10 Horror Movie Sequels That Had No Right To Be This Good

8. Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives

Final Destination 5
Paramount Pictures

To some, the Friday the 13th franchise should've come to an end after 1984's The Final Chapter. After all, that was the movie that actually did the unthinkable and killed off Jason Voorhees.

While the following year's A New Beginning would reveal a copycat killer at its core - that being miffed paramedic Roy Burns, of course - '86 went and brought Jason back into the fold. To do so, the now-adult Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews) heads to Voorhees' grave to check the brute is still dead. Clearly Tommy didn't take into account the terrible weather that would result in Jason being struck by lightning and reanimated...

Why did Part VI: Jason Lives have no right to be as decent as it is? Well, it basically took a giant dump on the previous two entries in the franchise, walking back the concept of the series' killer being dead, bringing him back in such a bonkers way, and served up a movie that rehashed the tired tropes - as in, Jason murdering generic pretty young things just, well, because - that had caused the franchise to become stale.

Still, thanks to Mathews' memorable turn as Tommy, a slew of brilliantly gory kills, and some great one liners, you have a film that's one of the very best - to some, the best - outing for this franchise in its 11-picture (plus one crossover) run, to date.

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.