13 Horror Sequels That Are Actually Great

“Child’s Play 2” (1990)

When producer David Kirschner wanted to follow up on 1988’s “Child’s Play,” which was made for MGM/UA, the company was in the middle of a financial crisis, so he shopped the sequel, with all of the major studios bidding for the rights and Universal ultimately won the deal with the help of Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy. This gave possessed doll Chucky a new home and led to some severe legal headaches down the line — if you were wondering why the official “Child’s Play” remake from 2019, released by MGM, couldn’t use the Chucky name, this is why.

Anyway, the sequel, written by creator Don Mancini and directed by John Lafia, is a superb follow-up. This time around, Andy (a returning Alex Vincent) is in a foster family after the events of the first film. The toy company, Play Pals Corporation, is trying to cover up the fact that one of its dolls went on a murder spree. And Chucky (voiced once again by Brad Dourif) is, of course, back.

The movie is visually stunning and throws in a lot of fun twists, including Chucky becoming more human the longer Charles Lee Ray stays in his plasticine body. The movie’s climax, which takes place in the Play Pals factory, is outrageously wonderful, including some truly jaw-dropping production/set design, and a bit where Andy and his foster sister Kyle (Christine Elise, who came back to the franchise later) are running through a maze of Good Guy doll boxes like it’s the end of “The Shining.” Just wonderful.

“Poltergeist II: The Other Side” (1986)

The original “Poltergeist” is something of a masterpiece, born out of the wicked alchemy between director Tobe Hooper and producer/writer Steven Spielberg. (The fact that there’s a “Poltergeist” house at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights speaks volumes about its staying power.) The sequel, which Spielberg wasn’t involved with, maintains much of the magic that made the first film so special, although its production was tinged with tragedy: Original cast member Dominique Dunne was murdered between films, young star Heather O’Rourke died shortly after the sequel wrapped production, as did star Julian Beck.

It doesn’t have the same spark as the original. But that’s okay. The sequel is concerned with Native American shamanism and a villainous priest named Kane (played deliciously by Beck). Most of the cast returns, with Craig T. Nelson putting some additional comedic oomph to his performance, and the newcomers to the series, most notably Will Sampson as Native American Taylor and Geraldine Fitzgerald as JoBeth Williams’ psychic mother, provide additional texture and nuance.

There are a number of incredibly creepy sequences that could have easily come out of the first movie, including a devilish tequila worm and a prolonged climax set in the titular “other side,” a dangerous spiritual realm where Kane sheds his mortal form to become The Beast (a creature designed by legendary illustrator H.R. Giger). Sure, it doesn’t have the same bite or originality of the first film, but you can feel the entire team, in particular cinematographer Andrew Laszlo with his rich widescreen compositions and composer Jerry Goldsmith with his evocative score, aiming for greatness. Sometimes, almost-there is just as good.

“Phantasm II” (1988)

Nearly ten years after the original “Phantasm” was released and quickly became a cult favorite, grossing more than $22 million on a budget of $200,000, the sequel finally became a reality. As writer/director Don Coscarelli wrote in his terrific memoir “True Indie,” he was approached by James Jacks, a junior executive at Universal, and Tom Pollock, the president of the studio, about making another “Phantasm” for Universal. (At the time, Coscarelli wrote, Pollock was under a “self-imposed mantra – to bring as many genre franchises into his studio as possible.”) Coscarelli jumped at the chance of making a big-budget “Phantasm,” and the results were dazzling.

Sure, it does feel slightly more linear than other films in the franchise, taking on the vague shape of a road movie, and the decision to recast the main character with a ”real” actor (James LeGros, who is absolutely terrific in the role), but “Phantasm II” is a mighty step up from the original. It’s just as weird and unnerving as the original, still dreamy and violent, but it’s considerably bigger and more impressive, with more elaborately designed set pieces and greater visual oomph. It also deepens the mythology without totally dragging down the story, with original stars Angus Scrimm and Reggie Bannister doing excellent work. Plus, we are absolutely obsessed with the gold ball – the POV shots where it’s flying through a mausoleum, breaking down doors are pure cinema. What a film!

“Bride of Frankenstein” (1935)

As legend has it, the ending of Universal’s 1931 classic “Frankenstein” was altered to allow for the possibility of the creature to return, with the sequel set to begin production that same year. While that didn’t happen, when they finally got around to making the sequel, they were able to coax original director James Whale back. Whale delivered a sequel that is more emotionally involving, funnier, grander and stranger than the original. It’s now largely considered one of the great horror movies of all time – and it’s easy to see why.

Taking place immediately after the first film, “Bride of Frankenstein” features the return of Boris Karloff’s creature, still struggling to find his place in the world after being nearly burned alive in that windmill. He’s briefly imprisoned, bonds with a blind old man and eventually gets a mate in the titular bride (Elsa Lanchester is credited as “The Monster’s Mate”). There are a number of new elements, like Ernest Thesiger’s Doctor Pretorius, who coerces the doctor into creating a bride for his creature – and who, in the movie’s weirdest sequence, shows off his collection of miniaturized humans to Doctor Frankenstein (a returning Colin Clive).

“Bride of Frankenstein” still reverberates today – in various Universal properties like the monster-filled land at their new theme park, Epic Universe, and in projects like Guillermo del Toro’s sumptuous “Frankenstein,” which borrows liberally from the movie and is stuffed with homages towards it.

“Scream 2” (1997)

“Scream,” released in December 1996, was such a surprise hit that a sequel was rushed into production and was released less than a year later. And while the actual shooting of the movie was apparently a nightmare, with the script constantly in flux and the original ending leaked online, you can’t feel it in the final product. Arguably more stylish than the original film, “Scream 2” saw director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson use the opportunity to lampoon sequels while also making a sequel.

This time around, Sidney (Neve Campbell) is in college, where a new psychopathic, media-literate killer is stalking her. “Scream 2” maintained some of the hallmarks that made the original such a sensation, like the star-studded pre-credits kill sequence (this time anchored by two starry deaths, with Jada Pinkett and Omar Epps getting offed) and the killer’s characteristic voice (series mainstay Roger L. Jackson), while expanding the mythology, particularly when it came to wrongly convicted Cotton Weary (Liev Schrieber) and Sidney’s familial connection to tragedy. And it broadened its satire as well; a particularly well-staged sequence has Sarah Michelle-Gellar, then the strongest character on television, get kabobbed by Ghostface. Its slyly subversive cross-media commentary about the nature of feminine power, and the forces that look to extinguish said power, that made “Scream 2” a cut above.

“Dawn of the Dead” (1978)

George A. Romero, who effectively introduced the modern zombie movie in the form of his 1968 masterpiece “Night of the Living Dead” (but couldn’t lay claim to anything that followed because the movie wasn’t properly copyrighted), returned to the land of the undead with 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead.” More epic and expansive than the intimate “Night of the Living Dead,” this time Romero set his sights on rampant American consumerism, setting the action largely inside the consumerist utopia of a shopping mall.

The opening of “Dawn of the Dead,” in which we see society breaking down in real time as the dead rise from their graves, sets the tone immediately but the movie really starts to sing when it settles into its groove, following a group of survivors as they hole up in the Monroeville Mall. Here they can live and even be happy, away from the ghouls outside their doors. Of course, that peace is inevitably shattered, not by the zombies but by a group of marauding bikers (led by Tom Savini, who also provided the movie with its groundbreaking gore effects). Humanity will always destroy itself, even when it tries to tell itself that it is safe. This is the beauty and the tragedy of “Dawn of the Dead.” And while Romero would go back to the zombie well several more times (he passed away in 2017), in many ways “Dawn of the Dead” feels like the high point of his entire career – the most thoughtful, scariest, most eye-popping installment in the franchise and one of the great horror movies of all time.

“Psycho II” (1983)

As the tagline for “Psycho II” succinctly put it: “It’s 22 years later and Norman Bates is coming home.” In 1982, the original author of “Psycho,” Robert Bloch, wrote a sequel that lampooned Hollywood slasher movies. Universal didn’t want to adapt the novel, but it at least kicked off the idea of actually making a sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece.

They hired a dream team – a pre-“Child’s Play” Tom Holland wrote the new script, Australian powerhouse (and Hitchcock protégé) Richard Franklin signed on to direct, composer Jerry Goldsmith subbed for Bernard Herrmann and original actors Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles returned to star. (Fun fact: John Gavin was meant to reprise his role as Sam Loomis but at the time was serving as an ambassador to Mexico at the time.)

And while it’s easy to stick your nose up at a more explicitly 1980’s extension of a true classic, “Psycho II” really is special – it’s smartly directed, gorgeously shot (by the great Dean Cundey) and builds its thrills out of a central question of whether or not Norman Bates is actually reformed or whether someone is setting him up. (An adorable Meg Tilly is Norman’s new friend.) The fact that there were any thrills to be wrung from the movie is a feat in and of itself. But the fact that it’s this good is downright miraculous. If you’ve never seen “Psycho II,” it’s a gem. As is “Psycho III” and “Psycho IV: The Beginning.” A truly unsung horror movie dynasty.

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” (1986)

When Texas auteur Tobe Hooper signed a lucrative three-picture deal with the Cannon Group, the only movie he absolutely, positively had to deliver was a sequel to his groundbreaking 1974 masterwork “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” But they didn’t say how he had to make the sequel. Teaming with “Paris, Texas” screenwriter L. M. Kit Carson, Hooper decided to make the long-awaited sequel a freewheeling horror comedy that carved up the go-go 1980’s. This time around, the cannibalistic Sawyer family is flirting with yuppie-dom, as it enters chili cookoff competitions and sells BBQ (don’t ask what the meat is).

They run afoul of a local DJ that inadvertently captures one of their murders on the radio and the father of one of the victims from the first movie (a full tilt Dennis Hopper). Your mileage may vary – this movie is so insane, so full of screams and gasoline and roaring chainsaws – but for those on its singular, gonzo wavelength, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” is a profound, blood-soaked delight.

“Fright Night Part 2” (1988)

One of the best movies on this list is also, strangely, one of the hardest to find. 1985’s “Fright Night” is one of the very best horror movies of the ‘80s, liberally mixing horror and comedy in all the right ways, so a sequel was always going to be tough. Thankfully, co-writer and director Tommy Lee Wallace, a confederate of John Carpenter who helmed the brilliant, deeply misunderstood “Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” was up for the challenge. William Ragsdale returns as Charlie Brewster, this time a college student, with Roddy McDowell also back as the late-night horror host turned vampire hunter. This time, though, Charlie is seduced by a gorgeous female vampire (Julie Carmen).

It’s very fun indeed, playing with the sexual politics of the first film while also keen on creating its own, singular vibe. Unfortunately, the movie had a truncated theatrical release and an odd history on home video, mostly due to the fact that New Century/Vista executive José Menendez was murdered by his children, which threw the company into disarray. When the company was restructured following his death, it further complicated the rights issues. The movie was released on VHS and, eventually, a DVD that was only available briefly before going out of print. But there is light on the horizon – the movie will have a new 4K release in 2026 courtesy of Synapse Films, with Mark Irwin’s crisp cinematography restored to greatness and Brad Fiedel’s incredible score sounding like new.

“Doctor Sleep” (2019)

With “Doctor Sleep,” writer/director Mike Flanagan set out to conquer an impossible task – adapt Stephen King’s 2013 novel, a sequel to “The Shining,” while also reconciling the original “Shining” novel and the Stanley Kubrick adaptation, which not only deviated from the source material but also enraged King himself. And, somehow, he did it. “Doctor Sleep,” which follows an adult, alcoholic Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) as he connects with a similarly talented young girl (Kyliegh Curran) as he attempts to save her from a gang of savage creatures that feed on people with the Shining (led by Rebecca Ferguson), is a triumph of design and execution, of feeling and form.

Part of what makes the movie so remarkable is how different Kubrick and Flanagan are as filmmakers, with Kubrick often being described as cold and overly intellectual, with Flanagan one of the most deeply emotional filmmakers working today, one whose empathy and connection to his characters is admirable and unique. But that’s why “Doctor Sleep” works so well; while the Kubrick elements are recreated obsessively, Flanagan really shines (get it) with the new story elements. He also gets to rewrite the ending of Kubrick’s “Shining” to more closely reflect King’s novel. The fact that King was so onboard “Doctor Sleep” speaks to the magic trick that Flanagan and his collaborators pulled off. And for an even-better experience, seek out the more novelistic director’s cut.

“The Craft: Legacy” (2020)

Talk about a movie that nobody saw but is actually quite good, “The Craft: Legacy,” a follow-up to 1996’s witchy “The Craft,” was released in the doldrums of COVID, when nobody was going to the movies. It made only $2.3 million on a budget of $18 million. And it hasn’t been properly re-assessed in the half-decade since. But it’s time will come, don’t you worry.

Like the original film, it follows a group of teenage girls who possesses supernatural powers (Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone and Zoey Luna) and what happens when they come up against something even more powerful than themselves (like systematic misogyny and, you know, the patriarchy).

Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, this new “Craft” tapped into anxieties of the day and features some devilish adult performances by Michelle Monaghan and David Duchovney, plus a super special cameo you have to wait until the last minute to enjoy. Chances are you might not even know that there was a sequel to “The Craft.” Now that you do, you must watch it immediately.

“Evil Dead II” (1987)

1987’s “Evil Dead II,” sometimes referred to as “Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn,” is a remake/sequel to 1981’s “The Evil Dead,” a movie whose ferocity and invention was applauded by none other than Stephen King, who saw the movie at the Cannes Film Festival. In between the first film and “Evil Dead II,” Raimi had made “Crimewave” with the Coen Brothers. His technical prowess was sharpened, his sense of humor honed and when he came back for the sequel, he unleashed it all.

The resulting film is a true masterpiece, as it recycles many of the plot points from the first film, mostly Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his college buddies stumbling upon an ancient evil at a cabin in the woods, but the way that he executes the story, the new flourishes and embellishments he adds, are absolutely stunning. The movie is endlessly quotable and rewatchable; it’s stop-motion effects and prosthetics and creatures (brought to life by a team that included Mark Shostrom, Greg Nicotero, Robert Kurtzman and Tom Sullivan) are as gorgeous as they are ghastly. To think about what a sensation this movie was, George Harrison was inspired by it for his video for “Got My Mind Set On You.”

And every horror movie set in a cabin in the woods (including, of course, “The Cabin in the Woods”) owes a debt to “Evil Dead II.” After the lackluster response to “Crimewave,” “Evil Dead II” would firmly establish Raimi as one of the most exciting working filmmakers.   

“Smile 2” (2024)

The original “Smile” was meant to debut direct-to-streaming on Paramount+. But when studio executives got a look at it, they realized it was too good for that. It made more than $217 million on a budget of $17 million, quite a return.

For the sequel, writer/director Parker Finn decided to flip things on its head entirely. Through a series of events too good to give away (hey, the movie’s only a year old), the curse is passed to a popstar who is recovering from a recent tragedy (a mesmerizing Naomi Scott). Is she actually being stalked by demonic forces or is she simply suffering from a psychotic break? We all know that the curse is real, but seeing the way that it manifests itself in the popstar’s life is incredibly satisfying.

It all leads to one of the most satisfying climaxes in recent horror history; it’s a mic drop, both real and figuratively, and sets the stage for a very interesting future for the franchise (should they choose to continue). Finn is the real deal, pushing the cinematography (by Charlie Sarroff) and music (from “White Lotus” vet Cristobal Tapia de Veer) to new extremes. But this is really Scott’s show – she inhabits the character so fully, you are with her every step (or misstep) of the way. How Scott isn’t one of our biggest movie stars by now is more perplexing than the invasion of any supernatural force.