10 Best Horror Movie Sequels That Never Happened
Reflecting on some of the great 'what ifs?' of the horror genre.
Few genres are quite as synonymous with sequels as the horror genre.
Regardless of which horror subgenre tickles your own particular pickle, sequels (and even prequels) are commonplace across the murky depths of horror. Whether it's slasher films, creature features, sci-fi offerings, torture porn, supernatural shenanigans, undead delicacies, or whatever, there's forever the urge in the horror realm to jump on the success of a movie and serve up sequel after sequel - often milking the proverbial cow until she's completely dried out.
While so many sequels have ran rampant throughout horror over the decades, there are still those follow-up offerings that came so close to happening but ultimately collapsed at the last minute. And it's these 'so close but so far' sequels that are being dived in on here.
If they did end up happening, some may have turned out to be utterly awful and some may have turned out to be truly inspired - but here are ten horror sequels that were at one point being planned for, yet ultimately, for various reasons, never were afforded the chance to see the light of day.
10. Peter Jackson's Dream Lover
Way before Peter Jackson thrust himself to true superstar status with his The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the New Zealand filmmaker cut his teeth with more horror-driven smaller pictures like Bad Taste, Braindead, and The Frighteners.
As the 1980s began to roll into the '90s, though, Jackson so very nearly ended up writing and directing an entry in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.
With New Line Cinema starting to feel that Freddy Krueger was now old hat after five outings, a decision was made to bring the Elm Street series to a close with a sixth entry that would serve as a memorable send-off for Freddy. And one such name in the frame to tackle this swan song was indeed Peter Jackson.
At this time, Jackson constructed a screenplay for a film tentatively titled A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Lover. Taking a meta approach to the picture, The Dream Lover found a Krueger who was now a figure of mockery amongst the children of Springwood. So much so, they would actively take sleeping pills to enter a dream world where they would get to embarrass and beat up on Freddy.
New Line would ultimately opt against Jackson's The Dream Lover - although a meta concept would later be incorporated into 1994's A New Nightmare - but the biggest takeaway here is that it got Jackson in the New Line door ahead of him later heading to Middle-Earth with the production company.