10 Horror Sequels That Totally Ruined The Previous Movie's Ending

9. A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

Paranormal Activity 4
New Line Cinema

Although none of the A Nightmare on Elm Street sequels match the original, Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors came close since it had a creative premise, amazing deaths, and killer lines - especially the iconic "Welcome to prime time, bitch!"

Most importantly, the threequel had a meaningful ending, since the original Final Girl, Nancy Thompson, gave up her life so that fellow heroes Kristen, Kincaid, and Joey could defeat Freddy Krueger once and for all. Looking back, this would've been the perfect place to end the franchise, considering how badly the follow-ups turned out.

Instead, Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was rolled out the following year. 

So, how did the very dead Freddy come back to life? Well, a dog urinated on his grave. Seriously.

Just to add salt to the wounds, The Dream Master opens with the dream demon slaughtering the three heroes from the previous film, making Nancy's sacrifice meaningless.

The new protagonist, Alice, is a decent heroine, but she's not compelling enough to justify continuing the dwindling IP, and even though Elm Street 4 was successful, it's directly responsible for cheapening the franchise's legacy.

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows