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

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.