The Ring Two (2005)
The Horror: Follow-up to Gore Verbinski’s ace remake. Rachel (Naomi Watts) is still being haunted by a lank-haired girl who really needs a good bath.
Why So Terrible? Surprised at how good the original Ring remake was? The Ring Two repays your faith ten-fold by delivering something of such horror you’ll want to track down every existing copy and burn it.
The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
The Horror: Trailer trash Rachel Lang (Emily Bergyl) discovers she may have psychic powers, which worries her school councillor, Sue Snell (Amy Irving).
Why So Terrible? How do you follow up Brian de Palma’s classic? By copying it almost completely but with horrendous modern ‘updates’. Nothing surprising here except for how truly terrible it really is.
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
The Horror: The Freeling family have got themselves a new place to live, but something’s still haunting them.
Why So Terrible? If only this sequel had given us more of Julian Beck’s creepy Kane and less of the ethereal lovey-stuff, it wouldn’t have made it onto this list. Sadly, despite an awesome Vomit Creature set-piece, this Poltergeist shows us too much and delivers too little.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
The Horror: Fourth and final Jaws film, in which Brody’s son Sean (Mitchell Anderson), now deputy, believes a shark is targeting him and his family for revenge.
Why So Terrible? Even Michael Caine can’t save this wet fish. How can a fish get revenge? Honestly…
Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (1985)
The Horror: We could fill half this list with Howling sequels, but this one’s particularly dreadful and responsible for the series’ descent into bargain bin hell, as a werewolf hunter goes after the queen of the lyncanthropes.
Why So Terrible? The original title was Stirba – Werewolf Bitch, which pretty much sums up the subtlety (or lack, thereof) evident in this follow-up. Where the original Howling revelled in fun puns, this one’s just a bad joke searching for a punchline.
Child's Play 3 (1991)
The Horror: Chucky heads to military school, where he hopes to get revenge on a grown-up Andy and plots to possess the body of a young child.
Why So Terrible? Ignoring its connection to the Jamie Bulger case, CP3 is still a travesty of bad filmmaking. After the brilliance of Part 2, its inadequacies are all the more obvious – including some terrible jokes and a fitful finale. Still, seven years later we did get Bride Of Chucky…
Freddys Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
The Horror: Johnny Depp cameos, but that’s just a painful reminder of how good the franchise was back when he starred as the luckless jock.
Why So Terrible? By this point, the franchise is really living up to its name, having turned into a nightmare of bad puns, horrible deaths and dreadful over-acting.
Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
The Horror: Part four was meant to be the F13 franchise’s swan-song, but it made so much money they decided to keep going without a key element in this fifth bloodfest.
Why So Terrible? *SPOILER* Jason Voorhees isn’t even in it?! Learning nothing from sister-franchise Halloween III, which dumped Michael Myers, this is a pointless entry in the franchise which only proved how vital Jason was to its success. Sure, they had the hockey mask and the boiler suit, but without Jason inside them, we might as well be watching footage from a fancy-dress party. Luckily, Jason returned for franchise high point Part VI: Jason Lives. *END SPOILER*
AVP: Requiem (2007)
The Horror: Sixth film to star the ever-less-scary xenomorph, and second cinematic clash for the Alien and Predator. This time, they’re on Earth…
Why So Terrible? The fanboys brayed for real darkness, and they got it here – in spades. So much so, we can never actually tell what’s going on. And don’t get us started on the Predalien…
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
The Horror: Slasher follow-up to 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, in which Julie James (Jennifer Love-Hewitt) is still being stalked by a guy with a hook.
Why So Terrible? For a start, the title doesn’t make any sense (if we’re going for accuracy, it should be called I Still Know What You Did The Summer Before Last). Meanwhile, the film’s twists are ridiculous, and Brandy’s screaming sounds like a dying banshee.
