10 Ridiculously Awful Sequels To Classic Movies You Didn't Know Existed

Donnie Darko is a confusing film. It might also be a deep and profound film, but for many viewers, all that weightiness gets lost in a convoluted plot about time travel, the apocalypse, metaphysical realities, and imaginary rabbit monsters.

Still, there were enough people out there willing to get lost in Darko's tangled web to turn the film into perhaps the biggest cult classic of the new Millennium. First-time director Richard Kelly may have created a weird and bewildering world, but it was a world he seemed to understand quite well. And that was enough to make it worth re-watching again and again.

Not so with this direct-to-DVD follow-up, which was made without Kelly's involvement. In fact, the only one returning to the Darko Universe (a name the filmmakers most certainly bandied about with great joy during production) is little Samantha, played by Daveigh Chase.

Unfortunately, she's also the biggest problem in a movie overstuffed with them. Chase subscribes to the Kristen Stewart method of acting, which includes staring at things intently and never ever changing facial expressions. Casting her as the next Messiah was a bad call, but making another Donnie Darko movie without any of the charm or dark humor that made the first one so popular was a damn crime.

S. Darko is a dim, gloomy slog from start to finish.