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What Is the Genre Never Sleep Again -weight of a Million Lies

The 15 best horror movie sequels that will take you screaming this Halloween

The best horror movie sequels
(Image credit: Renaissance Pictures/Universal/United Motion picture)

Horror follow-ups are x a penny, simply how many of them are actually any good? The best horror picture sequels can be hard to find, but that's where we come in. Nosotros've saved you from wading through the sheer number of sequels out at that place past rounding up the greatest further installments in some iconic spooky franchises, and so you know which are worth checking out this Halloween.

We've got some familiar faces on our list – say hello to Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Ghostface – as well as creepy hauntings, shambling zombies, nightmarish murders, and plenty more than besides. Only the very all-time horror movie sequels made it on our listing, too, so you lot can rest assured that whatever you cull from the roundup below, information technology's jump to exist a practiced time.

So, without further ado, scroll on to come across what made the cutting and get planning those scary film marathons – and peradventure sleep with the lite on this night…

  • The best horror movies of all time
  • The best Netflix horror movies

xv. Final Destination 3

Final Destination 3

(Paradigm credit: New Line Cinema)

With the novelty of the first two movies well and truly shaken off, it'southward the tertiary Final Destination where the premise truly shines. Managing director James Wong returns to the serial, having stepped bated for the get-go sequel, bringing a lighter, less sombre tone to proceedings. This time the premonition sequence, the opening ending defining each entry in the serial, is less bombastic and showy than the previous 2. Final Destination three forgoes a plane crash or motorcar wreck in favour of a rickety rollercoaster at a local funfair… that'due south leap for the flames, plainly.

The lucky youngster singled out this time is Wendy, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Every bit the editor of the schoolhouse paper, information technology's she who experiences the grim fate that awaits and leads the subsequent investigation into why it happened. And still, there's less emphasis on this batch of doomed teens trying to figure out WHY they're being picked off one-by-one, and more on threading jet black humour into their horrific, inevitable, deaths.

xiv. The Conjuring 2

The Conjuring 2

(Paradigm credit: Warner Bros.)

How do you outdo a seminal haunted business firm horror that made, uhh, clapping scary? The Conjuring generated stacks of cash at the box office in Summer 2013, giving New Line Movie theatre a fresh new franchise cheers to a seemingly-endless supply of case files from real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Interestingly, the conclusion to not fully venture into the Amityville haunting is a smart one, as the sequel instead dives into a lesser-known nasty poltergeist story for The Conjuring two.

The original Ghostbusters come to the assistance of a family unit sharing their humble London abode with the mean spirit of a onetime tenant. Information technology's based on a true case, like all of the Warrens stories, giving a layer of creepy actuality to proceedings – the endmost credits feature photos and recordings that'll give you the heebie jeebies. Putting the Warrens' marriage at the heart of the picture actually pays off. It's their dearest story, something worth fighting for, that transforms a sequel that could hands be a re-create of the original into a truly terrifying ordeal.

13. Paranormal Activity iii

Paranormal Activity 3

(Prototype credit: Paramount Pictures)

The Blair Witch Project revitalised the floundering found footage genre in 1999. The Paranormal Action franchise upped the game ten years later, brandishing the double-whammy combo of a clever premise and a minor budget. But, as is oft the case, the formula flagged in the first sequel. When audiences know what's going to happen, the very essence of what makes a movie and so scary is lost. To liven up the scares in Paranormal Activity 3, Catfish creators Henry Joost and Ariel Schulamn took over directorial duties, bringing that original'southward sense of unnerving dread to the tale of Katie and Kristi.

The story jumps backwards, as this is a sequel-prequel, in an endeavor to explore the history of the demon stalking the two sisters. With the pair now children in the early '80s, the tactics used to make audiences never sleep again had to exist genius. No fancy tech was available during that decade – something PA4 would adopt to bottom effect – and so information technology's the simple, genius contraptions that make this film so damn creepy. Undoubtedly the sequel's scariest sequence shows a camcorder attached to a rotating fan, slowly sweeping across a room, every bit a ghostly figure edges ever closer to an unsuspecting bodyguard...

12. Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

(Image credit: New Line Picture palace)

New Nightmare marks the outset moving picture in the Nightmare series since to pump new blood into the franchise since the 1984 original. Horror maestro Wes Chicken is often credited with reviving horror in 1996 with Scream, simply it's really this intertextual meta-horror that injected fresh blood into the gasping genre. Similar the horror-savvy Scream, New Nightmare opens with buckets of blood as an effects crew working on a new Freddy motion-picture show are attacked by his scissor gloves. The cast and crew of the original Nightmare on Elm Street play themselves xx years afterwards, with Heather Langenkamp – who starred every bit Nancy Thompson in the offset and third flick – on the cusp of reprising her office in a new Freddy movie.

This turn of events causes the fictional Krueger to cross the threshold from fantasy to reality, and begin invading the nightmares of Langenkamp's son. Craven'southward original intended version of Freddy makes his appearance here – a far more than menacing, fearful creation than the quasi-comic he ended upward in earlier sequels. Don't expect any wisecracks or decease sequences that border on the amusing: this is fell Freddy, whose showtime appearance in the film will make you shudder.

xi. Happy Death Day 2U

Happy Death Day 2 U

(Prototype credit: Universal Pictures)

Sometimes a premise is and so darn good it's worth re-exploring. Happy Decease Day 2U strays and so far from the basic framework of the original – a campus slasher with a '90s horror feel – while at the same time reinventing the same story from a slightly different angle. Christopher Landon, of the Paranormal Activity franchise, delivers a belter of a follow-upwards to his original, by having it play out like Back to the Futurity Part II.

Happy Death Solar day 2U wraps itself back into the plot of the starting time motion-picture show like a mobius strip without only replaying it. Jessica Rothe is dorsum as Tree and, this fourth dimension, she discovers the reason for her time loop experience. She winds up trapped in a series of alternate dimensions, with a new killer hacking and slashing their way through. Fifty-fifty though information technology relies on an overwhelming familiarity to the first, information technology feels fresh and innovative, becoming not merely of the best horror sequels but too a darn good scary picture show in its own correct.

10. The Exorcist 3

The Exorcist 3

(Prototype credit: 20th Century Studios)

The sheer seismic effect The Exorcist had on horror cannot exist understated. There would be little to no bespeak in trying to recreate the same story – a young girl possessed – and this is where the 2d sequel thrives. After William Friedkin passed on the projection, Exorcist author William Peter Blatty adapted the script into a novel, then tried shopping the projection to John Carpenter. He too went the way of Friedkin and turned it downwards. Blatty, eager to see his vision come to life, picked up the directorial reins.

The Exorcist III deals follows a supporting Lieutenant from the offset Exorcist as he investigates a series of murders which closely resemble those of a series killer long since dead. Male parent Karras shows up again, albeit in a somewhat dissimilar capacity. Now widely-regarded as an unsung classic, The Exorcist III is that rare horror sequel which broadens the mythology and manages to give y'all the fright of a lifetime; at that place'southward a killer jump scare here that nosotros won't spoil.

nine. Annabelle: Creation

Annabelle: Creation

(Paradigm credit: Warner Bros.)

Her fleeting appearance in The Conjuring was all it took to rush an Annabelle spin-off into production. A movie about a creepy doll possessed by a demon practically writes itself. If Child's Play could do it, veering more towards comedy, why couldn't this directly-laced tale work? Alas, Annabelle lacks the ingenuity or scares of Chucky. Annabelle: Creation is another thing. Bringing in a filmmaker who knows how to chief tension, that crucial of all horror techniques, was the first stride in the correct management. Enter David Sandberg, straight off the box office striking Lights Out, who avoids the yawn-inducing tedium of the first flick by taking the story to some other era entirely.

This is where nosotros learn of Annabelle's origin and information technology's got cypher to do with domestic violence – as inferred by the start. Like all good scary tales, Creation is both lamentable and haunting, the existent horror stemming from heartbreak and loss and the manipulation of a couple devastated by the expiry of their child. That'due south what makes the scares impactful, of course. Just this isn't just their story. Instead, the runtime is shared across a grouping of orphans who go to live with the couple in their sizeable abode and observe a creepy doll locked in a closet. A terrific follow-up that succeeds thanks to the strength of its younger cast. Oh, and if y'all idea Gremlins had a scary stairlift scene, y'all ain't seen nothin' withal.

8. Ouija: Origin of Evil

Ouija: Origin of Evil

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

The conclusion to rent Blumhouse maestro Mike Flanagan for the sequel to the utterly passable Ouija was a masterstroke. Hot off the back of Hush and Oculus, Flanagan's talent for crafting some of the scariest scenes since Craven along with an immense emotional wallop brings Origin of Evil into the realm of must-see. Choosing to go back into the past again works, offering a blank slate to tell a fresh story and giving him free rein to construct his own haunted firm of scares.

Flanagan regular Elizabeth Reaser plays a fake medium trying to support her ii daughters post-obit her husband'south decease. She brings a ouija board into her home, after her eldest suggests it may perk up business, only to discover that her youngest kid seems to have an unhealthy connection with an evil spirit. Function-haunted firm horror and office-family unit drama, it works every bit a great companion piece to The Haunting of Hill Firm in that it disarms you with its tenderness earlier clobbering you over the head with its alarming scares.

7. Friday the 13th Part ix: Jason Goes To Hell

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday

(Image credit: New Line Cinema)

Most of Jason's sequels follow a formula. The ninth instalment in the hack n' slash franchise says patoowie to that, and ventures downward a road less traveled. First time managing director 23-year old Adam Marcus jumped at the chance to work alongside producer Sean S. Cunningham, who directed Friday the 13th in 1980, and while many of Marcus' ideas were tossed he did manage to rewrite lots of nonsensical Voorhees lore. The picture opens with Jason blown to smithereens by FBI agents. His torso is escorted to the morgue, where his black, writhing center appears then tantalising information technology'due south eaten by the coroner who so becomes Jason.

For the residual of the film, a giant slug-like monstrosity – a symbol of Jason's true essence – jumps from person-to-person, leaving a trail of bodies behind as the formerly-masked killer makes his way back to Crystal Lake. It's an ambitious and batshit disfavor to the standard "teens die at the camp" formula. Instead, we get a crackpot Jason-hunter who spouts ham-fisted exposition similar: "Through a Voorhees was he born, through a Voorhees may he be reborn, and only past the hands of a Voorhees will he die." Seriously, this is the all-time Jason sequel.

6. Halloween H20: xx Years Subsequently

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

(Image credit: Miramax Films)

Certain, Flavour of the Witch is keen, abandoning Michael Myers and all. But it'due south not a patch on the savvy '90s reboot Halloween H20 that somehow got lumped in with the dire Resurrection, which arrived four years afterward. Make no mistake: H20 is a cut above. It'due south scary, gory, and packed with set-pieces galore that proceed and on and on. No surprise really, considering Scream's Kevin Williamson wrote the original treatment, most of which made its way into the shooting script. The story finds Laurie Strode living a new life as individual school principal Keri Tate in the California hills alongside her 15-year onetime son John (Josh Hartnett).

The 2018 Halloween sequel borrows a off-white quondam clamper of Laurie'due south story from H20, her desire to no longer exist a victim and her strained relationship with her kid in detail. Those aspects are both put through the ringer on the 20th ceremony of the original murders. As y'all'd expect Michael escapes and comes looking for Laurie, still referred to as his sister in this continuity, finding an empty school the perfect stalking ground for his revenge. Smart, funny, and genuinely scary, this is hands the about overlooked Halloween sequel that deserves some other watch.

five. Helpmate of Frankenstein

Bride of Frankenstein

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Bride of Frankenstein is hands ane of the best horror sequels to accrue the same level of critical acclaim and box office success as its predecessor. The secret to its winning formula lies in the render of director James Whale, enticed back into the fold by the promise of complete creative command. At the time that was a risk for the studio: sequels weren't so commonplace in the '30s. But it paid off. Like the original, Bride doesn't change the set-up too much.

Fluctuating between seriousness and silliness, information technology gently nudges at the boundaries of what makes the states homo while working also every bit a skewed rom-com of sorts. Boris Karloff returns for his office as the Monster, who continues to long for agreement and compassion, and and so, is gifted a mate by his creator. What transpires is ghoulish and tragic and firmly established  every bit one of the best horror sequels. The movie'southward everlasting power lies in the Helpmate's iconic visage, the white lightning commodities shocked through her towering conical hairdo, which remains just as recognisable now as Frankenstein himself.

4. Dawn of the Dead

Dawn of the Dead

(Image credit: United Film Distribution Company/Titanus)

Romero'due south Night of the Living Expressionless changed the entire horror landscape. Mainly because he forgot to copyright the film, giving free rein to filmmakers everywhere to exercise what they liked with the material. Despite essentially creating the entire zombie genre, and so giving information technology away, it was Romero himself who crafted the best sequel. While Night was at the time, full of gore, Dawn ups the ante on that forepart. Once again humans are pitted against the shuffling hordes of zombies, who are – in Romero's vision – but different versions of usa, soulless and drastic for flesh similar we're soulless and desperate for an iPhone thirteen.

Swapping out a desolate farmhouse for a suburban American mall, much has been made of the fact that this is Romero's commentary on commercialism, transforming us all into slack-faced ghouls desperate to eat. While that might be truthful, Dawn of the Expressionless offers more on human nature, signaling how we volition continue to tear each other apart even when true horror knocks at our door.

3. Nightmare on Elm Street iii: Dream Warriors

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

(Epitome credit: New Line Movie house)

Yous'd exist hard-pressed to find a Freddy fan who doesn't honey Dream Warriors. Played for scares and for laughs without scrimping on either, managing director Chuck Russell and co-writer Frank Darabont blast that tough balance. Unlike afterwards sequels that dilute the true menace of Freddy the tertiary one instils that real fright into the heart of its themes: what do you do when Freddy attacks kids who can't escape? Nightmare on Elm Street'south last daughter Heather Langenkamp returns as Nancy Thompson to help the sleep-deprived youngsters at a psychiatric infirmary whose dreams are being invaded past 1 Mr. Krueger.

Freddy's kills this fourth dimension around are far more personal as his blade-fingers slice through the flesh of one male child, freeing his veins and arteries to boob him effectually like a bloodied marionette. A erstwhile junkie is pumped full of drugs. A Idiot box addict is grabbed past Freddy's long arms emerging from the set, and plunged through its screen while he cackles: "Welcome to Prime-Time, bowwow!" There'south no subtle apologue here for what destroys us, but male child, information technology's and then much fun y'all actually won't care.

2.  Evil Dead 2

Evil Dead 2

(Image credit: Rosebud Releasing Corporation/Renaissance Pictures)

Sam Raimi'southward starting time foray into low-upkeep horror turned out to be a huge success. Gory, scary, and earning early praise from Stephen Male monarch, The Evil Dead blew the horror customs away. While its ending hardly warranted a follow-upward, several years after Raimi chose to revisit that world past writing a flick that's role-sequel, role-remake. Raimi'south lifelong friend Bruce Campbell returns equally the chisel-chinned, rubber-faced Ash Williams.

He's in fact the simply returning cast member, with the remaining four original characters not showing up at all: this time it'southward Ash and his girlfriend Linda who venture into the Tennessee woods hoping for a weekend of lonely time in the cabin. It's equally as revolting and gore-filled as the original, with a few twists to keep information technology fresh. Namely, it's funny equally hell. Ash spends big portions of the runtime on his own, occasionally fending off a Deadite-possessed Linda and his Deadite-possessed hand. Part of Evil Dead 2's charm lies in its humble approach to effects piece of work, that inspires gasps along with genuine terror.

i. Scream 2

Scream 2

(Image credit: Dimension Films)

How to follow upwardly a game-changer like Scream? Proceed it simple. The sequel to one of the horror genre'due south about dear slashers relocates the bloodshed to a college campus, where Sidney Prescott's world turns upside downward once more in light of a fresh geyser of killings. Scream two stands firmly on its own every bit a tight, scary slasher. With author Kevin Williamson's schematic for the original trilogy in place – should the first film bear witness successful – in that location was no hurry to churn out a script, find a director, etc. All of that was set up to gyre and allowed for Scream 2 to be shot and released within a year of the first. That may go some manner to explaining why Scream 2 feels like more than of a continuation of that outset outing, a second affiliate if you will. Craven brings in an fifty-fifty bigger cast of hot young things to become sliced and diced by Ghostface, never one time copying his earlier work, instead he always seeks ways to better the scares.

Sarah Michelle Gellar snags the juiciest sequence of all equally unlucky sorority girl Cici, while the Gale/Dewey higher chase scene showcases Williamson's blistering writing chops and Craven's skill for cranking up the tension. From the direction, to the lighting, to the sharp, quirky script, to Marco Beltrami'south superb score, to the performances, Scream ii replicates Scream'southward stylistic elements perfectly, while never once becoming a mere greenbacks-grab copy. Like its predecessor, information technology explains the rules (the body count is always bigger, the kills are more elaborate or "carnage candy") and slowly dismantles them one-by-one with a wry flash. Forget what Randy says: the horror genre was most certainly not destroyed by sequels.


Need more Halloween recommendations? So be sure to check out our pieces on the best horror remakes, best haunted firm movies, best witch movies, and all-time vampire movies.

I'chiliad GamesRadar+'south w coast Entertainment News Reporter. I'thou a bit obsessed with all things Aliens and Terminator. You can discover my byline on our best Netflix movies and all-time Netflix shows lists.

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