10 Horror Movie Sequels That Started In Surprising Ways

7. The Devil's Rejects

The Grudge 2 Karen Davis Kyako Sarah Michelle Gellar
Lionsgate

What was surprising about the start of Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, is how it immediately put the Firefly clan on the back foot.

In 2003's House of 1000 Corpses, the Fireflies were introduced as a family who operated under their own grizzly, grimey rules of murder and mayhem, and who were always one step ahead of the law. That motus operandi was perfectly showcased in how Mother Firefly, Otis, Baby, Captain Spaulding and Co. duped and brutally slaughtered a group of police officers who visited their abode as part of a missing persons' hunt.

Surprisingly, the opening sequence of The Devil's Rejects turns the tables on the Fireflies.

For this 2005 sequel, it opens with a hefty, armed bunch of state troopers ambushing the Firefly household while the family sleeps. Said ambush results in the death of Rufus Firefly, the incarceration of Mother Firefly, and puts Otis, Baby and Spaulding 'on the run' as they look to evade the law and plot the rescue of Leslie Easterbrook's Mother; a rescue that doesn't happen, with Easterbrook's character murdered by the vengeance-seeking Sheriff Wydell.

Of course, 3 from Hell - the third entry in this series - likewise opened in surprising fashion, killing off Sid Haig's Spaulding. Unfortunately, that was a decision made by Zombie after it became apparent that Haig's poor health would restrict his involvement - with the actor sadly passing away in September 2019 just days after 3 from Hell premiered.

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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 dayjob, 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.