Jaws, The Exorcist and Poltergeist all share a similar affliction, having all been followed by terrible sequels. With Regan undertaking hypnotic visions of Africa, and the Freeling family being haunted by a creepy old pastor, it’s easy to taint Hollywood as bunch of money grabbing bigwigs looking to milk the hell out of any property they own. And our list is not about to change that view. Whilst these awful sequels are ones you wish you could forget, we wanted to look at the ones you might not have heard of.  Rather than looking at the best or worst sequels, we decided to delve into the realm of the unknown, looking at the lesser known titles that followed successful films. This list showcases those films that went right under the radar, having low key releases with little fanfare or promotion. Here are 15 Horror Sequels You Didn’t Know About.

Single White Female 2: The Psycho (2005)

The Psycho is a surprising sequel that arrived 13 years after Single White Female first arrived on the big screen. The subtitle of the film somehow insinuates that Jennifer Jason Lee’s character from the original , Hedra Carlson, was not a complete psychopath. But nothing could be further from the truth. Silly titles aside, the films real issue is the similarities to its predecessor. The film literally rips scenes from the first 1992 thriller, making the film a semi re-make rather than a sequel. Its Lao just not that entertaining   with a slow pace and wooden cast that fails to impress. Single White Female 2 is a pretty unremarkable movie that feels a little too familiar and wholly unnecessary.

The Birds II: Land’s End (1994)

The Plot to this 1994 sequel is very similar to the original, where a Biology Teacher and family move to a summer house, only to be attacked by killer birds. Like Hitchcock’s 1963 film, the plot does little to explain the bird’s erratic and murderous behaviour, and does not even tip it’s hat to the original films occurrences. In some ways, this is more of a re-make than a true sequel, so much so that they even used the same house form the first film. Director Rick Rosenthal was so ashamed of the film that he credited himself as Alan Smithee. I guess he had not heard about the word…

The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)

Despite the film’s title The Rage: Carrie 2 has very tenuous links to the original 1976 hit horror. Feeling more like a re-make than a sequel, Emily Bergl steps up-front to play a telekinetic teen with murderous revenge on her mind. This low budget, lethargic, sequel plods along the same footprints of its predecessor, making the film feel repetitive and unoriginal.  A little of something new would have gone a long way to spruce the movie up. Even Sissy Spacek was smart enough to turn down a cameo for this unintelligent horror sequel.

Look What Happened To Rosemary’s Baby (1976)

Look What Happened To Rosemary’s Baby (1976) follows Rosemary’s son Adrian/Andrew as he is twisted between good and evil. Many would argue that Roman Polanski’s original classic horror did not need a sequel, with the films dark and ambiguous ending being a dramatic sign off to the story. Considering that only one actor reprised their role (Ruth Gordon as Minnie Castavet) this damp squib of sequel does little to expand the story, and actually starts to cross over into Omen territory. As an audience, we want a sequel to either continue a character’s story or expand the films theme, sadly Look What Happened To Rosemary’s Baby does neither very well, with the poor cast and terrible script plodding on blindly into a bat-shit crazy third act. 

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2

This 2000 sequel to the cam-horror Blair Witch Project manages to be an amazingly unsettling film, choosing a film within a film approach. Set some time after the Blair Witch Project, a ragtag group take a Blair Witch Tour, after seeing the original film, only to discover that the rumours are true. The Blair Witch is real. The films cinematic approach was a huge departure from the 1999 camcorder filmed original and has split many fans. With a budget 200% larger than its original, the film is slicker, scarier and has a much larger cast. However, the simplicity of the original film, it’s tone and scares, seems to have diminished with its more structured story telling. Book Of Shadows is a damn fine horror, it just does not have the impact of the first film.

S.Darko (2009)

Set ten years after Donnie Darko (2001), S. Darko focuses on Samantha Darko, with Daveigh Chase reprising her role as Donnie’s younger sister. Whilst the original was a perfectly executed film that twisted the audience perception and had them pondering the films deeper meanings, S. Darko slaps us with stereotypical characterisation, awful plot twists and an inconsistency with its time travel. The films focus on style over substance undermines the beauty of the first film, making me wonder what they film makers were trying to achieve here.

8MM 2 (2005)

Apart from corruption and blackmail, 8MM 2 has nothing to do with Joel Schumacher’s original 1999 film, and after half an hour, you’ll find yourself begging for a Nicolas Cage cameo of anything just to pick the film up.  The plot sees an extortionist threatening to derail the career of a prominent politician by revealing visual proof of his lurid sex life. The entire movie is just one big excuse for soft core pornography and sexual gratification, with a wafer-thin plot thrown on top. There is only one reason to watch this movie, and that is Zita Gorog, whose sexy turn as Risa is the best thing about this slow and drab thriller.

I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)

This straight to Video Sequel to the first two I Know What You Did Last Summer movies plods along with the same story from the first, with four friends keeping mum on a friend’s death they all witnessed, only to find a killer fisherman come looking for revenge.

The films plot is nothing too inspiring, and the changes to the films roots are a little too disjointed to make it enjoyable. The lack of series heroin Jennifer Love Hewitt should be enough to turn anyone’s attention, but this biggest change actually comes from the antagonist Ben Willis. The pissed off fisherman died in the previous film, but that does not stop him returning here as a jacked up supernatural creature, more in line with the likes of Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees than the vulnerable killer of the originals. This small plot changes turns a slasher series into an incoherent  mess. You just can’t keep a bad guy down.

American Psycho 2: All American Girl (2002)

The Direct to DVD sequel of American Psycho sees Mila Kunis stepping into the shoes of Rachael Newman, a girl who survived an attack from serial killer Patrick Bateman. Apparently murderous psychotic rage is spread through osmosis or something, as the head strong and aspirational FBI trainee start to kill of her competition in order to win a training position.

The films biggest mistake lies within its casting, dropping William Shatner as a (ex FBI) teaching Professor and Kunis as a brilliant college student. Both actors are woefully misplaced in this cheap shoe-horned in sequel, that’s trying to sell you salt as sugar. The film bares little to no resemblance to its original, nor does it try to do anything new or challenging.

Wild Things 2 (2004)

This direct-to-video sequel to the hit Wild Things sees a teenage step-daughter trying to cash-in on her dead step-father’s inheritance. Whereas the original film was a clever, dark and twisted tale of sex, money and power, it’s sequel seems to have dropped at least one of these plot points, concentrating mostly on titillating teens girls. It’s not even that sexy, the terrible cast come across as desperate and seedy as they romp around on screen like a couple of hookers on crack. Recycling the plot points from the original, the film thinks that the audience would enjoy seeing the same twists and turns, just on a lower budget. We don’t….

Hollow Man 2 (2006)

When some careers fail, they really crash and burn. Take a moment to commiserate the career of Christian Slater, who’s appearance as an invisible character, seems to be about as low as you can get. This direct to video cash in is based on the very first draft of the Paul Verhoeven’s original film released in 2000. So why director Claudio Fäh thought he could salvage an already discarded script is anyone’s guess.  The script suffered from slow pacing and clichéd characters, though the films VFX and practical effects are handled with competence. The action and effects are actually good, the movie just takes a while to get moving, and it’s third act is annoyingly stupid. The film leaves the characters right back where they started, making the movie ultimately pointless.

Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008)

Lost Boys: The Tribe started life as a film about surfing werewolves, but was dropped by Warner Brothers for being too similar to the 1987 vampire thriller The Lost Boys. Then someone had a brain wave, and swapped the werewolves for vampires, creating an unintentional sequel.  Despite the glaring issue of vampires not being able to cross flowing water, producers told Writer Hans Rodionoff that no one would care.

The straight to video sequel had so many miss-starts that it’s surprising it came out at all. Cory Feldman refused to do the film without lifelong friend Cory Haim, and had his contract based on Hiam’s appearance. But Corrie Haim’s game of I will/I won’t be in the movie approach to filmmaking made the script changes constantly disrupted the films flow, resulting in an unintelligible mess.

The Resulting film was just a regurgitated version of the original movie, with a few cameo appearances (in the uncut DVD) that did little to alleviate the films slow pace. Fans of tits and blood may just get a little thrill, but for real vampire fanboys/girls this sequel dose little to quench the thirst.

A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987)

After the success of the TV mini-series Salem’s Lot, director Larry Cohen decided to revisit the little town of Jerusalem’s lot, in mad cash -grab attempt of a sequel. The plot revolved around a divorced father, who is heading back to his up-state Maine hometown, taking his reluctant son with him. Little did they know; the entire town has been turned into vampires. The plot thickens, as we discover that the vampires have become ‘domesticated’ and now only feed from cows, and all they want is a ‘bible’ written about vampire kind.

The plot is a far departure from what we used to from Vampire movies , but credit is where credit’s due,it is unique. Delving into a  side of vampires we had not seen at the time. Whilst films such as Blade and Underworld demonstrate an active community of vampires who deal in politics, finance and lifestyle, this was an alien concept in 1987. Return displays a living community of vampires, trying to blend in humankind, and the addition of the bible further highlights their need for acceptance in the world.

But unique ideas don’t always bring good things, and the entire plot quickly fall apart as stilted and terrible dialogue makes the entire movie unbearably jarring. With a better cast and director, things might have been half decent, but the over the top delivery of even the most mundane lines just makes the film ridiculous. More worrying is the fact that there are no scares at all. None! Being a sequel to a terrifying TV mini-series, you’d expect at least a few frights thrown in, but sadly the film has suffered from an unintentional turn of genre, from horror to comedy. Despite a little gore and few prosthesis, the entire film is just a joke. Lets not mention the horrible rubber blue head that keeps popping up in the woods. Is that supposed to be Mr Barlow? Sadly, A Return to Salem’s Lot is a shadow of its former self.

“Hey Horror Fans – Did we mention any films you have not heard of? If so, spread the HORROR, give this post a share. Lets not let this awesome article pass by like some of these films. And hey…if you knew all of them, we’ll you’re just BLOODY amazing. Give yourself a pat on the back and let us know in the comments below. Go now my friends.. fly free

Keep Rotten”

“Morti” The Mortician