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For all that the horror genre is filled with long-running series with recurring monsters and slashers and assorted ne’er-do-wells, there’s a secret truth at the heart of the genre: it’s actually tricky to do a successful sequel to a horror classic — one that doesn’t just repeat the formula (and the scares!) of earlier successes, but instead builds into something good in its own right. As Final Destination — a movie where the formula requires the deaths to be new and over the top each time — comes back to theaters, we’ve been thinking about great horror movie sequels a lot. And so, for your consideration, monster lovers: here are some of our favorites.

This is For Your Consideration, in which we try to come to terms with the inescapable fact that, honestly, there’s too much out there to have time to watch, read, or hear everything — by making some suggestions about things that you might have overlooked but would enjoy, anyway. Think of it as recommendations from a well-meaning friend.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 cuts through the mystique of the original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre and then some

What brought director Tobe Hooper back, 12 years after his original, iconic slasher flick for a sequel that’s a hard left turn away from the original? Apparently, dissatisfaction with how critics and audiences took to the first movie, which Hooper believed had a strain of dark comedy that was constantly overlooked. After a 1981 re-release of the original, he got to planning a follow-up that is a breathtakingly broad comedy, albeit one with a lot of bite and no shortage of gore, skewering the American dreams of the nuclear family and capitalistic excess with glee. It might be too different from the original in terms of tone to do much more than confuse and disappoint some fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but when all is said and done, 1986’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 might even be… better than the first?

Streaming on Tubi

Halloween III: Season of the Witch ditches everything that the rest of the series is based on, but may be the most Halloween movie of them all

After two outings for Michael Myers, producers John Carpenter and Debra Hill were feeling ambitious about the Halloween series, believing that it didn’t have to be the same old thing over and over again; instead, they reasoned (perfectly justifiably!) that it could be an anthology series of unconnected horror stories that all just happened to take place at least in part on Halloween. The first — and ultimately only, because this movie bombed at the box office, ending the plan almost immediately — attempt in this direction is 1982’s Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which goes all out on the Halloween-themed horror in a way that, honestly, only an early 1980s exploitation horror could manage. It’s over the top, it’s ridiculous, but speaking as someone who saw this movie far too young and hasn’t recovered decades later, let me tell you: it’s also pretty effective. Turns out, mass child sacrifice for supernatural purposes dressed up as a marketing opportunity is the kind of thing that really sticks with you if you’re the right age.

Streaming on Prime Video

Scream 2 brings all the thrills of the first movie, but with added jokes about sequels, and really, that’s all we wanted

I love the Scream series to a degree that it arguably doesn’t deserve (especially the third installment, which isn’t even particularly good), but I have to admit that the second movie is perhaps my favorite of all of them, because it’s the one that feels like the ultimate Scream movie: it’s still fresh enough that the tropes have some snap to them — and that it feels as if anyone really is still up for either murder or suspicion for being the murderer — while also bringing in all the jokes and meta-commentary about horror movie sequels and series for the first time. It feels like the most Scream of all the movies, even more so than the first, if that makes sense… and, as if that’s not enough, I’d argue that it even has the best opening scene of the entire series, as well.

Streaming on Max

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." We couldn't agree more, which is why we've cobbled together a couple pieces to send a chill up your spine. Join Popverse as we explore:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.