Happy Halloween! It’s that time of the year again. And once again, Haley and I are excited to present another 31-day horror marathon. Last year, we decided to stick to indie horror movies, and the support was incredible. So naturally, we had to bring it back again this year.
And what better theme to focus on for our second installment of this review series than second installments of our favorite horror movie franchises? Horror franchises are notorious for terrible seconds. Usually thought of as a quick (and usually easy) cash-grab, horror sequels are often redundant and rushed. So it’s no wonder they’re generally despised by film fans who aren’t horror fanatics.
We wanted to celebrate the horror franchises that earned their sequels– movies that respected the originals while moving the narrative forward in a positive direction. Movies like “Evil Dead II” that may follow the formula of the original, but also adds to the grotesque charm that made Sam Raimi such an adored director. Movies like “Aliens” that took the slasher genre into space and became one of the greatest movies of all time.
Last year, we developed a short list to clarify exactly what we meant when we used the word “indie.” Similarly, we wanted to make sure we explained the rules of this list and how we came to these 31 movies:
- Must be second in the series, but not necessarily sequentially. Most of these films take place after the original. Some take place before. And some movies like “Insidious 2” and “Paranormal Activity 2” take place before, during and after the original.
- Must be a horror movie. Of course, Haley and I have different tastes in movies like any two people. And most of our favorite horror movies tend to mash different genres together. She likes horror movies that deal with the occult, while I tend to like horror movies with sci-fi elements. But all of these movies we consider to be rooted in horror.
- Must be a worthy follow-up to the original, but not necessarily better than the original. Some of these films are better than the original, but many of them are not. That’s ok as long as it’s still a good movie with some fresh ideas.
- Must be considered part of the same cinematic canon. For example, “The Silence of the Lambs” takes place sequentially after the film “Manhunter.” Both are based on different books in the same series. However, they are made by different production companies with different actors and interpretations. Therefore, we consider “Hannibal” to be the true second in the series.
It may also be worth noting that we have watched all of the originals of these films. Although we will not be judging them by the merits of their previous or subsequent entries, we feel like it’s important to at least watch the first movie that the sequel follows.
Like last year, we will be inserting product marketing links at the end of every article. So if you purchase the movie through the link at Amazon (like I did for most of these movies), a portion of what you pay will come back to My Vinyl Muse. These little drip of funding and your readership helps keep this blog going. So if you’re interested in purchasing any of these movies, and I do recommend them all, please follow the link at the end of each article.
Also, please feel free to share these posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Imgur or whatever you kids are using these days. And be sure to join in the conversation in the comment section of each review. Let us know what you think there or somewhere else on the internet. And have a safe and happy Halloween!
