10 Horror Sequels That Are Actually Worth Watching
1. Aliens (1986)
James Cameron’s Aliens is widely considered the gold standard for horror sequels, and one that the franchise has never been able to beat again (although it came damned close with last year’s standalone instalment, Romulus, from perennial horror talent Fede Alvarez).
Aliens takes Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) several decades into the future and right back to where she started, when the nefarious Weyland-Yutani corporation sign her up for a new mission to explore a colony on the moon where she first encountered the xenomorph. With a unit of Colonial Marines on side, and a barrage of weaponry at her back, Ripley comes face to face with the alien threat once again, except this time there’s more of them - and they have a queen.
Cameron managed to replicate the terror of Ridley Scott’s original Alien and turn the action up to 11, giving the humans and creatures more space to play in and a bigger arsenal to draw from. What results is part action, part horror, all adrenaline, with every story beat designed to escalate the tension and throw the players towards an explosive conclusion that purports to rid us of the xenomorph once and for all…
As far as horror movie sequels go, this is not just worth watching, it’s the best there’s ever been.