Once again, I have many individual point to add/address. I’ll start with one horror sequel I’d have included on the list myself: A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987). As with most Larry Cohen movies, some interesting ideas are present, but he just piles in concept after concept without following through with anything, his storytelling is clunky, and he couldn’t get a decent performance out of an actor to save his life. Compared to Tobe Hooper’s confident, chilling original, the sequel is an unforgivable mess. Choosing a worst Halloween sequel is not an easy game. I think I’d have gone with the muddled, careless mess of part VI rather than the workmanlike stupidity of Resurrection, but it’s pretty much a coin toss. I’m definitely down with your Jason Takes Manhattan hate, and I’m with you on the general terribleness of Jason Goes to Hell, but I’d like to say a word in defense of Jason X. Yes, it undercuts the character with broad comedy, but at least a lot of that comedy is actually funny and well-delivered, and the story is pretty tightly structured (unlike its two predecessors). It’s not a masterpiece of the series, but it’s a decent afternoon’s entertainment. And I’m afraid I’m not entirely on-board with your condemnation of Alien: Resurrection. I mean, yeah, it’s easily the weakest of the original four films, but I don’t find its overall stylistic departure as jarring as you do – each of the previous movies was pretty radically different from its fellows, and this was just the most extreme example of the trend. And the science by which Ripley is brought back may be wonky, but it provides an interesting basis for a type of body horror, and a set of psychological concerns, that the series hadn’t addressed before. It’s not a very good movie, it tries to marry some elements that just don’t work together, but in a series that also includes the execrable AvP, I just don’t see Resurrection as THAT bad an offense.
Alien: Resurrection, like Jeepers Creepers 2, made the list for being terrible when compared to the original. In a vacuum, I’d probably be more lenient. To me, the first three Alien films were cohesive in creating a neo-gothic atmosphere based on dread and claustrophobia, whereas nothing about Resurrection felt even remotely tense to me. Good call on A Return to Salem’s Lot!
I certainly won’t argue about Alien: Resurrection lacking the tension of the first three movies. It’s another one I classify as an “interesting failure,” and those interesting things it was attempting – both in terms of story and style – partially redeem it.
