There are plenty of beloved horror film franchises out there. Friday the 13th, Saw, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween…they’ve all had lengthy lives. Sometimes though, with the benefit of hindsight, one has to wonder what potential franchises we’ve missed out on. Ones that got a start with a single film and either explicitly ended on an open-ended note or just clearly had directions it could go in the future. Those are the movies we’ll be discussing today, just as we did a while back. Movies that didn’t apply were ones that had any sort of follow-up, be it a theatrical release (even just one), a television series, or direct-to-video films.
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A lot of the time a movie doesn’t get a follow-up because it didn’t make a studio money. 99 times out of 100 that’s the reason. What we’re saying here is the narrative warranted a continuation, even if the finances did not.
1) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
The conclusion of the Chiodo Brothers’ cult classic, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, ups the stakes by introducing the leader of all the mischievous clown aliens: Jojo the Klownzilla. He nearly kills the film’s comedic Terenzi brothers but gets his nose shattered, seemingly defeating him for good. In the film’s final moments, the Klowns’ ship is destroyed and pies fall smack dab on the protagonists’ faces.
It’s the exact ending the film deserved. It’s goofy and fun, just like the rest of the movie. But who’s to say Jojo and the Klowns we meet are the only Klowns? What’s an alien invasion without a bunch of reserve forces learning from the failures of the first troops? There have been attempts at delivering a sequel, even a “requel” (a remake/sequel). It’s telling that the talks regarding this prospect really started around 2012, almost 25 years after the film’s release. There’s still an audience for a follow-up, and there was even a video game released just last year. The good news is, it seems like there is in fact a remake on the way, with none other than Ryan Gosling as producer. But, until said remake is released, Killer Klowns still counts as a one-off.
2) Nightbreed
Clive Barker’s smart, creepy, practical effects extravaganza Nightbreed has three endings, all of which lead to a sequel. In the theatrical cut (the weakest), the crazed, often-drunk Father Ashberry approaches the corpse of the film’s villain, serial killer Dr. Philip Decker (David Cronenberg). He presses the blood of the leader of the “monster” clan, Baphomet, into Decker’s fatal wound, which revives the not-so-good doctor, at which point they agree they want to exact vengeance on the Nightbreed.
This is also the scene that concludes The Cabal Cut, but as a post-credits scene. In the Director’s Cut, Dr. Decker’s resurrection is excised, but Father Ashberry is still vengeful. There’s also a scene of two members of the Nightbreed talking about how the protagonist, Boone, will return. In short, there was clearly meant to be more, but thanks to some poor marketing (and, admittedly, a lack of macro-scale appeal), there’s was never a chance of a sequel, even if it would have been great to see Barker make one.
Stream Nightbreed on Prime Video.
3) John Carpenter’s Vampires
John Carpenter has only helmed one sequel, and that would be Escape from L.A. That one didn’t work so well for him, so perhaps it makes sense he never pursued a sequel to Vampires, one of the better entries of his better latter-half filmography.
But there was definitely more that could have been done with the profession of vampire hunting. We only really get to see Jack Crow’s (James Woods) team in action for the first 20 minutes before they’re all slaughtered. But he could have built a new team for a sequel. Furthermore, the film ends with Crow giving his now-turned second-in-command, Tony Montoya (Daniel Baldwin), two days to evade him before he puts a stake through his heart. We have a general sense of where a Vampires 2 would have gone.
Stream Vampires on Netflix.
4) Dog Soldiers
Almost everyone in Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers dies. So, if we were to get a sequel to this intense early aughts horror masterpiece, we would have likely been following some new faces.
And there have been talks for a sequel to Dog Soldiers, too, dating all the way back to 2004 (two years after the release of Marshall’s film). They even had a budget and a perfect title (Dog Soldiers: Fresh Meat) set. For the next 10 years, there was slight, intermittent development on that project, but we never got it. In fact, Dog Soldiers was supposed to be the first chapter of a trilogy, but not even Marshall sees much potential for the other two chapters at this point, according to an audio commentary for the film. It’s unfortunate, but at least we have one of the best werewolf movies of the 2000s to continuously enjoy.
Stream Dog Soldiers on Prime Video.
5) Freddy vs. Jason
Yes, Freddy vs. Jason is a part of two overarching franchises: A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. And, yes, there have been entries in both franchises since the 2003 release of this film (one Platinum Dunes remake per IP). But on top of being a long-awaited fulfillment of a promise to fans, Freddy vs. Jason also served as both a reboot and, in terms of tone, an different entry compared to everything that came before. It doesn’t ever really feel directly connected to either franchise as much as it feels like a horror event popcorn movie.
It’s genuinely surprising we never got a sequel to Freddy vs. Jason as all the reasons to make it were there. The movie nearly quadrupled its $30 million budget and, for the most part, fans liked it. It wasn’t even particularly panned by critics, which was pretty par for the course at least when it came to Friday the 13th. It also ends with what amounts to a promise for more. We see Jason lumber out of Crystal Lake holding Freddy’s head, who proceeds to wink at the camera. There very easily could have been a rematch.
There was even supposed to be one incorporating Ash from the Evil Dead franchise (it wouldn’t have been the first time Evil Dead and Friday the 13th crossed over, as seen in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday). And while that did end up becoming a comic book series, Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash, we never got that version of a Freddy vs. Jason 2 nor any other. And, tough as it is to say, it seems the time has passed. There is no Freddy without Robert Englund, and the 78-year-old actor has stated that this film was his final big screen Freddy appearance.
6) Slither
James Gunn is a little busy right now, but there was certainly a time where he could have cranked out a sequel to Slither. Like many other films on this list, Slither is a cult classic, so it wouldn’t have been a sequel that came out shortly after the original, but it could have happened.
In fact, Slither ends with a tag scene that reveals where such a sequel could have gone. Specifically, a cat approaches the exploded corpse of Michael Rooker’s Grant Grant, at which point it was infected with what turned him into a big gooey monster. As long as Gunn was behind it, a sequel could have been terrific.
7) Trick ‘r Treat
Like Creepshow and Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat is a fantastic anthology horror film. Unlike Creepshow, however, it’s never received a sequel. At one point we got the terrifying little ghoul Sam in a Call of Duty game, though, so perhaps that’s something. The final story in Trick ‘r Treat is basically a cat and mouse game called “Sam,” with Sam being the cat and the cantankerous Mr. Kreeg (Brian Cox) being the mouse. The other stories involve werewolves, zombies, and a murderous school principal.
All of these stories tie into one another in one way or another, all over the course of one Halloween night. But Sam is the key to this being a franchise. His design is too fantastic not to incorporate in a sequel. And given how Trick ‘r Treat has a pretty devoted, ever-growing cult fanbase, it’s the exact type of movie that absolutely should get a sequel. One was even announced back in 2013, and even if it didn’t go anywhere then, director Dougherty revealed in 2022 that one was in active development. So, there is certainly interest both in the creative department and in the audience department here. It just needs to be the right script to get the ball rolling.
Rent Trick ‘r Treat on Amazon Video.
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