10 Best Movie Sequels (Not Directed By The Original Filmmaker)

6. Halloween II

The Color Of Money Tom Cruise
Universal Pictures

It was always going to be an impossible task to somehow match or even better what was delivered with John Carpenter's Halloween back in 1978. Along with Black Christmas, Halloween is viewed as the launching point for what would become the slasher subgenre - and similarly, Carpenter's Haddonfield-set picture is viewed as the apex of that section of the horror world.

Like so many other long-standing horror franchises, the Halloween series is one full of some major ups and downs. For every piece of genius such as Halloween, there's a slab of sh*t like Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers. And for every welcome return such as Halloween H20, there's a Halloween: Resurrection kung fu kick from Busta Rhymes.

Across this iconic franchise, though, one of the most impressive pictures is easily 1981's Halloween II. Picking things up directly after the events of its predecessor, this follow-up carries on through that exact same Halloween night, finding a distressed Laurie Strode rushed to hospital, with Michael Myers on her tail.

John Carpenter was against returning to direct Halloween II, though, and so the legendary Horror Master selected Rick Rosenthal as his replacement. Considering this was Rosenthal's directorial debut, his appointment was a truly inspired one from Carpenter.

Unfortunately, tainting his reputation amongst franchise fans a tad, it would be Rosenthal who was in the director's chair for the aforementioned Halloween: Resurrection 21 years later.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.