I didn’t like the first White Noise–I was really hoping it was going to be good, but I was bored. I was so bored that I can’t even remember what I didn’t like about it. Totally forgettable movie, in my opinion. Your description of the second one sounded interesting until you brought up the Satanic stuff, which I find tends to be pretty cheesy in film. I have to disagree with you on 28 Weeks Later. I absolutely LOVED the first one and the second one seemed to try to ride on the coattails of what made the original great, but slipped and fell flat on its face after the first ten minutes.
Thanks for your comments Jennifer! I’m a huge Robert Carlyle fan (Trainspotting, Ravenous, The Full Monty), which might be why I like 28 Weeks later so much. Also the film’s sense of justice, with Carlyle’s character getting what he deserves for acting so cowardly. All in all, I thought it was an excellent expansion of the original. Now give me 28 Months Later!
So many things I’d like to say here, but I’ll try to limit it for the moment. First off, you left off what I consider the absolute masterpiece among masterpieces of horror movie sequels, The Bride of Frankenstein. That is my go-to example for how effective sequels of any genre can be. 🙂 I can’t exactly back you up on Blair Witch 2, because I didn’t think it was a very good movie, but I would call it an interesting failure. The first movie was made by narrative fiction filmmakers, but presented as documentary, whereas the second was made by a documentary director, but presented as a fictional movie about people investigating the “true” story behind the in-universe fictional movie The Blair Witch Project! I mean, good movie or not, the approach is audacious enough to deserve some credit. While I understand the reputation of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, and certainly rank it among the best of the sequels, for me the real gem of that franchise is Friday the 13th part II. A lot of that is just down to the effectiveness of the camerawork, lighting, and cutting, but also the portrayal of Jason and the development of the counselor characters; I find it to be the most effectively suspenseful, scary, and involving of the franchise. Really (and I’m not going to go too in-depth on the following point, because it’s part of an article I have in mind to write down the line), I think parts 1 and 2 are an amazing complementary pair, stylistically opposite takes on the same basic structure that enhance one another. And then there’s Aliens. I mean, of course it was gonna be on here. It’s a damned good movie, and it deserves a place on just about any list of great sequels. But, to me, it’s not even in the same league as the original – though, to be fair, it’s also not playing the same sport. The original is a masterpiece of a naturalistic approach to a far-out concept and setting. The sequel… feels very movie-y. It shows its work a lot more than O’Bannon and Scott’s film (sorry, I insist on always crediting O’Bannon along with Scott – part of another article I intend to write at some point). Not to disparage Aliens – it’s by far the Cameron-bot’s best attempt ever at conveying those things hu-mons call ee-mo-shuns – but to my tastes, it’s too busy, too noisy, too cutty, and too… well, like I said, movie-y. It feels like a masterful technical exercise, where the original is so engrossing that it feels completely real.
I was still pretty young when I saw Aliens so, to me, I found it just as frightening as Alien. While Aliens has less suspense, the chest-buster scene scared the shit out of me (as it did in Alien). I found the tension of the final chase/escape-from-the-colony/Ripley & Mama Alien show-down to be just as intense as the original. I might not feel the same if I were to watch both movies again today. As for Ft13, I thought part IV had the most intricate plot and, again as I was pretty young, Tommy Jarvis as the hero was like imagining myself defeating Jason, which was an incredibly exhilarating and empowering idea. Also, I think Tommy’s mom and sister brought alot to the film, and it made it more real to me as a pre-pubescent who has never been to Summer Camp. As for Book of Shadows, I know I’m on the wrong side of history as far as that one is concerned, but when I compare the way I felt while watching each Blair Witch movie, I was definitely more engrossed and interested in the second–and came away feeling much more satisfied! Josh
With both Alien vs. Aliens and F13 II vs. IV, it’s largely a question of personal tastes, because in most respects the movies being compared are pretty much on par with one another, just wildly different in approach (with the F13 movies, far more different than most people give them credit for). I absolutely agree that F13 IV is the most intricately plotted in the series. But I also find it kind of cold and cruel.
I love to see some Book of Shadows love but I would replace The Devils Rejects with Halloween Resurrection.
[…] a counter to my recent list of the 12 Most Satisfying Horror Movie Sequels, I present to you this list of the 12 Worst Horror Movie Sequels. Most will agree that there are […]
