10 Horror Movie Sequels That DITCHED The Horror
8. The Chronicles of Riddick
Pitch Black is a terrific sci-fi horror film and, honestly, one of Vin Diesel's better movies - a tight, modestly budgeted romp in which a spaceship containing a motley crew of characters crash-lands on a desert planet populated by monstrous creatures.
Despite the film performing modestly at the box office, Universal was keen to build a franchise out of Pitch Black with Diesel at the helm, envisioning it as a blockbuster IP.
But of course, the horror genre and "blockbuster IP" typically don't mix, and so sequel The Chronicles of Riddick saw the series detour into sci-fi action territory with a splash of fantasy.
The $120 million production - rocking a price tag more than five-times that of Pitch Black - couldn't have strayed much further from its predecessor's self-contained, low-budget style, with its grandiose spectacle and high-level world-building, where Riddick takes on an empire of intergalactic religious fanatics.
Though ambitious and somewhat defended by franchise fans these days, The Chronicles of Riddick was a critical and commercial flop upon release, ensuring that the third film, simply titled Riddick, hewed far closer to the style and tone of Pitch Black.
A fourth film, Riddick: Furya, is currently in post-production and also expected to veer away from the decadent sci-fi vibe of the second movie.