10 Horror Franchises That Never Had A Good Sequel

It’s pretty common for a horror franchise to feature one or two bad movies, but some series could never live up to the quality of their original film. Horror, more so than any other genre, lends itself exceptionally well to sequels, and there are dozens of popular franchises. The suspension of disbelief allows the monster to return again and again.

Stretching back to the 1930s in films like Bride of Frankenstein, horror sequels have been a sure-fire way for Hollywood to make money at the box office. Nearly 100 years later, audiences still flock in droves to see their favorite ghosts and ghouls stalk the screen in ongoing franchises. However, horror series often have diminishing returns in quality.

Horror sequels are often rushed out in order to meet demand, so they aren’t given as much thought. Sometimes, a sequel is so radically different from its predecessor that it leaves viewers perplexed, while others simply fall short of the movies that came before. Regardless, many horror franchises are populated with sequels that don’t do the original film justice.

The Stepfather

1987’s The Stepfather is an underrated horror thriller largely anchored by the stellar performance of Terry O’Quinn, but its two sequels lost the plot. O’Quinn returned for Stepfather II, but was replaced in Stepfather III by Robert Wightman. While this change in cast certainly didn’t help, the franchise was already at rock bottom by the time O’Quinn exited the project.

The most obvious issue with the entire Stepfather franchise is that the concept behind the film simply doesn’t lend itself well to sequels. The thrilling twists and shocking reveals of the first movie are already known to the audiences in the sequels, so they degrade into generic B-grade slasher flicks.

Mimic

Mimic was Guillermo del Toro’s first Hollywood movie, but it was a far cry from his usual style. Made alongside tons of other sci-fi horror films in the 1990s, Mimic was a serviceable schlock-fest with some eerie atmosphere and gross special effects. It may have been a mere blip in del Toro’s filmography, but it was a good movie nevertheless.

The first sequel, Mimic 2, had all the hallmarks of an arbitrary follow-up, but Mimic 3: Sentinel tried something entirely different. The threequel leaned into suspense, blatantly ripping off Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window in the process. This change did nothing to help the franchise, and both Mimic sequels are terrible for wildly different reasons.

Pumpkinhead

With horror legend Lance Henriksen leading the cast, Pumpkinhead is a strange and startling examination of revenge and grief. Though the first film is certainly guilty of being a bit cheesy at times, it takes itself so seriously that the gravity of its story is imparted to the audience. Meanwhile, Pumpkinhead‘s three sequels fail to capture that same weight.

Even though it isn’t a good film, Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings deserves some credit for effort, but the next two sequels fall into the made-for-TV trap of low-budget obscurity. Overall, the Pumpkinhead franchise suffers from a lack of ambition, which is quite a shame considering the creative possibilities of the titular monster.

The Amityville Horror

The argument could be made that 1979’s The Amityville Horror isn’t all that great to begin with, but the “based-on-a-true-story” film is certainly a cornerstone of ’70s horror. It also kicked off one of the largest and most confusing franchises in horror history, with copious sequels, most of which aren’t part of the official Amityville canon.

Ignoring the non-canon films, the first movie received seven sequels, each drifting further from the initial concept. By Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes, the plot concerned a haunted lamp, and things only got worse. There’s only so much that can be done with a haunted house story, and The Amityville Horror was stretched thin after only one film.

The Strangers

2008’s The Strangers was a throwback to the gritty and senseless violence of 1970s horror, and it played on common fears of seemingly unmotivated crime. It took a decade for the first sequel to materialize, and the cracks immediately formed in the foundation of the franchise. Each additional sequel weakened that foundation even more.

The basic concept of The Strangers seems like the perfect platform for a long-running franchise, but overexposure diminishes the chills. With the release of The Strangers: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 (and the impending Chapter 3), all the mystique of the titular villains has been sapped out. Without that mystique, they fade into the background of uninspired modern slashers.

From Dusk Till Dawn

While From Dusk Till Dawn is one of the quintessential ’90s horror films, its sequels are all but forgotten except by the most devoted genre fans. Mixing action and horror, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino reimagined vampires as vicious monsters, and captured the angsty mood of the era. Two sequels were produced back-to-back before the end of the ’90s.

From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money is a logical continuation, but it’s low budget and lack of new ideas makes it forgettable. From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter is a prequel, but is mostly just a boring exercise in repetition. While not the worst franchise ever, From Dusk Till Dawn‘s sequels just weren’t as smart.

Jaws

Making a sequel to Jaws was not only an impossible task, but an ill-advised idea from the start. Steven Spielberg’s classic animal attack film revolutionized summer blockbusters and made generations of people afraid to go in the ocean, but Hollywood wasn’t content with its smashing success. The film eventually begat three sequels.

Though Jaws 2 isn’t anything to write home about, the inferior rehash at least tries to honor the first movie, while Jaws 3D and Jaws: The Revenge toss the film’s legacy out the window. Dropping any and all cinematic magic that the first film had, the sequels are blunt and straightforward shark movies, often with goofy results.

Cabin Fever

Eli Roth’s lean early Aughts horror flick, Cabin Fever, helped kick-start his career as a filmmaker, and it gleefully combined a ton of tropes in a novel mélange. Though it was a bombastic and sometimes silly experience, the first film was good for a few gory chills, especially a particular scene involving leg-shaving.

Its sequel potential wasn’t immediately apparent, but Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever did eventually materialize in 2009. With future horror hitmaker Ti West behind the wheel, the horror comedy tried (and failed) to do something clever, but Cabin Fever: Patient Zero hardly even tried. The series could have been even better, but fell victim to typical horror sequel laziness.

Poltergeist

Combining whimsy, magic, and lots of thrills, Poltergeist brought the supernatural horror genre into the slick and glossy 1980s. It traded spooky old houses for a modern home, which made the haunting all the more creepy for contemporary viewers. The Oscar nominee was a financial smash, so sequels naturally followed.

The supposedly cursed film spawned an equally troubled franchise, though Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Poltergeist III deserve some credit. The first sequel had too many concepts for its own good, while the threequel got lost in even more complicated lore. Essentially, the Poltergeist franchise could never figure out how to branch out from the haunted house formula.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Despite being ranked among the greatest slasher films of all time, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a horror franchise with nary a single good sequel. Tobe Hooper’s almost documentary-like exploration of the darkest corners of the American soul worked well the first time, but the trick could never be repeated.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 almost works as a spoof and horror comedy, but it was butchered in editing. Subsequent sequels grappled with how to make Leatherface a true slasher villain, and each Texas Chainsaw sequel failed in a unique way. Even as horror movie royalty, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the only good film in the series.