The idea for this post came up ages ago, but I didn’t get around to writing it until now. I can’t remember who I was arguing with about sequels not all being terrible, but it prompted this list, so to them I am grateful! Thanks, mystery friend. Sorry my memory is awful! 🙂

I love sequels. I love originals. I love movies, honestly, and am pretty easy to please as far as they’re concerned. I like to be entertained. Even if it’s not going to win any awards or get hailed as an on-screen masterpiece, if it makes me laugh or jump or cry or just forget about things for 2 hours while I get sucked into something ridiculous, there’s a really good chance I’ll enjoy it. 🤷

So without further ado…

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10 Sequels I Liked More Than the Original

BLADE 2 (2002)

Sequel To: Blade (1998)

This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I will fight anyone who says it’s not amazing. From Blade’s cockiness to the Bloodpack to Nomak and his creepy fucking daddy issues, I love it all so, so much. Watching it is like being dropped into Vampire: The Masquerade, and I’m so about that life.

STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)

Sequel To: Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

I always like when movies get kinda dark and the bad guys start to win, and everything about Empire is just more entertaining than the first movie, with less slow moments and a lot more bang. Plus, Yoda. Duh.

BATMAN RETURNS (1992)

Sequel To: Batman (1989)

I really should only have to include a photograph of Michelle Pfeiffer in her Catwoman outfit to explain this one, but then there’s also Danny DeVito and I just can’t understand how anyone wouldn’t love this movie more than the first one.

SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004)

Sequel To: Spider-Man (2002)

Spider-Man 2 was my favorite superhero movie for the longest time ever, and is still pretty high up there (although Into the Spider-Verse is just so good!). Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus is my FAVORITE portrayal of a Spider-Man villain ever, and the scene with Rosie kills me every time I watch it. This is after Tobey Maguire had gotten his footing after the first movie, but before everything went to shit in the third one – which we won’t talk about anymore because yikes. Let’s pretend that his movies stopped here, with perfection.

THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)

Sequel To: Batman Begins (2005)

I just love explosions a lot more than grungy cave scenes, okay? The first movie was alright, but The Dark Knight is what’s up. Heath Ledger is so good in everything he’s ever been in, and I couldn’t watch this movie for years after he died because his acting is so creepy that it gave me nightmares!

EVIL DEAD 2 (1987)

Sequel To: The Evil Dead (1981)

I will defend campy horror until the day I die, ya’ll. I love the first Evil Dead movie, but the second one is just so over-the-top that there’s no way I couldn’t pick it as the better of the two. It’s so much fun to watch! If you haven’t seen the more recent remake of the series and are into scary stuff, watch that, too – it’s one of the few movies I can’t watch alone ’cause it fucks me up so badly! I love it.

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)

Sequel To: Frankenstein (1931)

A thing I don’t really ever mention on my blog is that I really love old movies – mostly old horror (I’m a Vincent Price and Bela Lugosi fangirl, what can you do?), but I have a ton of old favorites, and could watch old movies all day long – I’ve seen Casablanca more times than I can count and it’s one of my favorite comfort movies to watch when I’m sick or sad! So that said, Boris Karloff is the king, and while the first Frankenstein is a great movie, this one with Elsa Lanchester depicting the Bride is just everything I could ask for.

THE MUMMY RETURNS (2001)

Sequel To: The Mummy (1999)

I’ve seen this so many times because EVERY SINGLE TIME it’s been on TV and I’ve caught a glimpse of it, I’ve had to sit down and watch it from that point on til it ended. I can’t stop watching this once I start it, no matter where I’ve started it from. I can’t even pick a favorite thing about it – it takes place in the 30s, involves bananas love triangles and reincarnated Egyptian gods???, HAS THE FUCKING ROCK, just everything. Everything. It’s so good. I won’t be argued with. Sit down and watch the movie.

ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES (1993)

Sequel To: The Addams Family (1991)

This was a little harder, and you can see I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel here with the end of this list. I love the first movie a lot, and there’s nothing I’d do differently with it or about it – it’s perfect. That said, some of the most memorable and iconic Addams Family images and scenes happen in AFV. Wednesday’s camp scenes are some of my favorite in movie history.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (1987)

Sequel To: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

LOOK, I CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH WITH WHAT I KNOW, I RAN OUT OF ACTUAL SEQUELS OKAY? Dream Warriors is my favorite of the Elm Street movies, and that’s probably saying something ’cause I love the entire series more than almost any other horror one out there. I’ve been watching and rewatching these movies for as long as I can remember (this one came out the year before I was born, it’s PRE-ME!), and I passed the love of them down to my little brothers so we could stay up late and watch them together. The actual sequel to the first movie is…. not great, let’s just say. So we’re going to go with my personal fav, and call it a day with this list so I can go play some video games. 🙂

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I tried to think of my favorite sequels for this list, but I will admit that I kind of cheated on the last one. 10 is sometimes a hard number to reach, and I maybe forgot some good ones – so feel free to point out my ineptitude (nicely, always nicely!) in the comments and tell me what your favorite sequel is!

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