The 10 Best Horror Movie Threequels (According to Me)
the curse of the threequel
If there’s one statement that we can decisively make about horror movie threequels, it’s that most of them suck. That’s not just true in horror. How many quality third installments can you name, even outside the genre?
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? Sure. Return of the Jedi? Yup, although it’s not quite as good as the first two Star Wars flicks. Rocky III? Sure, why not. Mr. T is lots of fun in that movie.
But most threequels fail to live up to the standards of their predecessors. Are part 3’s doomed to always fail? Of course not. There are exceptions to every rule, and there are some good third installments out there. Some of them even surpass their predecessors.
You may notice a subtle change from the post about part 2’s that I wrote earlier. That one was exclusively focused on slashers because I decided that trying to rank the best out of all the first sequels in the annals of horror films was too massive to narrow down.
I initially planned to do the same here. Then I realized that there are very few good slasher threequels. Most of them are trash, like Scream 3 and Child’s Play 3, or mediocre and forgettable like Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth and Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, or bizarre one-off non-sequels like Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
Here are my top ten horror movie threequels.
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10. Psycho III
Anthony Perkins is back yet again as momma’s boy Norman Bates, and this time Perkins is in the director’s chair as well. This was the first time he had directed a movie. Psycho III tries to emulate the original with a shocking major character death. Let’s face it – nothing is going to match the shower scene from Psycho.
The dark humor is still there, and Perkins is perfect as Norman, but the formula was already getting stale at this point. I consider this one to be clearly inferior to both the original and Psycho II. It’s still a respectable effort, but the fact that this made my top ten really emphasizes how few good horror threequels are out there.
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9. 28 Years Later
28 Years Later is a worthy threequel that avoids simply retreading the same ground as the previous installments, although it lacks some of the visceral power of its predecessors.
This movie doesn’t have the raw intensity of 28 Years Later or even 28 Weeks Later. The surging terror of the initial outbreak has subsided. It’s more of a postapocalyptic drama than a zombie movie.
I respect that the filmmakers avoided the safe, easy path of repeating the earlier movies, but the slower pace could disappoint people who are looking for the seething chaos of the previous movies.
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8. Final Destination 3
One of the top challenges for third installments is avoiding stale repetition. Can they put a fresh spin on the formula without losing the qualities that made the previous installments popular?
The Final Destination franchise already was well established by this point, but Final Destination 3 manages to wring some more thrills out of the familiar formula, with creative set pieces like the rollercoaster accident and the tanning bed meltdown. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays one of the compelling heroines of the series.
A rollercoaster was a great idea for this series and the carnival atmosphere fits the franchise well.
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7. Saw III
Jigsaw’s fiendish plots reach a climax in Saw III, which would have been a fitting conclusion to a trilogy. This movie’s denouement feels like a natural ending point for the story. Of course, the enormous profits these movies earned made more sequels inevitable.
This is the last installment with a living John Kramer until Saw X. To me, the series went down quickly after this. Installments 4-9 were a clear step down from the first three, with boring copycat killers replacing Jigsaw, who was relegated to appearing in flashbacks.
They made a near-fatal mistake by also killing off Amanda in this installment. She’s no John Kramer, but I’d take her any day over Hoffman, Jill, or that idiot from Spiral.
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6. Paranormal Activity 3
This creepy prequel is the only worthy follow up to the first Paranormal Activity. Set in the 1988, it chronicles the younger years of the cursed Featherston sisters, who are tormented by a relentless demon.
VHS-style analog horror wasn’t yet a common genre device when this movie came out. It adds an extra layer of retro creepiness that the other sequels lack. The jump scares are surprisingly effective for a third installment.
The series basically jumped off a cliff after this, which makes this installment look even better in retrospect.
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5. The Exorcist III
After the fiasco of Exorcist II: The Heretic, The Exorcist III revived the franchise in a creepy and chilling entry with the legendary George C. Scott in the lead role. Part 3 has one of the best jump scares in horror movie history. It also benefits from the return of Jason Miller, who was one of the best parts of the first Exorcist.
I don’t think it’s as good as the original movie, but a direct comparison isn’t really fair. This is a very different type of movie. The Exorcist series is filled with failure and disappointment, but this underrated installment is worth watching.
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4. Terrifier 3
Terrifier 3 is a gleefully deranged slasher that expands the franchise’s world while remaining focused on a small group of important characters. It is on par with Terrifier 2 in overall quality. It keeps Art’s antics fresh by changing the setting from Halloween to Christmas and mixing in a bit more series mythology.
If forced to choose, I’d pick Terrifier 2 as the better film, but this third installment lives up to the hype and provides fans with everything that a slasher should. It will be interesting to see where the franchise goes from here!
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3. Friday the 13th Part 3
This one is known for being the installment where Jason first gets his iconic hockey mask. It has a gleefully entertaining cat and mouse chase/battle between Jason and the final girl.
I remember watching this installment for the first time on television when I was a teenager. It was on Joe Bob Brigg’s Monstervision program, and it remains one my fondest memories of watching a horror film.
Friday 3 has cheesy overacting and cardboard characters, but if that bothers you, you’re watching the wrong series. This is shallow, but Part 3 also ranks high for me because it has the most attractive female cast of any movie in the franchise.
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2. Army of Darkness
You wouldn’t know it from its title, but this endlessly quotable cult classic is the third installment of the Evil Dead franchise. It’s far more comedic and cartoonish than the first two movies, and the change in tone is a bit jarring.
But this is an immensely entertaining horror fantasy pic, with Bruce Campbell delivering one of the most entertaining performances of his career.
Army of Darkness received relatively little attention when it was released, but has deservedly earned a massive cult following over the years. Campbell’s classic one liners like “This is my boomstick!” and “Baby, you got real ugly.” are unforgettable.
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1. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
In one of the best slasher sequels ever made, Freddy returns to terrorize a group of Springwood teens who are in a mental hospital. The doctors believe that the teens are suicidal. In reality, they are being attacked by Freddy because they are the last of the Elm Street children.
Dream Warriors is the installment that truly streamlined the Elm Street formula. The mental hospital setting was a brilliant idea. Heather Langenkamp returns as Nancy and John Saxon is back as her dad.
Patricia Arquette plays Kristen, the movie’s final girl. She screams like a champ and delivers an emotional performance. It’s too bad that she went mainstream after this and wasn’t in more horror movies.
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