept saying, "This is stupid." Not that I think Terry Pratchett is stupid. I just think the movie would have worked better as a comedy.
But apparently it's just me.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 08:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:21 am (UTC)Worst: Dr Phibes Strikes Again! (as much as I love Vincent Price, I couldn't stand Dr. Phibes), Shark Attack 3: Megalodon, Urban Legends - Final Cut (Our bad movie night was quoting dialog as it happened...), Sometimes They Come Back For More.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:31 am (UTC)As for Phibes, you didn't like either film? And are you saying you thought that the first two Shark Attack and Sometimes They Come Back movies were that good? Although I admit that Megalodon may be the worst title ever.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:44 am (UTC)Phibes just left a bad taste in my mouth. And I did kind of enjoy the first Sometimes They Come Back, although only in a campy way.
Megalodon was just atrocious. Even more atrocious than the first two.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 08:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 06:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:45 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 10:31 am (UTC)2 is just odd. I mean, I still don't get that insect flying around.
3 was great when the old guy flashed everyone. I almost died laughing so hard.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 11:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 04:56 pm (UTC)If they'd spiced a character like that into Titanic, I'd be James Cameron's biggest fan.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-27 05:59 am (UTC)Doing just ones not yet posted...
Date: 2003-10-24 07:18 am (UTC)Bad: HellRaiser subsequent from 3 on, all numbers of Children of the Corn
Re: Doing just ones not yet posted...
Date: 2003-10-24 07:46 am (UTC)Re: Doing just ones not yet posted...
Date: 2003-10-24 08:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:19 am (UTC)"Oh! A mad shark that we've killed three other times has followed me to Jamaica!!!!"
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 10:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:49 am (UTC)Best part of the movie.
Shark attacks boat. Micheal Caine sees this from a plane. He and Mario Van Peebles decide to crash the plane into the water, so that they can get onto the boat. Perhaps the dumbest thing I have ever seen. They didn't even try to hit the shark when they crashed!
Once they survive the plane crash, unlikely, they then have to swim through shark infested waters and clamber onto the death boat.
Caine is on record as saying he never bothered to question the script after they showed him the money.
Mario Van Peebles should have been on record as saying he can't even read, so he can't tell when a movie script is bad.
Un
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 11:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:37 am (UTC)Worst: Halloween...5? The one with Michael-the-evil-Celtic-God. And 3.
I actually just caught Final Destination 2 recently. It made me laugh more than scared -- the convoluted ways people died just (ha ha) killed me. When pigeons are ultimately responsible for your death, there's a problem.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 07:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 08:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 08:19 am (UTC)H2 was a great slasher, but it didn't have the same personality. Mind you, I'll still watch it aplenty. Its only flaws (aside from lack of ambition) were the over-the-top drunk doctor, the "Sam Hain" moment, and the world's dumbest cop. But yeah, it's the second-best flick in the series.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 08:24 am (UTC)I think I liked Hellraiser 2 more than Hellraiser 1. It was just...bigger.
Does Predator count as horror? I liked 2 better than 1 as well.
And then there's Alien. I'll say I liked Aliens better only because I'm really not that big a fan of being scared.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 09:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-24 11:13 am (UTC)I realize that not everyone agrees, but Poltergeist II is one of my favorite horror sequels. On the other hand, Poltergeist III is one of my least favorite sequels. I think that my expectations were probably artificially high after enjoying the first two films.
Pet Sematary II should have never been made. Ditto the Children of the Corn sequels.
Friday the 13th II, etc.
Date: 2003-10-24 03:58 pm (UTC)Re: Friday the 13th II, etc.
Date: 2003-10-24 04:52 pm (UTC)Had to pop in again with some new stuff...
Date: 2003-10-25 12:04 am (UTC)