20 Greatest Direct Sequels Ever Made

20. Dawn Of The Dead

George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead reinvented the horror genre back in 1968, creating the definitive screen version of zombies that still permeate pop culture to this day, and went on to influence filmmakers from Wes Craven and John Carpenter all the way to the Blumhouse productions that dominate big-screen horror today.

As well as being a classic of the genre, Night would go on to spawn a loosely-connected franchise that would continue for over forty years. The first sequel, 1978's Dawn of the Dead, became just as influential as its predecessor and is arguably a better movie to boot.

Horror movies weren't exactly known for their subtext at the time, but Dawn's commentary on materialism and 1970s society as a whole added unexpected thematic depth to a movie that quickly became regarded as one of the greatest entries in the history of the genre.