Horror is likely one of the most profitable genres in cinema. New efforts come out yearly. For instance, the unexpectedly successful Longlegs retains making financial institution on the field workplace, whereas a number of upcoming releases like Alien: Romulus and Nosferatu are eagerly awaited by followers. On streaming, the best horror movies on Hulu, Netflix, Max, and just about each main service preserve cinephiles entertained all yr lengthy, offering a number of thrills from all method of scary motion pictures.
The aforementioned Alien: Romulus, a standalone sequel to Ridley Scott’s seminal 1979 sci-fi nightmare Alien, offers us the proper alternative to look again on the style and decide that are the all-time greatest horror sequels. From licensed classics of the style to newer additions which might be no much less worthy, these are the very best horror sequels that provide simply as many chills as their predecessors whereas increasing on their lore, characterizations, and themes.
10. It Chapter Two (2019)
It Chapter Two sees a now-adult losers membership returning to Derry 27 years after they final defeated Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård). Hell-bent on revenge, the entity as soon as once more preys on their fears whereas resuming his killings of a number of city youngsters, forcing the losers to face it as soon as extra.
Compared to its predecessor, It Chapter Two is definitely the weaker effort. However, that doesn’t imply it’s a nasty sequel, because it efficiently continues the unique’s important themes and permits a stellar ensemble to deliver them to life. Sure, it’s too lengthy, it rehashes a number of the similar points its predecessor already coated, and it depends too closely on CGI creations that finally come throughout as extra foolish than scary. However, the movie additionally rises on the energy of its eerie ambiance and proficient forged, leading to a superior horror sequel that has been judged far too harshly.
It Chapter Two is accessible to rent or purchase on Amazon and different digital distributors.
9. Halloween (2018)
The Halloween collection is the embodiment of cinematic chaos. The 1978 authentic is a timeless, groundbreaking entry within the horror style that was adopted by a parade of uneven sequels that vary from the really horrible to the mediocre to the not-so-bad. The 2018 movie Halloween, which acts as a direct sequel to the ’78 authentic and disregards each different film, together with 1981’s divisive Halloween II, is among the many collection’ greatest and most assured efforts.
Borderlands star Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the function that cemented her legacy as the final word scream queen, with the movie presenting a traumatized Laurie awaiting Michael Myers’ eventual return. The movie tries its hardest to inject some complexity into her story, exploring themes of generational trauma and PTSD. For essentially the most half, it succeeds, because of its overt respect for the fabric and Curtis’ robust main flip. This impressed new tackle the collection would spawn two sequels, the disappointing Halloween Kills and the controversial Halloween Ends, proving that, in the case of this franchise, much less is actually extra.
Halloween is accessible to rent or purchase on Amazon and different digital distributors.
8. Scream 2 (1997)
Coming after the game-changing str0ke of genius that was 1996’s Scream may have simply been a frightening activity. However, the late Wes Craven made it seem to be a stroll within the park with Scream 2, which got here out a yr after the unique and seamlessly continued its meta strategy with a narrative that didn’t precisely reinvent the method, however nonetheless delivered greater than sufficient chills, thrills, and laughs to thrive.
Scream 2 follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) in school as she and her associates change into targets of a brand new serial killer carrying the Ghostface masks. More self-aware than ever, Scream 2 acknowledges its sequel standing and makes use of it to supply sensible and well timed commentary concerning the nature of cinema and the sequel’s function within the leisure franchise. Scream 2 options some creative kills, together with the now-infamous and sometimes mocked opening sequence at the cinema, and one of many collection’ greatest killers in (spoiler alert!) Laurie Metcalf’s demented Debbie Salt/Mrs. Loomis.
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Scream 2 is accessible to stream on Max.
7. 28 Weeks Later
Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later is a pivotal entry in 2000s horror and includes a career-launching efficiency from Cillian Murphy. It’s such an important movie in shaping the zombie craze of the noughties that its sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was judged approach too harshly for the crime of not being 28 Days Later. The sequel stars Robert Carlyle as Don, a person whose actions encourage a sequence response that reintroduces the Rage Virus into London’s secure zone.
The sequel is extra targeted on spectacle than on the intimate and quiet strategy that made its predecessor such a singular, but efficient horror image. However, what it does provide is kind of entertaining and, above all, brutal. What it lacks in introspective humanism, it greater than makes up for in sheer, showstopping horror, making a sequel worthy of standing in addition to its groundbreaking predecessor.
28 Weeks Later is accessible to stream on Hulu.
6. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
Christopher Lee is an icon of the horror style largely because of his a number of appearances in Hammer Horror motion pictures from the late Fifties to the early ’70s. His best on-screen second at Hammer would possibly nicely be his efficiency as Count Dracula in 1966’s Dracula: Prince of Darkness, the third entry within the firm’s ongoing Dracula collection. It follows a gaggle of 4 vacationers who inadvertently journey to Dracula’s lair, the place the Count crops to make use of them as a way to rise from the grave once more.
Make no mistake: If there may be one purpose to observe this movie, it’s Christopher Lee. Few actors ever portrayed Count Dracula with as a lot chilly aptitude because the late thespian, who’s at his most eerily assured right here. Prince of Darkness is the definitive Hammer Horror film and Lee’s best hour within the function. It additionally pulls the spectacular feat of enhancing upon its predecessors in just about each doable approach with out essentially bringing something new to the desk.
Dracula: Prince of Darkness is accessible to buy on Amazon.
5. Doctor Sleep (2019)
The Shining is one of Stanley Kubrick’s best movies, so persevering with it as soon as appeared like a idiot’s errand. Enter trendy horror maestro Mike Flanagan, who introduced again the lore-heavy supernatural factor to Danny Torrance’s story along with his 2019 sequel, Doctor Sleep. The movie follows now-adult Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor), who’s coping with trauma and substance abuse stemming from his supernatural talents and experiences within the Overlook Hotel. Teaming up with a teenage woman named Abra (Kyliegh Curran), Danny takes on Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) and her cult, who feed on the shine of others to change into immortal.
Unlike its extra grounded predecessor, Doctor Sleep absolutely embraces the supernatural side of Stephen King’s novel, to commendable outcomes. McGregor is a succesful lead, however this movie belongs to Rebecca Ferguson because the demented Rose the Hat, probably the most depraved and hanging creations to return out of a King story, which is saying loads. A real trendy cult traditional with a status that can solely preserve enhancing, Doctor Sleep is a traditional instance of a sequel taking dangers and altering the method to ship outcomes which might be simply nearly as good as the unique.
Doctor Sleep is accessible to rent or purchase on Amazon and different digital distributors.
4. Evil Dead 2 (1987)
Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead marked a before-and-after level in impartial horror filmmaking. Made for a few bucks and a dream, the movie launched an surprising franchise and turned Raimi right into a sensation, serving to him craft lots of his now-beloved logos. The sequel, 1987’s Evil Dead 2, is arguably superior, with Bruce Campbell reprising his function as Ash Williams in a narrative that sees him and his girlfriend vacationing at a distant cabin the place they have to face a horde of demons after enjoying an audio tape of incantations.
Sillier, louder, campier, and simply as creative, Evil Dead 2 is the product of a singular artistic thoughts working at full throttle. Campbell offers arguably his greatest efficiency as Ash Williams, horror’s authentic ultimate boy, in a narrative that’s half remake and half reinvention. Evil Dead 2 is best, extra assured, and fewer afraid than its already daring predecessor. It finds the humor within the horror with out eradicating the shock and gore of all of it, producing an explosion of creativity and dread that continues to be as splendidly harrowing immediately because it was almost 30 years in the past.
Evil Dead 2 is accessible to stream on Plex.
3. Aliens (1986)
James Cameron took over directing duties from Ridley Scott for 1986’s Aliens, a sequel that took a distinct strategy to proceed the story of Ellen Ripley and her struggle towards the xenomorphs. Sigourney Weaver reprises her function as Ripley, who should return to the planet the place she and her crew first encountered the xenomorph after communications are misplaced with the human colony that’s been established there.
It’s not unfair to say Aliens is much less a horror film than it’s a sci-fi motion thriller. Indeed, Cameron removes almost all of the small-scale dread of Scott’s authentic in favor of a number of outstanding motion set items that enhance the stakes whereas sustaining the human side, largely because of Weaver’s Oscar-nominated efficiency.
However, what’s purported to terrify you works brilliantly, together with the more and more grotesque designs for the xenomorphs and their now-iconic queen. Some disregard Aliens as a horror movie, as an alternative selecting to explain it as pure motion, however the movie is a balancing act between the 2 genres that does a good quantity of justice to each.
Aliens is accessible to stream on Max.
2. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Few administrators have had such an impression on horror as George A. Romero, and his Dead collection stays his magnum opus. Of these motion pictures, maybe none is best than 1978’s Dawn of the Dead, a continuation of the story specified by 1968’s Night of the Living Dead. The plot revolves round a gaggle of survivors who barricade themselves in a mall to flee a horde of reanimated lifeless who prey on dwelling flesh.
Romero outlined most of the zombie style’s best-known conventions in Night of the Dead and perfected them in Dawn of the Dead. Like the very best horror motion pictures, Dawn of the Dead makes use of its plot and setting to talk on bigger societal points with out ever forgetting to ship an exhilarating and terrifying story.
Despite being almost 50 years outdated, Dawn of the Dead stays stunning, gory, and efficient, partially due to how a lot the trendy zombie style is indebted to it and partially due to how good Romero is at his job. This is a sequel that has not solely stood the take a look at of time, however one which has improved as a seminal and deeply influential masterpiece of horror.
Dawn of the Dead is accessible to rent or purchase on Amazon and different digital distributors.
1. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
If one had been to call one horror film that has had essentially the most affect within the style, James Whale’s 1931 traditional Frankenstein would shortly come to thoughts. Thus, it’s the best doable praise to Bride of Frankenstein to name it superior to the unique in just about each doable approach. Set instantly after the ending of its predecessor, the movie follows Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive), who’s compelled by his former mentor, Dr. Pretorious (Ernest Thesiger), to create a mate for his monster (Boris Karloff).
Bride of Frankenstein is nearly as good as horror cinema can get. Atmospheric, anxiety-inducing, unnerving, and clever, it expands and improves upon all the things the unique did, leading to a movie that’s daring, subversive, and mesmerizing. Bride of Frankenstein packs layers of thematic which means beneath its horror facade, providing a compelling story that’s as bittersweet and affecting as it’s sometimes stunning and hanging. Bride of Frankenstein is a triumph of horror and a timeless sequel.
Bride of Frankenstein is accessible to rent or purchase on Amazon and different digital distributors.