30 Horror Films That Need Sequels
Comin' back for one last scare
Event Horizon (1997)
The Horror Movie: A deep salvage rescue crew head out after hearing the distress beacon from the Event Horizon , a ship that’s been missing for seven years and has now returned with something evil onboard.
Why It Needs A Sequel: The perfect blend of sci-fi, horror and twists, many since Event Horizon have attempted to conquer the same terrain ( Pandorum , Sunshine ) but none have succeeded.
The two survivors of the first film, are plagued by their experiences, and the knowledge that the Event Horizon could return leaves endless possibilities as to what could have happened to their captain.
Potential Plot: Finally returning to Earth and some semblance of normality, Starck and Cooper are called up after the Event Horizon ’s beacon has been heard once more. Heading up a new team, they venture back into the depths of space and come face to skinless face with Captain Miller.
And Weir. Who’s still soliloquising about not needing eyes.
Tucker And Dale Vs Evil (2010)
The Horror Movie: Kindhearted hillbillies Tucker and Dale are headed to renovate their new vacation home, only to find their property overrun by college kids with the desire to commit suicide in strange ways.
Why It Needs A Sequel: It’s a funny, fresh take on the backwoods slasher that provides the prerequisite horror deaths with humour and interesting twists on typical scenarios. Tucker and Dale survive the first flick, but who knows how long Dale’s romance with Allison will last before he’s back at the cabin with Tucker.
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Potential Plot: With Tucker fully recovered after his brush with the college kids, he and Dale return to renovating the cabin to find it’s become a place of pilgrimage for true crime nuts. The property overrun once more, this time the two film their experiences to ensure they’re not held accountable.
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
The Horror Movie: A year after his wife’s death, reporter John Klein begins to unravel a series of strange sightings relating to images drawn by his wife before she died.
Why It Needs A Sequel: A chilling tale that shocks without resorting to gore, Mothman also based upon real life events. The Mothman was sighted on several occasions, leaving plenty of scope for further investigation into the phenomenon.
Potential Plot: One year later, Klein is contacted by Officer Mills in Point Pleasant as further sightings of the Mothman have been reported, and the phone calls received by the townsfolk are from someone who claims to be Klein’s dead wife.
Christine (1983)
The Horror Movie: Teen geek Arnie Cunningham buys a decrepit Plymouth Fury from a cantankerous slob, and restores it to its former glory... which includes an appetite for vehicular homicide.
Why It Needs A Sequel: Christine ends up squished into a cube as Arnie’s two best friends walk away from the whole experience. What they don’t see is the tiny squeak of metal and the unmistakable '50s doo-wop emanating from Christine’s pulverised radio. That’s one angry mama itchin’ to get back on the road.
Potential Plot: With the remnants of Christine dumped at the wreckage yard, the legend of the murderous red car are put to rest. Until a teenager – whose parents happen to be Arnie’s best friend Dennis and ex-girlfriend Leigh – stumbles across it in a junkyard while being chased by bullies, triggering another vengeful cycle.
In The Mouth Of Madness (1994)
The Horror Movie: Insurance investigator John Trent is tasked with tracking down missing horror author Sutter Cane whose final novel is to be published if Trent can locate the manuscript. He journeys to the town of Hobb’s End, which is remarkably similar to the town in Cane’s novels.
Why It Needs A Sequel: With an ending as ambiguous as Trent sitting in a movie theatre watching himself playing out the events from earlier in the film... who’s to say he’s not still locked up at the psychiatric hospital? Or he’s in a dream before he even visits Hobb’s End?
Potential Plot: In a Mobius strip turn of events, Trent wakes up on a familiar country road with Cane’s manuscript in his hand. Heading back to New York, he arrives at the publisher’s only to be told that he is Cane and Trent is a character in his book and it’s all being directed by David Lynch.
Phantoms (1998)
The Horror Movie: Two sisters visiting the Snowfield ski resort arrive to find the village deserted. Together with three police officers they discover the mass evacuation is because of an evil called The Ancient Enemy, which wants to summon an author called Timothy Flyte.
Why It Needs A Sequel: Flying low on the radar, Phantoms packs in the eerie like it’s going out of style. With a resurgence of chilling horrors with foreboding atmospheres, a follow-up wouldn’t be out of place.
Its ending leaves it wide open for a revisit, with the Officer Wargle-Phantom firing up banter in a bar as if this whole thing is just getting started.
Potential Plot: After Timothy Flyte’s book turns to a bestseller, The Ancient Enemy realises the enormity of power available... at the same time another small town suffers a similar fate to Snowfield, which could be The Ancient Enemy or something much, much older.
Drag Me To Hell (2009)
The Horror Movie: Bank loan officer Christine, desperate to impress her boss with a new tough love attitude, refuses an old lady a mortgage extension which the old goat takes too far by cursing her to hell. In three days’ time. Unless she can give someone a cursed button as a gift. Tricky.
Why It Needs A Sequel: The closing shot of Christine being pulled into the fiery bowels of hell is one of director Raimi’s most harrowing images, which also sets things up nicely for a return visit to Christine’s newly-hellish lifestyle.
Potential Plot: Picking up where the first film left off, Christine’s boyfriend Clay is left holding her button as she is dragged to hell. Determined to save her from her fate, he contacts psychic Rham Jas to this time help him summon a demon to get him into hell to retrieve Christine.
Society (1989)
The Horror Movie: Popular richkid Bill Whitney is different to the rest of his upper crust family. When his sister’s boyfriend shows him a tape of his family engaged in a surreal incestuous, murderous orgy, Bill investigates and finds a horror far worse than being a snooty capitalist.
Why It Needs A Sequel: Brian Yuzna’s 80s horror cult favourite made the rich/poor divide something to truly fear, with a repugnant shape-shifting body-melding species intent on devouring the lower class. Not massively subtle, we’ll admit, but high on the upchuck factor.
As the ending sees Bill and baddie-turned-goodie Clarissa escaping the clan... there’s plenty more towns that’ll no doubt be overrun.
Potential Plot: Free from the trappings of the terrifying clan, Bill and Clarissa fall in love despite their inter-species differences and eventually have a son. When their sweet offspring comes of age, the changes he undergoes are more than just the usual hormonal desires.
Braindead (1992)
The Horror Movie: An innocent visit to the zoo turns rabid for Lionel and his mother Vera once she is bitten by a Sumatran Rat-Monkey from Skull Island. Her transformation into a zombie with a thirst for the local townspeople, means Lionel must keep up appearances. Even though his Ma is losing it. Literally.
Why It Needs A Sequel: Peter Jackson may now be sailing in mainstream waters, but it’s never too late for him to revisit his '80s zombie splatter caper. In particular Lionel and his girlfriend, Paquita.
With the Oscar-winning director packing more clout nowadays, there’s the opportunity for a wealth of Sumatran Rat-Monkey back story shenanigans.
Potential Plot: Lionel and Paquita have put the past behind them and are moving on with their lives. That is, until a similar incident is reported off the coast of New Zealand which the two feel obligated to investigate. This time, the
plagued rats have mated with another inhabitant of Skull Island... a dinosaur.
The Crazies (2010)
The Horror Movie: Residents of Iowan town, Ogden Marsh, become infected by a contagious toxin, causing them to engage in unusual acts of violence and murder. When the Sheriff discovers it’s a biological weapon which accidentally crash landed, it’s a race against the clock to escape before the military blow everything to hell.
Why It Needs A Sequel: The final moments during a news broadcast in neighbouring city Cedar Rapids, someone infected with the toxin is spotted in front of the camera before it cuts to black. Twinned with the military’s “initiate containment protocol” put into effect... there’s more to this story.
Potential Plot: Fleeing the remains of Ogden Marsh, Sheriff David and his wife Judy try to blend in amidst the chaos at Cedar Rapids, until a military surveillance nerd spots them and has them quarantined....with a bunch of people who’re actually infected.
Gem Seddon is 12DOVE's west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.