You go to a theater to see a horror film and it turned out to be good! There 
was a plot, interesting characters, and you didn’t get dizzy from the camerawork! A month later you are reading news on a horror site and to your absolute horror you find out that there is going to be a sequel made! Why, oh why! You and I both know that the vast majority of the time sequels just plain suck, so why do they get made?
One of the more obvious answers as to why sequels are made is that the studio wants to make yet more money. They think that since the first movie made money that a second film using the same ideas will do the same. However, most sequels pale in comparison to their predecessors; once stretched to a sequel that original idea becomes boring and stale and loses the power that it once had in the original. One of the exceptions to this is Aliens, which I find as well written and scary as Alien. They are
interconnected, yet they are very different movies. Perhaps that is why Aliens works; it wasn’t written to be exactly like Alien. Maybe the studios should look to that example when they attempt to make sequels, or better yet perhaps they should just make an original movie instead of rehashing rancid trite shit over and over again.
Another reason that sequels get made is because there are a certain segment of horror fans out there who insist upon it. I mean seriously, I have been on some horror message boards and seen people say that they want another film just like the original one they had just seen. Wait a second there bucko, a film just like the one you’ve just seen? Wouldn’t that make it stale, 
boring and just a retread of what you have seen? Oh, that’s right you are an unimaginative twat who has the thought processes of a plague infested flea. Why would you want to see a film exactly like the one you just saw? The reason why the horror genre in the US sucks so badly right now is because of crap like this. The studios making these endless sequels actually listen to these idiots because they are the ones going out spending their parents hard earned cash on these films. The rest of us who have common sense and taste don’t matter apparently.
Lastly some horror directors and producers would love their films to be made into a series because they think that will give them some sort of special recognition. Do they really want to be included in the same camp as a craptastic series like Saw? Why sure they would because they think that there is some kind of recognition in that. Don’t they realise that negative attention isn’t as good as positive attention? Oh wait, they don’t care because they are attention whores and will take it anyway that they can get it.They can then make money off of movie tie in
merchandise like douche bottles with their killer’s likeness on them and that would suit them just fine.
Maybe if we all ignored these sequels when they come out the studios wouldn’t make so many. After all, if we don’t go then they don’t get any cash from their endeavours. So, are you going to help perpetuate this circle jerk of mediocrity or are you going to ignore what you know will be a bad sequel and watch something original instead?
Bloofer Lady
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Sequels and remakes are very similar in the horror genre. Sequels only work if something different is done with the core story – as you rightly note with Aliens. The demand for sequelisation if a little baffling to me too. If you want more of the same, write fan fiction, lol.
I’m on the fence on sequels. I love some of them. Alien/Aliens, NOES (ok ok, not Freddy’s Dead), The first few Friday the 13th, Phantasm, Saw (stop looking at me like that)..heck Wrong Turn 2 was better than the first….but it fell on its face with Wrong Turn 3.
But for the most part, you’re right. Sometimes, the series does not need to keep going, especially when it adds nothing new -it rehashes the story w/ new characters (sometimes). Why was Donnie Dark 2 and Hostel 2 made again? Bloodrayne was so godawful I can’t believe Uwe even got financing for a second. Friday the 13th has so many sequels became absurd after the 3rd. And while Scream was somewhat funny the first time (Sorry, but Student Bodies did it first and much better) we really don’t need 3 more of them, Mr Craven. All there’s left to make fun of now is all the remakes and make it in 3D. And that IS A WHOLE other rant.
My biggest complaint about sequels is that movies that were awful the first time around somehow got a sequel out of the deal. I’ve actually been really impressed by the amount of random shark attack movies I see in the video store and that some of them have a sequel up to the 4th or so. Where did these come from?!
I will say I kind of sort of love Sleepaway camp 2 and 3 if only for the pure insanity and stupidity of them. It’s good entertainment- but I still agree with you because as with all the remakes getting made, sequels mostly just look like laziness. I need orginality and creativity. No adaptions, no remakes– someone be original!!!
Say what you want about Saw, but at least they try to build an ongoing story through the series. I got no idea how good this works out (I stopped watching after part 3) but you gotta give them credit for trying to not make each new sequel a stand alone movie that you can watch without any knowledge of the other parts.
Thank you for the comments you guys.
This is actually the kind of thinking that is in total sink with my own. Thank you for posting exactly what I have been thinking for years about sequels. Do not get me wrong some are great , like the Alien franchise you intelligently pointed out worked. I enjoy the Saw franchise because along with the gore there is actually a message being told. The film industry is just saturated now with nothing but remakes. I will share your blog! Its nice to see someone else getting that stale taste in their mouth of horror.
I can understand this sentiment.
Original horror seems rare and good original horror even rarer, so I was blown away with The House of the Devil. As much as I enjoyed that film, I would hate to see it sequelized and I only realized that while reading your article.
It seems that when original horror strikes a chord, it’s usually good enough that it leaves the audience wanting more so the studios try to satisfy that need.
I could see your point about Aliens. Totally different film yet it’s a traditional sequel, yet a good example of one. At least Aliens isn’t an unofficial remake of Alien. It’s different enough to justify it’s existence.
Good article.