7 Horror Movie Sequels That Took Over 10 Years To Happen & Were Worth the Wait

The longer the gap between installments in a franchise the more pressure there is on the follow-up. And, given how most franchise peak the first time out, it’s safe to say most sequels don’t quite live up to their predecessor. However, even when they’re not fully on par with the entry that kicked off the whole enterprise, they can still sometimes be worth the wait. Those are the types of sequels that follow. Note that we aren’t quite focusing on continuity here. So, while Ghostbusters: Afterlife was worth the wait and didn’t release until 32 years after Ghostbusters II, it didn’t count because it was only five years after Paul Feig’s 2016 reboot. The audience had to have not seen a film from the franchise in 10 or more years, be it part of the mainline continuity or not.

Just missing the cut were Halloween (2018), which was only nine years after Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, Freddy vs. Jason, which was nine years after Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, Curse of Chucky, which was nine years after Seed of Chucky, and Alien: Romulus, which was seven years after Alien: Covenant. Furthermore, remakes didn’t count, so no House of Wax here.

7) Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep came out in 2019, the same year as It Chapter Two and Pet Sematary. And while it’s the best of those three, it performed the worst by a fairly substantial margin. That’s somewhat surprising, considering it’s a follow-up to what may very well be the most respected horror film of all time: The Shining.

Doctor Sleep is a Stephen King adaptation that very well may have never happened. This is due in part to the book seeing so expansive, and quite often not easily adaptable. And, as a film, it had massive shoes to fill in continuing the narrative seen in Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece. Of course, Doctor Sleep is no The Shining, but neither is King’s book. What both it and the film adaptation are, however, are follow-ups that are quite different (especially when it comes to the True Knot cultists) and effective because of that. Very rarely do either the book or the film feel as though they’re trying to safely replicate the story beats that worked the first time. And yet they incorporate the “shine” enough to feel like there’s connective tissue between both stories. As far as the film goes, it incorporates all of the book’s strongest elements while eliminating anything that would have made it feel overlong. Furthermore, the performances by Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, and Cliff Curtis are as assured as Mike Flanagan’s direction.

6) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

The Cannon Group did not make many good movies. In fact, they were known for making low-budget schlock such as Missing in Action and American Ninja. But every now and then the company released something that was actually quite important, e.g. Street Smart, which featured Morgan Freeman’s star-making turn. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 falls very comfortably between those two categories.

No one really expected Tobe Hooper to return to the world of Leatherface after 12 years, but that’s exactly what he did, and he did so in a way that was even less expected than his return at all. What he followed one of the scariest, most atmospheric movies ever made up with was a…comedy. That’s right, a comedy about a family of sadistic cannibals with a reference to The Breakfast Club on its poster. And, while it does work quite well as a black comedy (thanks to Dennis Hopper’s performance), it also nails its horror beats as well. The opening scene where Leatherface drives by two teens on the phone with a radio station and slaughters them is as tense as anything in the original film, as is the subsequent scene where Leatherface and “Chop Top” go to that radio station to visit “Stretch” and get the tape of that blood-curdling conversation into their possession. Speaking of “Stretch” and “Chop Top,” both Caroline Williams and Bill Moseley are absolutely phenomenal in the film, and it rightly made horror genre stars of them both.

Stream The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 on Prime Video.

5) Candyman (2021)

Before she went on to helm the underrated MCU movie The Marvels, Nia DaCosta continued a different franchise with Candyman. This is a movie that seemed to get some respect when first release, but that admiration quickly dissipated. It’s a bit of a mystery as to why considering it is without a doubt the best installment of the franchise save for the original.

Whatever people were hoping this film would deliver, it did. It’s thoughtful, thought-provoking, well-acted, and expands the lore in ways that don’t feel like big leaps. It feels both in line with the tone of the original film and fresh in its own right. It also helped show the range of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris, which is considerable on both fronts. There’s even a cameo by the late Tony Todd, making it the final time he’ll ever be seen as the best character of his fantastic career.

Stream Candyman (2021) on Peacock.

4) The Exorcist III

Following up on the best horror film of the ’70s was no easy task, and Exorcist II: The Heretic dropped the ball so hard it fell through the floorboards and shook the foundation of the house. It is truly one of the worst, most convoluted, boring, unscary horror movies of all time.

Then, 17 years after The Exorcist and 13 years after The Heretic, the author of the original novel, William Peter Blatty, stepped in to adapt his sequel novel, Legion. If anything, Legion was the more difficult novel to adapt, and there was no one better to knock it out of the part than Blatty himself, and that is precisely what he did. He wasn’t alone in that, though, as George C. Scott (taking over the part of Lt. William F. Kinderman from Lee J. Cobb) and Brad Dourif are aces in their roles. Of note is the fact that this is a film with two quite different versions, with the theatrical cut ending on an unnecessary exorcism sequence, but both are very much worth watching. It also has a scene which has a claim to the title of scariest jump scare ever shot.

Stream The Exorcist III on Prime Video.

3) Psycho II

For over 20 years, absolutely no one was wondering when a sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho was going to hit theaters. So maybe it’s not right to say this one was worth the wait. But, if there was anyone out there who saw the final frame of that film, where Norman Bates looks right into the camera and wondered when he would come back, Psycho II was worth their wait.

The original Psycho is a complete narrative, it didn’t really need any continuation, which is what makes Psycho II‘s quality such a surprise. It’s every bit the character study as the original film was. Had it gone for more kills, more blood, more everything, it would have been disrespectful to the memory of Hitchcock’s film. Instead it’s the Anthony Perkins show all the way through, and once more he makes us feel for Bates, and at some points even fear for him. It’s the story of a man whose actions have resulted in his lengthy incarceration only to then be released into a world that is justifiably skeptical of him. Toss in an excellent supporting performance by Meg Tilly and a solid third-act twist and Psycho II is a solid display of how some horror sequels are less cash grab and more genuine attempt to expand a story in a satisfying way.

Stream Psycho II on IndieFlix.

2) Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

With 36 years between installments, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice seemed more like a pipe dream than a project that would ever actually come to fruition. Helping cement that notion was the fact that Tim Burton had only directed one sequel throughout his career, and that was Batman Returns back in 1992, which at the time was deemed so dark it essentially got him booted from the franchise.

But then we entered a time in film history when legacy sequels showed they could be both profitable and, every now and then, quite good. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is without a doubt one of those legacy sequels that sticks the landing, and it does so by having Burton, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara return. It feels as though they’ve missed a beat. The movie is also wise to keep the title character to the sidelines (he has essentially the same amount of screentime in the sequel as he does in the original) throughout much of the runtime. But its true ace in the hole is the addition of Jenna Ortega, who was born to star in Burton properties.

Stream Beetlejuice Beetlejuice on Netflix.

1) Scream (2022)

Scream 2 only took a year to hit the big screen after the success of the original film, and it turned out great. Then Scream 3 took three times that long and disappointed everyone. Scream 4 took 11 years and, after its failure, it sure seemed like the franchise was done for.

Then, after another 11 years, new life was injected into it courtesy of the aforementioned directing duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. While Scream 4 is an underrated slasher it doesn’t have anything on Radio Silence’s 2022 reboot. Scream was the reboot-quel the IP deserved, and the one that was worth the long wait.

Stream Scream (2022) on Hulu.

Want to stay up to date on the biggest geek entertainment news? Add us as a preferred source in Google – HERE. 

10 Best Horror Movies Of The 1980s