12 Awful Movie Sequels That Franchises Completely Ignored

11. Psycho II & III

Wiped Out By: Psycho IV: The Beginning

There was really no need to make a sequel to Alfred Hithcock's classic chiller - it was a beautiful, self-contained product with smart storytelling and a satisfying conclusion. Adding too much to that mythology would surely just dilute the original's successes?

That might be why it took 22 years for the first sequel to actually appear, with Anthony Perkins back in the lead (as a supposedly cured Norman Bates) for a twisty thriller that led directly to its follow-up, which Perkins directed. Badly.

That sequel should have killed the franchise, but Universal had the inspired idea to simply retcon both with the fourth movie in the sequel that ignored all of the convoluted nonsense, and brought Perkins back again. It was presented as the first sequel to Psycho - despite the numerical quirk in the title, obviously.