From Dawn of the Dead to Saw X, a horror movie’s sequel can be just as good as (or even better than) the original. However, not all horror movies that deserve a sequel have gotten one. Some have faced budget constraints or casting issues that made the next film a non-starter. In other cases, the interest simply wasn’t there, or writers couldn’t come up with an enticing way to continue their terrifying tale.

Over time, renewed interest and resources have led certain franchises to earn belated sequels. For instance, Doctor Sleep, which followed Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film The Shining, came out nearly 40 years later. Hopefully, this is a sign that other horror films will soon follow suit, because the ones on this list are more than ready to make their return from the grave.

  1. The Conference (2023)
  2. Psycho Goreman (2020)
  3. Cargo (2017)
  4. The Belko Experiment (2016)
  5. Circle (2015)
  6. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
  7. I Am Legend (2008)
  8. Audition (1999)
  9. The Thing (1982)
  10. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
      • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        28 minutes ago

        Shock Treatment.

        It’s not technically a sequel, but it’s Brad and Janet Majors. Richard O’Brien co-wrote it. Little Nell and Patricia Quinn are in it, as well as O’Brien.

        It’s set in Denton even.

        It doesn’t follow up on RHPS though. Not in any meaningful way.

        It’s also not on the same level quality wise. The songs are meh, and all the problems getting it made show. I’m not saying it’s not worth watching, it very much is. But you can’t go into it expecting something that matches Rocky Horror. It’s good in its own way, and if it had been made as its own movie, I think it would have been better.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPMEnglish
    5·
    13 hours ago

    Me reactions run from “oh Hell no!” (7-10), to “why bother?” (most of the list), to “it’s happening, probably” (7) to “why not?” (2). However, the one I often think about is Cabin in the Woods - a sequel would be pretty much impossible (and, even if you followed their idea you couldn’t capture the tone of the original) but I’d be up for a prequel about the organisation, collecting monsters, enacting the rituals, etc.

    • BougieBirdie@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      4·
      12 hours ago

      Y’know what’d be neat is an anthology for Cabin in the Woods that takes place in the international facilities.

      Like, the main plot is very American slasher movie, but we see that in the Japan office they have something very different going on. I’d like to see how they parody the tropes in another culture’s movies.

      • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPMEnglish
        3·
        11 hours ago

        Yeah, that’s what I’d like to see in a prequel - there’s the feel of a lot of breadth and depth to the background that could be mined.

        An anthology would be a great idea - invite filmmakers from different countries to riff off their particular themes (Ozploitation, China, Britain, etc - Hell Japan could have a whole anthology to itself).

  • fubarx@lemmy.ml
    2·
    12 hours ago

    If only they could introduce a cheap narrative gimmick like ‘multiverse,’ then all sequel plot problems could be solved with a …

    • BLAMM67@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      12 hours ago

      A friend ran a sequel to Cabin in the Woods as a Powered by the Apocalypse game. The premise being that the titan at the end of the movie was not the entity that needed to be appeased, but was just another of the monsters. The resulting cave in killed the Jester, thus fulfilling the sacrifice, but the Virgin was still alive. We played a mercenary team sent in to rescue the Virgin and pull her out, while dealing with all the other monsters that were still in the complex. Great game. Overall the mission was a success, but I was killed by Fornicus, Lord of Bondage and Pain.