10 Best Horror Movie Prequels
Because not all horror prequels suck. Just most of them.
No corner of cinema is as synonymous with sequels as the horror genre.
Given the relatively low budgets of most horror pictures, anything that hits hard at the box office is going to find itself having a sequel. And then another sequel. And another. And probably another. And... you get the point.
Just taking a look at some of the genre's heavy hitters, you have the Halloween franchise currently at 11 movies and a further two on the way; Friday the 13th has dished up eleven outings and a crossover; A Nightmare on Elm Street stands at eight pictures and that one and the same crossover; and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an eight-film mess that has another offering on the way later this year.
While many franchises forever look forward, though, some horror properties like to look back from time to time. By that, yes, that means prequels.
The mere notion of the prequel picture is something that makes many a horror hound shudder, for so often said prequels tend to give audiences information that quite frankly they didn't need or want. But still, not all prequels disappoint - and here are ten such examples of prequel movies that delivered the goods.
10. Ouija: Origin Of Evil
On paper, 2014's Ouija had plenty going for it; the promise of spooky Ouija board action, a screenplay from The Possession's Juliet Snowden and Stiles White, a headline role for the always-impressive Olivia Cooke of Bates Motel fame, and a pivotal part for major genre fave Lin Shaye.
Sadly, the film turned out to be a stinker.
Given the response to Ouija, demand for a follow-up was minimal. To the surprise of many, not only did we get a follow-up, but that follow-up was actually good. And of course, said follow-up was a prequel effort.
Hot off winning plaudits for Oculus and Hush, it was Mike Flanagan - who would later go on to impress with Gerald's Game, Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House, and The Haunting of Bly Manor - in the director's chair for 2016's Ouija: Origin of Evil.
Pulling clear inspiration from the likes of The Exorcist and The Changeling, Origin of Evil is a more nuanced, thoughtful picture than its predecessor. Exploring Shaye's Paulina as a 15-year-old girl in a 1960s setting, we see Lina, her sister Doris and their mother Alice embark on Ouija shenanigans that take over their house - leaving Doris and Alice dead, and Lina in the institutionalised state shown in the first movie.