10 Totally Weird Horror Movie Sequels That Feel Like They're From A Different Franchise

Even the best horror movie franchises have a film that defies the conventions of the series and stands out from the pack, for better and for worse. Some of these films are sequels in name only, having absolutely nothing to do with their predecessors. Some are direct sequels but complete tonal shifts from the previous movie. Some even make us wonder whether the filmmakers even saw the original film at all. Whatever the case, a few of the greatest horror movies of all time got sequels that had nothing to do with the original.

To say these films stick out like a sore thumb would be an understatement. From tacked-on sequels like Troll 2 and Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II, which were produced independently of their franchises, to baffling official entries in the Exorcist and Friday the 13th series, some of these completely bizarre horror sequels work despite being so different from their predecessors. Others are unfortunate low points in an otherwise solid series of films, whose differences are far too out there to sustain the audience’s interest.

10 Halloween II (2009)

Directed By Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie’s original Halloween, a reimagining of John Carpenter and Debra Hill’s 1978 classic, is altogether a fairly standard slasher film, albeit an extra brutal one. For the sequel, Zombie cranks up the brutality to a thousand, so it’s a great film for gorehounds — see for instance a particularly nasty head-stomping. Beyond this, it’s hard to know just who exactly this film is for, but it’s definitely not for fans of the Halloween franchise or even Zombie’s previous movie.

In many ways, Zombie’s Halloween II is anti-franchise by design. The writer-director only agreed to do the film to get out of a three-picture Halloween sequel deal with Dimension, having had a miserable experience making Halloween. As such, Halloween II is far more introspective and surreal than its predecessor, or indeed any film in the franchise. It’s more a character study about trauma, with its central villain Michael Myers wandering in and out like a ghost and having visions of his mother with a white horse — altogether headier stuff than is required of a Halloween film.

9 Troll 2 (1990)

Directed By Claudio Fragasso

There’s a reason Troll 2 has absolutely nothing to do with its predecessor, and indeed contains no trolls at all. It was originally produced under the title Goblins, but American distributors released it as Troll 2 in an attempt to capitalize on the previous film. The movie already has this going against it in terms of predecessor-to-sequel continuity, but Troll 2 also happens to be one of the most bonkers films ever made, an alien transmission in and of itself, regardless of franchise connections.

Troll 2 is also widely regarded as one of the best “so-bad-it’s-good” films, thanks in part to the documentary Best Worst Movie, directed by the movie’s star Michael Paul Stephenson. It details the production of Troll 2 and its emergence as a cult film. Full of infinitely quotable moments, bottom-of-the-barrel special effects and costumes, and a can-do spirit that makes the film so charming despite its many flaws, Troll 2 is a singular movie experience not to be missed.

8 Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf (1985)

Directed By Philippe Mora

While The Howling is a polished, big-budget werewolf horror comedy, its direct sequel Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (also known as Stirba — Werewolf Bitch) is more like a low-budget cousin than a proper continuation of the previous movie. For one, Howling II retcons The Howling’s fantastic ending, whereby the existence of werewolves is revealed and proven on live TV. Instead, the brother of the protagonist from the first film discovers — alongside the audience all over again — that werewolves are real, and he travels to Transylvania with a lycanthrope hunter played by horror movie veteran Christopher Lee.

The costumes in Howling II are heavily inspired by 1980s New Wave culture, including a tubular pair of shades worn by Lee, as well as many outfits donned by the film’s main antagonist, the werewolf queen Stirba (Sybil Danning). For this and its soundtrack, Howling II is very much a product of its era, an endearing slice of ‘80s cheese that never fails to satisfy that particular hunger for horrible horror movies.

7 Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Directed By John Boorman

The Exorcist is easily one of the best horror movies ever made, in large part because it takes a supernatural premise and grounds it in reality. Exorcist II: The Heretic adopts a more free-wheeling approach to storytelling, mixing in not just demonic possession but also repressed psychic abilities, magical powers, and devices that can sync two people’s brainwaves together. It’s so far removed from its predecessor, at times, one wonders if the filmmakers involved in the production even saw the original Exorcist.

“It was horrible, utterly horrible... and fascinating!”

But as Father Lamont (Richard Burton) says in the film, “It was horrible, utterly horrible... and fascinating!” This line of dialogue — one of the more subdued moments in a film full of laughable quotes — pretty much sums up the experience of watching Exorcist II. It is at times painful in its execution, and common sense dictates turning the movie off, but viewers can’t look away. It’s a proverbial train wreck of a film, utterly horrible, yet fascinating at the same time.

6 The Mother Of Tears (2007)

Directed By Dario Argento

A cult surrounds Sarah (Asia Argento) preparing to kill her in Mother of Tears.

Dario Argento’s Suspiria features some of cinema’s most horrifying imagery, replete with a vibrant color palette that adds to the film’s surrealistic tone. Its spiritual follow-up, Inferno, mostly throws the plot aside, creating a surreal nightmare that relishes in defying logic at every turn. Together, the movies comprise some of the director's most vivid and mysterious works, and they're considered among Argento's best films. Then there’s The Mother of Tears, released nearly 30 years after Inferno, which technically completes the witch-themed trilogy, but in a way that feels unsatisfactory for fans of the first two films.

The Mother of Tears lacks the intense and vibrant colors of its predecessors, and for the most part, plays more like an occult mystery film with a conventional plot. As such, it lacks the dreamlike atmosphere that characterizes Suspiria and Inferno. The movie also attempts to explain the events of its predecessors, and in doing so robs them of their mystique. It also has the effect of bogging The Mother of Tears down with exposition, all of it quickly delivered by side characters before they meet some truly grisly ends, which feel hollow and tacked on.

5 Flesheater (1988)

Directed By Bill Hinzman

Flesheater is an unofficial sequel to Night of the Living Dead written, produced, directed by, and starring Bill Hinzman, who played the first onscreen ghoul in George A. Romero’s classic 1968 film. Hinzman reprises this character, who ostensibly has been lying in wait inside a box buried under a tree stump, warning anyone who finds it not to open it. This more mystical origin of a zombie outbreak undercuts Night of the Living Dead’s more grounded explanation, which is only ever presented as a theory and not concrete fact.

Leatherface chasing with a chain saw (Texas Chain Saw 1973), David Drayton at the end of The Mist. Christine Brown being dragged into hell (Drag Me to Hell)

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Moreover, even though Flesheater apes some of Night of the Living Dead’s most famous scenes, including its infamous ending, the film lacks the biting social commentary of its predecessor, ultimately playing out more like a slasher film than a zombie movie. It sees Hinzman’s titular flesh-eater as the main villain ripping up and consuming a group of teenagers just trying to party on Halloween. It’s also trashy as all get out, with loads of gratuitous nudity and excessive violence. Fans of Romero’s work will no doubt be bemused at the very existence of Flesheater.

4 Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)

Directed By Bruce Pittman

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II

Comedy

Horror

Thriller

Release Date: October 16, 1987
Runtime: 97 minutes
Director: Bruce Pittman
Writers: Ron Oliver

Cast

Michael Ironside
Wendy Lyon
Justin Louis
Lisa Schrage

The only connection between Prom Night and Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is the name of the high school, Hamilton. None of the survivors of the original, especially Jamie Lee Curtis, appear in the sequel, which wasn’t initially produced as a sequel to Prom Night at all. Producers tacked on the title after the film was completed to cash in on the success of the previous movie. Whereas Prom Night is a straightforward slasher film with a human killer, its “sequel” is more a hybrid of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Carrie, and The Exorcist.

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is also much more comedic than its predecessor, with the main villain, Mary Lou Maloney, possessing Vicki and getting out a good one-liner whenever she kills one of her classmates. All the characters, moreover, have names that reference famous horror figures, including John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Stephen King, and Joe Dante, among others. As such, Prom Night II exists as a comedic love letter to the horror genre, one with very little in common with its predecessor, but worth checking out all the same.

3 Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

Directed By Adam Marcus

By 1993, Jason Voorhees had already been brought back as an undead — and therefore virtually unstoppable — killing machine. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday attempts to explain how Jason became a walking and slashing corpse, and the results are truly wild. Turns out Jason is actually a demon who can possess other bodies, so classic hockey-masked Jason takes a backseat to various character actors whose spirits become inhabited by the killer. Those hoping to see Jason stalk and slash his way through Crystal Lake campers will be disappointed.

Jason Goes to Hell is, of all the Friday the 13th films, truly an odd duck, though that doesn’t mean it’s an unenjoyable movie. Its preposterousness is part of its charm, and there are some truly bizarre moments peppered throughout, including a scene where a man possessed by Jason strips and shaves his male victim before killing him. The film is also notable for setting up Freddy vs Jason, even though the latter film completely ignores the events of Jason Goes to Hell.

2 Halloween III: Season Of The Witch

Directed By Tommy Lee Wallace

The events of 1981’s Halloween II were meant to lay Michael Myers to rest for good, with the franchise continuing as an anthology series releasing every Halloween. Of course, these plans never came to fruition, and Michael Myers came back from the dead in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, making Halloween III: Season of the Witch an outlier rather than the first in a series of Halloween-themed movies. Audiences at the time just couldn’t get past the absence of Myers and Laurie Strode.

Trick R Treat Tales from the Crypt and horror anthology

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Fortunately, Halloween III has amassed a cult following in the years since its release, with fans and critics alike praising the film for its bizarre plot and bonkers execution. Featuring robot killers, a mystic cult that steals a piece of Stonehenge, and masks that kill anyone who wears them, the film was a bold swing away from the slasher genre entirely and into the realms of sci-fi and even fantasy. Its weirdness, the fact it’s doing something wildly different, is part of what makes the film so great.

1 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

Directed By Tobe Hooper

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a masterclass in utilizing horrifying imagery and sounds to completely discomfort its audience. It’s easily one of the greatest horror films of all time for this reason, and in many ways, its terror cannot be topped. That’s why director Tobe Hooper doesn’t even try, creating instead The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, an uproarious horror comedy that parodies its predecessor and as well as horror tropes in general. Tonally, it couldn’t be more far removed from the 1974 classic, but that’s precisely what makes the film work so well.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is also a particularly gory movie, featuring effects work from the great Tom Savini, further setting it apart from its predecessor, which features very little onscreen bloodshed and relies more on suggestion. Not so for the sequel, which relishes in its violence as a means of generating laughter rather than gasps.

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