10 Horror Sequels Scrapped For INSANE Reasons

The fickle nature of Hollywood means that movies are cancelled basically every day, most of which we likely never even hear about. 

And in the case of sequels, they're usually cancelled for one of a few predictable reasons - perhaps the previous film underwhelmed at the box office, or the actors involved just didn't want to be involved in a new movie.

Yet no genre loves sequels quite like horror. 

As the decades have proven, no genre is more fertile for or welcoming to the franchise treatment, because we as fans typically want to see more of the thing we previously enjoyed.

And so when a horror sequel of all things gets scrapped, it typically means that something's gone really wrong, and perhaps it's gone wrong in a really weird and unexpected way.

That's absolutely true of these 10 planned horror sequels, all of which certainly made sense when they were first announced, and yet for one reason or another were given the chop at some point in development - perhaps even after shooting had already started.

Of all the reasons that horror movies can get cancelled, these are the strangest and most unexpected...

Before 1988's Fright Night Part 2 was even released, irons were already in the fire for Part 3, with star Roddy McDowall enthusiastic to reprise the role of fictional vampire hunter Peter Vincent.

McDowall also sought out the first film's writer-director, Tom Holland, to helm Part 3, and a meeting was swiftly put on the books with Carolco Pictures chairman José Menendez.

However before the meeting could take place, Menendez and his wife were famously murdered by their sons, Lyle and Erik, in August 1989.

This caused immediate problems for Fright Night Part 2, which as a result received only a limited theatrical release in the U.S. before being quietly sent to home video.

Menendez's death also meant that there was no path forward for Part 3 to be produced, and so it was effectively scrapped, with McDowall passing away less than a decade later in 1998.

Following Part 2's release, the franchise laid dormant for more than 20 years, before being resurrected with a well-received 2011 remake, followed by a mostly-ignored direct-to-video sequel in 2013.