Comments on: Rant On Horror: On Sequels

By: mike

mike — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:47:31 +0000

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.

By: Shelly Lange

Shelly Lange — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:29:31 +0000

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.

By: Bloofer Lady

Bloofer Lady — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:31:35 +0000

Thank you for the comments you guys.

By: CJ Holden

CJ Holden — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:24:50 +0000

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.

By: Andre

Andre — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:19:38 +0000

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!!!

By: That GHoul Ava

That GHoul Ava — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:38:22 +0000

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.

By: stonecypher

stonecypher — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:02:34 +0000

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.