10 Recent Horror Movies That Should NEVER Get A Sequel
Hollywood needs to leave these horror movies alone.
There's no movie genre more inherently franchisable than horror, given the tendency for supernatural antagonists to rise from the dead and terrorise new groups of hapless meat sacks forever more.
While other genres routinely catch flak for "excessive" and "unnecessary" sequels, horror fans love a franchise they can sink their teeth into, even if not all installments will be created equal. And so, though it absolutely makes sense that sequels to the recent likes of Alien: Romulus and Smile 2 are already in the works, there are many successful horror movies from the past year-or-so that should really never get a sequel.
Perhaps they functioned as a perfectly successful one-off, brought their respective franchise to a fitting conclusion, or simply suggested no easy path forward for a new movie. Whatever the reason, these recent horror films should all stay where they are, freeing up the cast and crew to pursue other projects rather than plumbing the depths of a franchise with dubious ongoing appeal.
Again, much as horror fans are generally supportive of franchises, it needs to be the right project at the right time, and this lot just aren't it.
10. Heretic
With A24's recent horror film Heretic grossing over $50 million worldwide against a mere $10 million budget and garnering serious awards attention for Hugh Grant, would it surprise anyone if a sequel soon entered development? After all, A24 is said to be aggressively expanding its output into franchise fare, and shortly after Heretic's release, filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods talked up the prospect of making spiritual sequels to it.
As such, can Hollywood really resist the urge to make "Heretics"? Whether they dust off Hugh Grant for another go-around (somehow) or shift into anthology territory, the premise could clearly be milked for at least another movie. But at the same time, isn't it refreshing when truly original horror movies are just one-and-done affairs?
It's such a rarity for an acclaimed, commercially successful horror to stop at a single movie, and in the case of Heretic, that's precisely what should happen.