13 Frustratingly Underrated Horror Movie Sequels
7. Final Destination 3
Original Film:
Final Destination, the trashy but delightful teen horror flick which remains the first horror classic of the 21st century. A slightly weaker but still hugely fun sequel followed in 2003.
Plot:
After experiencing a premonition of a horrifying roller coaster accident, Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) saves some of her classmates but unfortunately death comes back to claim those who cheated it in a series of daft but ingenious death scenes.
The general narrative is that this is the second-worst installment of the franchise (with the fourth film in last place), when in fact this is a hugely fun horror sequel that's actually superior to the second film.
The death scenes are brilliant, it's genuinely suspenseful, the performances are solid and it's absolutely full of deliciously gory thrills. It's a silly and substance-free movie, but as a thriller, complete with a pleasingly light tone and likable characters, it's actually an enormously enjoyable movie.
It also has an excellent lead performance from Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who is unnecessarily good considering that she's just playing a lead slasher victim. This'll put you off tanning beds for life (and also, don't watch it before going to a theme park), but it's definitely worth a look for horror fans. You'll wince, smile and maybe even laugh hysterically from beginning to end.
FD3 was followed by a terrible 4th installment and a surprisingly strong 5th film that was actually the best-reviewed film of the franchise. No further FD films have appeared since.