20 Sequels That Brilliantly Fixed Past Mistakes

2. The Devil's Rejects - Basically Everything

The first film by rockstar-turned-director Rob Zombie was House of 1000 Corpses and, to be blunt, it was absolutely ghastly. It was a chaotic, slapdash, incoherent mish-mash of ugly imagery devoid of scares, wit or any sort of plot. As such, it would've been easy to assume that the 2005 sequel, The Devil's Rejects, would be another turkey. Such assumptions turned out to be incorrect.  

The Devil's Rejects is actually pretty solid, and from the first half-hour alone, it immediately becomes clear that Zombie has come into his own as a filmmaker. This time around, he crafts a visually striking and refreshingly coherent movie with well-drawn villains and biting dark comedy. It's a horror picture with real personality, in other words, and it truly feels like the product of one man's creative vision, which is always refreshing. 

Said creative vision won't be for everyone. Character development is non-existent, and the movie can get a bit too cruel at times, but there is a lot to admire about it, and it has many cracking moments, including a hilarious dialogue scene about Marx Brothers movies of all things, as well as a smashing ending that features the best use of Lynyrd Skynyrd's music outside of Kingsman: The Secret Service. Not bad at all!