Riding high off the buzz from the success of "The Conjuring" this summer, James Wan is releasing his second horror film of 2013, "Insidious: Chapter 2", a sequel to his 2010 hit starring Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. The original "Insidious" is considered one of Wan's best films, although audiences generally agreed it was slightly hampered by a final act that verged on camp. While it seems unlikely that "Chapter 2" will match the runaway success of "The Conjuring", it definitely has the potential to equal, or maybe even surpass, the quality of its predecessor.
It's a general fact of Hollywood that as a franchise goes on, sequels become worse and worse. No genre is more guilty of that than horror, which tends to churn out endless streams of subpar entries until every last drop of money has been wrung from the brand (think "Saw" or "Paranormal Activity"). That being said, there are a few exceptions to this rule -- instances where the sequel in fact improved upon the original. So here is a short list of the Five Best Horror Sequels, to get you in the mood for "Insidious: Chapter 2" (in theaters Friday).
The "Friday The 13th" genre is synonymous with hockey-masked villain Jason Voorhees. It's easy to forget, then, that the killer in the first film wasn't actually Jason, but his mother, Pamela Voorhees. After she was offed at the end of the first flick by "final girl" Alice, viewers were given one last scare as Jason's decaying, reanimated corpse leaped out of the lake where he supposedly drowned and grabbed Alice. While the original remains a cult classic in the teen slasher genre, "Part 2" is responsible for officially introducing Jason as the Big Bad of the franchise, where he became the hulking, indestructible menace we all know and love today. The first "Friday" film came out two years after "Halloween" scared audiences with its tale of boogeyman Michael Myers, and it was a barely disguised attempt to cash-in on the popularity of that superior film. "Part 2" improves upon the original in almost every way: better actors, better direction, more scares, and a more famous villain -- and it doesn't skimp in the kills department, either.
While not as iconic a franchise as its contemporaries ("Friday The 13th", "Halloween", "A Nightmare On Elm Street"), "Hellraiser" and its eight sequels have long terrorized audiences with their sadistic Cenobites. Led by Pinhead, the Cenobites are pain-loving demons from hell who harvest human souls with the help of a mysterious "puzzle box." While the original film took place entirely on Earth, the sequel goes bigger, actually traveling to the hellish realm of its villains, which turns out to be an Escher-like labyrinth of terror. The effects are better, the kills are gorier, and the scares more plentiful -- though what makes this sequel especially good (and a rarity in horror sequels) is the return of most of the main cast members from the original film. This really feels like a continuation of one story instead of merely a rehash populated by new fresh-faced teens to be offed.
Director George A. Romero practically invented the zombie genre with his now-classic black-and-white horror film "Night Of The Living Dead", but he one-upped himself in every way ten years later with the release of "Dawn Of The Dead". The second film in his "Living Dead" series feels vaster in scope -- not only is it now in color, but it moves the action from rural Pennsylvania to an urban shopping mall. There are more zombies, a larger cast of characters and bigger action. What makes "Dawn" beloved to this day, though, is its whip-smart social commentary. There's more going on here than just the undead munching on brains -- the mall setting provides a surprisingly sly allegory for our society's obsession with stuff, as the characters who are initially just passing through the mall to pick up supplies become seduced by its material comforts...leading, obviously, to their eventual demise.
The original "Evil Dead" was director Sam Raimi's genuine attempt to craft a terrifying film about unsuspecting teenagers in a cabin summoning demons from a Book Of The Dead. But, due to a shoestring budget and an inexperienced cast and crew, the film comes off as unintentionally funny -- and not necessarily in a bad way. The film's low-budget charm is what made "The Evil Dead" a lasting cult classic. With its sequel, Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell embraced the accidental camp of the first film and delved full-on into horror-comedy. "Evil Dead II" is self-aware and campy: in the film's most iconic moment, the "groovy" hero Ash attaches a chainsaw to the stump where his hand used to be. It's an occasionally scary but mostly ridiculous good time. The self-assured tone established by a now-confident director is what places "Evil Dead II" ahead of its predecessor.
The first "Alien", while definitely falling under the umbrella of "science-fiction", really plays out like a haunted house movie in space. The claustrophobic setting, the terrifying villain, and the cast of characters being picked off one-by-one are all trademarks of the horror genre. While Ridley Scott's original is undeniably a classic, James Cameron amped up everything to the max for the sequel. While the first film introduced newcomer Sigourney Weaver as a sexy and capable "final girl," "Aliens" firmly established her as a badass action heroine. And fortunately, just because James Cameron introduced more action to the franchise doesn't mean he let up at all on the tension. "Aliens" remains firmly a horror movie, with its merciless monsters, gruesome deaths, and terrifying sequences: Newt in the sewers; the cocooned Marines; Ripley in the egg chamber. This is a rare example of a film where bigger actually was better...and still scary as hell.
