worst horror – From Friday the 13th: A New Beginning to The Exorcist II: Heretic, these legacy sequels are framed as worst-case examples of follow-ups that trade reinvention for nostalgia—at the cost of tone, scares, and the legacies that came before.
A good horror sequel doesn’t just continue a story—it earns the right to exist. But in these legacy follow-ups, the pitch feels backwards the second the credits roll. Instead of building on what made the originals stick in the public imagination. several of the franchise entries here spiral into decisions that don’t respect the rules they inherited.
The list starts with one of horror’s most famous names—Friday the 13th—and ends with a sequel so misaligned it reportedly got even the original’s director deeply angry.
In 1985. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning arrives as what this ranking calls a “shameless step in the wrong direction.” It’s described as negating the brilliance the earlier films built. The piece points to how each prior entry shifted the main villain concept: Friday the 13th is credited with one of the most famous twists in horror history; Friday the 13th Part 2 is credited with introducing Jason Voorhees as the main villain; Friday the 13th Part 3 is credited with giving him his iconic hockey mask; and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is credited with moving from the summer camp setting to suburban streets to pick off teens.
Even the series’ “great recurring protagonist” is said to be replaced. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter introduced Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman). but Friday the 13th: A New Beginning “replaced him” with John Shepard (John Shepherd). whose version is described as mentally unstable because of his experiences with Jason. The film is also criticized for Jason not being the villain. and for not bringing him back in a way that’s described as “fun.” The director. Danny Steinmann. is singled out as someone who “clearly had no respect for horror films. ” and the cast is called one of the most insufferable in the franchise.
Next comes Halloween Kills in 2021. listed as #4. and framed as proof that Halloween isn’t a franchise with the kind of range expected from series built on distinct villains. Michael Myers is described as an unstoppable force of evil without much personality. and the ranking argues that none of the sequels have captured the magic John Carpenter achieved in the 1978 original. The previous film. 2018’s Halloween. is described as a “soft reboot” that ignored other sequels. and Jamie Lee Curtis reprising Laurie is said to make it “somewhat entertaining.”.
But Halloween Kills tries to change the mythology again by flashing back to the original. and the film is criticized as violent without being scary. The graphic blood and gore are described as doing nothing to heighten suspense. David Gordon Green is blamed for dedicating so much of his career to the recent Halloween sequel trilogy. and the ranking links Green’s mistake in Halloween Kills to the underperformance of Halloween Ends—suggesting that the franchise may have finally been killed by these two films.
At #3 is Alien: Resurrection (1997). described as the first bad entry in the Alien series and as a sequel that “did profound damage” to Ellen Ripley. one of cinema’s most recognizable heroes. The piece contrasts Alien 3—acknowledging that David Fincher’s approach was divisive. while also stating that the “Assembly Cut” is better than the version released in theaters—with Alien: Resurrection. which is said to throw out Ripley’s noble ending. The ranking says the film finds a bizarre way to bring her back that is inconsistent with the series’ established mythology. Sigourney Weaver is also criticized for apparently being there only for a paycheck.
The tone is called a “serious miscalculation.” Jean-Pierre Jeunet is labeled a talented visual filmmaker. and Joss Whedon is credited with knowing how to write snappy dialogue. but the collaboration is described as incompatible—resulting in a film described as messy and confusing. Most disappointing. in this account. is that Alien: Resurrection is simply not scary. with creatures in the third act described as more laughable than terrifying.
Then. at #2. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) is treated as a tonal stumble that lacks the fun of the sequels and also doesn’t land the scares the original established. The ranking says the original A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the greatest horror films ever made. while the sequels are described as steadily turning Freddy Krueger into a more eccentric. snarky character—an approach credited as working because of Robert Englund’s performance.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is called an example of how the series could be campy and entertaining. but The Dream Child is described as a tonal miscalculation. It digs into Freddy’s backstory through a tragic angle involving Amanda (Beatrice Boepple). a nun who gives birth to him after being assaulted by inmates at an asylum. The flashbacks are described as brutal but not well-handled—feeling exploitative without being scary—and they’re said to exist for shock value rather than purpose. There’s also a twist involving the main character’s unborn child, described here as too ridiculous to work.
Finally. at #1. The Exorcist II: Heretic (1977) is framed as an unusual kind of disaster—one that happens “a few times in a generation. ” making it almost a spectacle. The ranking highlights William Friedkin. the director of The Exorcist. as someone who “hates the sequel so much” that it’s “worth listening” to him rant about how significantly John Boorman messed it up. It also argues that Boorman has a track record of making classics like Point Blank. Deliverance. and Excalibur—yet still “completely missed the point” of what made the original film so scary.
The original The Exorcist is described as claustrophobic and grounded. creating real terror that caused audience members to become sick in the theater and that led the Catholic Church to seek that it get banned. The Exorcist II: Heretic. by contrast. is described as a globe-trotting adventure that gets increasingly absurd. with plot developments said to become more ridiculous as it goes.
The ranking also says it’s “pretty much impossible” to describe the plot because it has no conventional story structure—scenes are said to transpire without progression or consequences. Richard Burton is singled out as trying his best despite being known for making bad films by that point in his career. James Earl Jones is described as understanding how weird the film is and delivering an appropriately hammy performance.
Still, the piece notes there are fans, including Martin Scorsese, who claimed that he liked it more than the original. But it concludes by saying The Exorcist II: Heretic was a publicly derided catastrophe that essentially ruined the good name of the franchise until 13 years later. when William Peter Blatty—described here as the original author—redeemed it with the underrated The Exorcist III.
A thread runs through every entry in this list: the originals earn their power by making horror feel specific—whether it’s the grounded terror of The Exorcist. the inventiveness of Friday the 13th’s villain evolution. or the psychologically sharp engine behind Elm Street’s nightmare logic. When later sequels swap those mechanics for misjudged reinvention—whether by sidelining the expected villain. rebooting mythology again. undoing Ripley’s ending. or turning tragedy into exploitative shock—the legacy doesn’t just weaken. It feels actively bent out of shape.
horror sequels legacy sequel Friday the 13th: A New Beginning Halloween Kills Alien: Resurrection A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child The Exorcist II: Heretic Michael Myers Jason Voorhees Ellen Ripley Freddy Krueger Linda Blair