Sinister (2012)
Those scenes of Ellison editing the film, only to have the eyes onscreen follow him are some of the simplest, cleverest scare tactics in years. More nightmares, please.
Potential Plot: A young writer with aspirations to follow in the footsteps of his idol moves into the dead author’s house. When his filmmaker girlfriend sets the cat loose, she hunts it down in the attic, curled up in a box of 8mm home movies that she cannot resist watching.
Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)
The Horror Movie: Trapped in hell and incapable of stalking teens in their dreams, Freddy Krueger resurrects Jason Voorhees from somewhere ghastly and sends him to Freddy’s old town, Springwood. If Voorhees rouses enough fear in the locals, Freddy can return. That is if Jase doesn’t murder all of his potential victims first.
Why It Needs A Sequel: Bringing together two horror icons for an almighty slasher smackdown might have skimped on plot, but seeing those titans battle it out onscreen brought to life many a horror fan’s dream. We’d pay to see them wage war once more.
The final moment of the film points undoubtedly to another instalment. As Jason rises from the lake holding his enemy’s decapitated head...Freddy winks at the camera. This ain’t over, kiddies.
Potential Plot: After a public thrashing from Jason, Freddy taunts Michael Myers into battling Voorhees, leaving the Springwood teens ripe for Freddy. Myers has other ideas as those youngsters are damn fine candidates for his kinda stalk n’slash.
The Purge (2013)
The Horror Movie: In the year 2022, the United States allocates one day a year wherein for a 12 hour period all crime is legal, so as to “purge” its citizens of their anger and aggression. When the latest annual purge rolls around, security system salesman James Sandin and his family become targets of a ruthless groups of Purgers intent on killing them.
Why It Needs A Sequel: Sandin’s wife and their two children were narrowly rescued on the cusp of being murdered by their neighbours. That’s a damn fine motive for a revenge flick.
Potential Plot: Mary Sandin and her two children spend the year plotting an elaborate mouse death trap for their neighbours, who attempted to kill them all in the previous Purge. Not content with killing them, the neighbours are all framed for each other’s deaths.
Most of which are really namby pamby, like choking on grapes/drowning in baked beans, etc.
Cloverfield (2008)
The Horror Movie: During a farewell party, a group of New Yorkers come under attack from a giant monster which has emerged from the ocean. The gang head uptown on a mission to rescue one of their friends, during which they encounter the beast and its repugnant offspring.
Why It Needs A Sequel: The final shot of Rob and Beth beneath a bridge as a bomb strikes ends that particular group’s story. However, at the end of the credits a voice states that the monster is still alive...
Potential Plot: Continuing the story on that same fateful night, the film opens when the original characters are crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. During the ensuing stampede, the story switches perspective over to the other person seen waving around a videocamera and follows their group through a chaotic night.
Nightbreed (1990)
The Horror Movie: Mental patient Aaron Boone seeks refuge in an abandoned cemetary after his psychiatrist paints him as a serial killer and sends the law after him. A race of monsters called the Nightbreed living beneath the graveyard become tied up in the battle of good vs. evil.
Why It Needs A Sequel: In both the original and Cabal cut endings, Boone promises to help the Nightbreed find a new home as Midian is destroyed, and there’s the small case of crazier-than-shit-from-the-bat-in-Contagion, Dr. Decker. He’ll be wanting revenge.
Potential Plot: Boone and his girlfriend Lori journey with the ‘Breed to find a safe place to dwell, while Decker and Ashberry go on a killing spree in an attempt once more to bring Boone out from hiding so they may destroy them all.
The Thing (1982)
The Horror Movie: At an American research station in the Antarctic, a dog from a nearby Norwegian post infiltrates the camp, bringing with it a shape-shifting monster which kills anyone it imitates.
Why It Needs A Sequel: The final scene of MacReady and Childs sat around the campfire, neither one certain if the other is the thing, is one of the most debated endings in horror. It needs resolving. Now.
Potential Plot: A rescue team sent to the research station after failing to establish communications with the original crew stumble across the distorted human remains of a man outside in the snow... and a trail of blood leading back inside.
The Vanishing (1988)
The Horror Movie: A man whose girlfriend goes missing while at a service station spends years searching for her, until one day the man responsible offers to show him what happened. That is, if he’s willing to go through what she did.
Why It Needs A Sequel: With an ending that qualifies as one the bleakest ever, the continuous dread implied by the last shot of Rex buried alive in a coffin knowing his girlfriend suffered the same fate is terrifying.
There’s added logistical leverage in that the killer is never caught.
Potential Plot: Old chloroform-waftin’ psycho Raymond is back to his old tricks at gas stations, except in this age of technological advancement...his every move is being documented by someone even sicker than him. Blackmail never sounded so good.
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
The Horror Movie: Twenty years after a tragic mining accident in a small town, a spate of murders begins with the killer targeting anyone who celebrates Valentine’s Day.
Why It Needs A Sequel: The killer revealed midway through as the remaining survivor of the original incident survives the ending. With a pickaxe-wielding nut-monger on the loose, there are always hormonal teens ready to overlook the possibility of being violently killed in order to get their groove on.
Potential Plot: Twenty years after the events of the first film, a group of teens venture into the abandoned mine after hearing the legend of the murderous miner. When nothing happens, they plan a Valentine’s Day party down in the dusty mine.
The Mist (2007)
The Horror Movie: After a violent thunderstorm shakes a small town, people head to the supermarket for supplies to find a mist plagued with biblical monsters surrounding the building.
Why It Needs A Sequel: As David is still alive at the ending, after blowing away his kid and two elderly folks, he’s got inner and outer demons to slay. We’d like to see him destroy the outer ones.
Potential Plot: After the military roll in to decimate the mist monsters, David is taken into custody and placed in a quarantine zone. Incarcerated with other survivors, the mist descends again and the prisoners must find a way to escape.
Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
The Horror Movie: A zombie outbreak forces Shaun to take charge of the crisis at hand. Rescuing his girlfriend, his mum and his friends, they take refuge down the local pub to battle the undead.
Why It Needs A Sequel: The final showdown in The Winchester segues into Shaun and Liz’s cosy post-apocalypse home life....featuring a zombified Ed chained up in the shed. Need we say more?
Potential Plot: A year after the events of the first film, Shaun and Liz are engaged and about to marry. The night Liz is at her hen bash, Shaun and zombie Ed have a drunken video game marathon in the shed. When Ed breaks loose and snacks on the neighbours, Shaun has to put a stop to his rampage before Liz gets home.
