Horror Sequels You Shouldn't Skip
The theaters are about to be filled with new installments of horror franchises. Here's a few of our favorites in the genre.
Well, hello! You may have noticed we took some time off from our weekly newsletter. Between vacation, work, and our new podcast (subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!), our Friday recommendations fell by the wayside. But we’re back this week recommending horror sequels! You’re going to see a lot of horror franchises returning in September and October – The Nun II, Saw X, and The Exorcist: Believer are the big ones – so we wrote about two of our personal favorite horror sequels. It’s a bit early for spooky season, but put these on your watchlist for when you’re ready.
If you missed the last couple podcast episodes, make sure you’re subscribed on your podcast platform! Last week we previewed the fall movie slate, and this week we handed out some Denzel Washington Awards. Alright, now to the recommendations.
Billy recommends…
The Conjuring 2
The original The Conjuring was a revelation when the first trailer came out. A family being terrorized by a demon is always a go-to recipe for a horror movie. This genre is constantly being reinvented as a result. Updated scares that aren’t just a possessed body contorting itself into unnatural positions. In the original trailer for The Conjuring we see the mother, played by Lily Taylor, playing hide and seek with her kids. Periodic claps help her get closer and closer to where they are hidden. The claps lead her to their new scary, dark basement. She turns around with the dark behind her and two hands that aren’t her daughters clap loudly close to her head… and the trailer goes black and audiences were established.
To our surprise the hype set up from a brilliant trailer was lived up to for most people that saw the movie. It made a ton of money and was critically acclaimed. A sequel was obvious and in the horror genre it can derail the momentum of a series quickly. The Conjuring 2 is a little less scary than the first one, but director James Wan smartly focused even more on the strongest aspect of this franchise. The performances from Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren.
It sets up the same as the first. A family is in mortal danger from a spirit that is terrorizing them. Particular the way it is interacting with one of the little girls. Ed and Lorraine show up to help and quickly realize that the spirit is mainly using this family to get to them. The decision to focus the anger/terror of this spirit on the Lorraine family allows James Wan to create more weight to the scares.
Quality directors like James Wan have the correct instinct on what to focus on when making a movie. A wrong direction focusing on the wrong aspect can derail a lot of cool things surrounding it. The Conjuring was inventive in updating the paranormal horror subgenre with inventive scares and The Conjuring 2 realized its actual strength and knew what was needed when creating a franchise. Focus it around your strongest characters, put them in danger, and the scares will become more natural.
Available to rent on digital platforms
Drew recommends…
A Quiet Place Part II
After the sizable success of the original, A Quiet Place Part II had the random misfortune of a March 2020 release date. The John Krasinski-directed sequel premiered the weekend before COVID shut the world down and was ultimately delayed until May 2021, making it one of the first major movies to get an exclusive theatrical release in the COVID era. Like many moviegoers, Part II was one of the first times I returned to the theaters since March 2020. And I’m glad they decided to delay it as opposed to dumping it on a streamer, because both of the A Quiet Place movies are such terrific in-theater experiences. The near-silent nature of the world-building and the tense, gripping suspense make for rewarding horror-thrillers.
Part II doesn’t quite surpass the original, but the action and story is expertly staged by Krasinski, who has to be one of the most unlikely good horror filmmakers in history. In a tight 90ish minutes, we get a swift plot that doesn’t stand still for too long and a significant emotional throughline. Emily Blunt takes center stage in Part II as a mother determined to protect her children from a violent post-apocalyptic world. As her deaf daughter Regan, the actress Millicent Simmonds also comes to the forefront even more in the sequel. They encounter characters played by Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou along the way as the A Quiet Place universe gradually expands in Part II.
These aren’t the scariest horror movies you’ll ever see, but the craft and performances are so top-notch that I left the theater satisfied and hoping for more installments in this franchise. Fortunately, a spinoff called A Quiet Place: Day One is coming next year from the director of Pig, starring Alex Wolff, Lupita Nyong’o, and Hounsou. Not every horror sequel is worthwhile, but I’ll happily visit A Quiet Place once again.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+
Links
If you didn’t get enough Wes Anderson from the excellent Asteroid City this summer, you’re in luck! Four Roald Dahl stories adapted by Anderson into short films will start to release on Netflix on September 27.
In a bit of very lightly positive news, apparently the studios and writers are “negotiating about when they’ll negotiate again” to end the Writers Guild strike.
Definitely agree on Quiet Place. Never sipped a toe into Conjuring 2 but you’ve just reminded me how much I love Vera Farmiga.