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

5. Halloween II

Halloween II Jamie Lee Curtis
Universal Pictures

Is Rick Rosenthal's Halloween II as good as John Carpenter's seminal Halloween? Not quite, but it's not a million miles off.

Rather than Halloween II not having the right to be as good as it is, it's more a case of this sequel not having the right to be of such a high quality that it's close to equalling the utter masterpiece that Carpenter carved up in 1978. In Halloween, we have a film that stands up - even now, 44 years after its release - as one of the greatest, most influential horror pictures in history.

Halloween's 1981 follow-up masterfully picks up the baton exactly where its predecessor left off, with Sam Loomis and the Haddonfield police on the hunt for Michael Myers as Laurie Strode is rushed to the hospital. Of course, it doesn't take long for Michael to make his way to Laurie's bedside, and Loomis isn't too far behind, either.

Rosenthal's movie is the perfect accompaniment to the '78 offering, with the 'same night' approach working wonders. The tension and terrors of Halloween II are brilliantly delivered, and there are some stunning kills - most notably Pamela Susan Shoop's Nurse Bailey - as this sequel powers through to its fiery finale.

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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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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.