This is the killer sequel article to the shocking original!
When HorrorFam.com guru Lauren Spear asked me to think about first sequels that surpassed the original movies, my list was pretty short. That just doesn’t happen too often. When she allowed the admission of first sequels that were as good or close, my list got longer. It’s all subjective, of course. I like what I like, and these are just my opinions. You are entitled to be totally wrong by disagreeing with my choices, and that’s fine.
So, let’s get started! In chronological order, first up is…
The Son of Kong (1933)
Is Son of Kong better than the original King Kong? No; it’s not. King Kong is one of the best and most iconic movies ever made. However, Son of Kong is a fun, fast-paced and worthy follow-up to the first movie.
Carl Denhem is being hounded out of New York for the destruction caused by his bringing King Kong to the city. He winds up on Skull Island again, looking for a treasure to pay all his bills, and finds the white furred and friendlier Son of Kong.
There’s more of Willis O’Brian’s ground-breaking stop motion animation on hand, likable characters, some comedy, some tragedy, and a short running time. I like this one. It’s a good one for kids, too.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man wasn’t the first Frankenstein sequel, but the first sequel to The Wolf Man. It’s a personal childhood favorite of mine, and I recommend it to little budding monster kids out there.
The first twenty minutes are the absolute best Wolf Man movie minutes ever. And then he finds Bela Lugosi’s version of the Frankenstein monster, and things get kinda goofy. Still, it moves quickly and has a great fight between the monsters at the climax. I think I prefer this to the original Wolf Man, because that movie is a bit slow and depressing for me. This one is a hoot.
Enemy from Space/Quatermass 2 (1957)
Enemy from Space is the second Quatermass movie. The first was The Quatermass Xperiment/The Creeping Unknown. Quatermass is the name of the no nonsense scientist who figures out what the heck is going on and how to stop it.
The first movie is really good, but I like Enemy from Space/Quatermass 2 even better. It’s sort of an English variation on Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Small meteors land all over the English countryside. They look harmless, but when someone picks one of these chunks of rock up, it cracks open and injects a mind-controlling spore into the person. It’s phase one of an alien invasion!
By the end of the movie it’s total war, with Quatermass leading the remaining uninfected humans against some alien monsters as big as skyscrapers. If you liked Invasion of the Body Snatchers, you’ll enjoy this one, too.
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
This is the sequel to Hammer Film’s first Frankenstein movie, The Curse of Frankenstein. That movie introduced the great Peter Cushing as Doctor Frankenstein. Cushing is always fun to watch, whether he’s playing a hero or a villain. Here, he’s a bit of both.
The Revenge of Frankenstein begins where The Curse of Frankenstein ended, with Frankenstein about to lose his head to the guillotine. Needless to say, he escapes, and gets back to work on his next creation.
The focus of Hammer’s Frankenstein series was always on the Doctor, and not on the monster. That threw me a little when I was a kid, but I’m fine with it now. Honestly, the Frankenstein monsters in the Hammer movies are much less interesting than the Doctor. This movie has well written characters, a sympathetic creature, and a great ending. Different than the Universal series, but still fun.
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
The Brides of Dracula is the first sequel to Horror of Dracula, which had Christopher Lee as the Count. This second movie has a title that is bound to mislead people, and that’s a shame. Dracula is not in the movie. The vampire is the blonde and handsome Baron Meinster. The brides (and fiancées?) are also the Baron’s, and not Dracula’s. But the movie is really owned by Doctor Van Helsing, played again by Peter Cushing.
Van Helsing was introduced in Horror of Dracula, but his character is more developed, and even more action oriented in this sequel. The last part of The Brides of Dracula really moves. How Van Helsing handles a vampire bite would make Rambo flinch. I wish Dracula could have been in this, but it’s a more than worthy follow up to the original classic.
The Return of Count Yorga (1971)
The Return of Count Yorga is the sequel to Count Yorga, Vampire, which came out the year before. The first movie is better, but this is a worthy follow-up.
Count Yorga is back—without explanation regarding his demise in the first movie—and this time he has fallen in love. That’s bad news for everyone, the Count included.
The Return of Count Yorga is kind of a remake of the first movie; but it has better actors, production values, and seems more like a traditional Hollywood product. The low budget grittiness of the first movie made it seem creepier, but I like both Yorgas, and recommend watching them back-to-back.
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
The great Vincent Price has been the best part of most of the movies he’s in. I think the original Abominable Dr. Phibes is one of Vincent’s top efforts. His performance is filled with so much fun and feeling, and yet his face is totally immobile. Whatta guy!
For this sequel, Dr. Phibes isn’t out for revenge as he was in the first movie, but he’s in a race through Egypt to get a formula to resurrect his dead wife. His rival is the Count Yorga actor, Robert Quarry.
Dr. Phibes Rises Again isn’t as good as the first movie, but it’s still worthwhile to see Vincent Price playing Phibes again. If you liked the Abominable Dr. Phibes, you’ll like Rises Again.
Scream Blacula Scream (1973)
Scream Blacula Scream is the sequel to Blackula — and both movies are enjoyable products of their time. The clothes, the music, the language, all make you think thank God you’re not living in the ’70s, a decade that is better seen in hindsight.
Scream Blackula Scream brings Blackula back via voodoo, and it’s good to see him return. Blackula is one of the coolest, most dignified of all the movie vampires. (I don’t understand why he gets werewolf style facial hair sometimes, but whatever).
Pam Grier is his leading lady, and she improves any movie she’s in. Another fun double bill, with the future King of Cartoons on Pee Wee’s Playhouse playing a vampire king!
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Dawn of the Dead is the first sequel to the original Night of the Living Dead. I saw NOTLD when it first came out, on the bottom half of a double feature. No one had heard of it before. By the end, the whole theater audience was traumatized, myself included. This was a different time, and none of us had seen anything comparable. So suspenseful. So gruesome!
Ten years later, I was better prepared for Dawn of the Dead.
Makeup maestro Tom Savini does some outstanding work that pointed the way toward the epic horror effects in the ’80’s. This sequel has color, lots of gory action, comedy, and drama. I can’t say it’s better than the first movie, but it may be just as good.
Blade 2 (2002)
I am a lifelong comic book nerd. As such, until the late 1990s, I was lifelong disappointed by Hollywood’s attempts to transfer comic books into motion pictures. I was caught by surprise by the original Blade movie. They were finally on the right track!
Blade was one of the supporting characters from the Tomb of Dracula comics published by Marvel. The Blade movies aren’t so much adaptations of the comics, but they get the tone right.
Blade 2, like Blade, is action-packed, bloody, braindead fun. Blade 2 sees Blade teaming up with a vampire elite squad to hunt down some even worse mutant vampires. Future Hellboy Ron Pearlman leads the vampire team, and it’s fun watching him and Blade butt heads. Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead series is in the movie as well, warming up for monsters to come.
Director Guillermo del Toro has made better and more important movies, but Blade 2 is cheesy popcorn fodder at it’s finest. Do a Blade triple feature, if you’ve got the buns of steel!
Can YOU Think of More Horror Sequels As Good As Their Originals…?
So, there it is. Ten more first sequels that don’t bring shame to the original movies. If you agree with my choices (and why wouldn’t you?) let me know. If you disagree (how dare you!) also let me know.
Best of all, if you can add to my list, that would be awesome. I’d love to get a recommendation for a movie I’ve missed or forgotten. Bring it on!
Images were purchased via MovieStillsDB.
