10 Horror Movie Sequels That Took Risks... And Failed
3. Jason X
It's arguable that most of the Friday the 13th films are, for what they were, perfectly OK, and perhaps film critics have been a little too harsh on them over the years. Nevertheless, even the most ardent franchise devotee would probably have to concede that these movies are mostly just the same narrative remixed again and again. Some of the sequels throw in rogue elements, another went to Manhattan, but this is an undeniably samey franchise.
As such, it was the right call for 2002's tenth instalment to do something different... but not like this!
Taking Jason Vorhees into space and reinventing him as a cyborg sounds like the kind of thing someone would pitch as an April Fool's prank, and it's mystifying as to how anyone thought this was a good idea. This was jumping the shark and then some, and virtually everything about it is cringe-worthy to the point of exhaustion. This truly is one of the stupidest horror sequels there will ever be, and it's not even bad in a funny way, either. It's just painful.
As this and other infamous sequels, such as Moonraker, Leprechaun 4: In Space, and F9: The Fast Saga suggest, going into space is generally a bad idea. Any franchise that wants to hold onto any sort of credibility probably shouldn't do it.