Film sequels are often met with controversy. On the one hand, they are often considered to be pointless and a way of ruining the legacy of a great piece of cinema. They might be a cash-grab, or something getting in the way of a brilliant new feature. On the other hand, they typically make a lot of money and allow fans of a certain film to see ‘what happens next’. That said, not ever sequel makes a whole lot of sense.
Whether it’s a sudden shift in style entirely or just an absolute disaster that should never have been made, we’ve listed ten of the strangest sequels of all time.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
While Christopher Columbus was the one to bring Hulk Hogan.
Stuart Little 3
After the success of the first Stuart Little film (the first adapted by twist-master M. Night Shyamalan) and the moderate success of its sequel, the franchise ended up fizzling into a short-lived TV animation. Despite this, a third film was created which is strange on many levels. Firstly, it takes away the live-action elements that made the first two films so unique. Secondly, it went straight-to-video, despite the previous films both having a $120 million budget, and finally, it managed to hang onto most of its incredible cast, which included Hugh Laurie and Michael J. Fox.
Split
Speaking of M. Night Shyamalan and his twist-filled brain, his 2016 film Split managed to turn the idea of a sequel into the twist itself. It was marketed as a standalone psychological horror film and allowed him to escape a slump of abominable films.
However, the final moments of the film revealed that it was actually a sequel to Unbreakable, thus setting up for a third film which brought characters from both Split and Unbreakable together.
American Psycho 2
American Psycho 2 is a bizarre entity. It was created under the name ‘The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die’ and had American Psycho, director Morgan J. Freeman (no, not that Morgan Freeman) re-edited the film into a sequel to American Psycho, much to Kunis’ dismay. Its only connection to the original is a flashback depicting Patrick Bateman’s death and it has been denounced as a ‘real’ sequel by just about everyone who has ever seen it.
Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure
If there is one film that certainly didn’t need a sequel, it was Chevy Chase’s talents. The bizarre 2003 sequel followed Randy Quaid’s character of Cousin Eddie and just a couple of other returning cast . As you might expect, it isn’t considered to be a very good film.
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
The presence of the final entry into the Rian Johnson made a sequel that seemed to purposefully undo and turn things around. Abrams then responded with another film seemingly designed to flip things over once more. Rey was no longer ‘nobody’, Palpatine had been working behind the scenes the entire time and the dramatic introduction of the force-sensitive child at the end of The Last Jedi amounted to precisely nothing.
Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch
The Halloween saga has been pumping out film after film since the original was released to rave reviews in 1978. Over that time, there have been some incredibly strange moments.
Season Of The Witch is perhaps the most bizarre, as it does away with the driving force of the franchise, Michael Myers, treats the first two films as works of fiction and replaced the slasher genre with a sci-fi/witchcraft setting.
Grease 2
The drive behind John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John and the genuinely interesting, comedy and music-led plot. Grease 2 was an attempt to cash in, replacing the entire cast aside from just a few small roles. Despite praise for some of the songs, the film was a huge critical failure.
Alien: Resurrection
After the failure of Alien 3, Jean-Pierre Jeunet attempted to replenish the Alien world with a new take on the film. One sure-fire way to make that fail was to introduce an Ellen Ripley clone 200 years after Alien 3 and attempt to create some sort of sympathy towards the child-bearing aliens.
Return To Oz
Return To Oz, however, was a bizarre way of darkening a well-loved universe and filling it with nonsense. Obviously, without its original cast, the film bombed at the box office. It has achieved a cult following mostly because it’s so incredibly strange.
