You already know this tired story and I am not specifically speaking about any of these films.
A franchise born in the 1980's, filled with lightning in a bottle
with surprise success and a cult following, only to be ran into the ground
until the well runs dry. Endless sequels paraded through home video, none of
which are worth a watch. It is always a bummer, and in my eyes, even more so
with this film than most franchises that succumbed to this cinematic trap.
The first Return of the Living Dead has become one of my
favorite genre films ever made. It has endless re-watch ability and it is just
plain fun. The characters are all played with fantastic craft without any of it
feeling like anyone had to dig deep. To clarify, that is not a dig at the
acting but rather a compliment as it all just flows effortlessly. Everything in
this film came together and in the end you have a fantastic snapshot of the
1980s that does its job, it entertains.
Immediately from there the turds begin falling into the pile
comprised of lame sequels in this franchise. They are absolutely dreadful films that
never once tried to recapture the magic of the first. It is Hollywood’s greed
and lack of heart at it’s finest. Part II does have it’s moments BUT I think
that is merely because it has some returning faces and was filmed not too far after the original.
But it still sucks.
Sadly this is a common trend in horror that really spawned
in this era. Sure horror movies had paraded continual sequels for decades before these were made but historically sequels always made sure of one thing. They gave the fans what they wanted and the viewers continued having fun. That evidently stopped being important in 80’s
horror. One would assume this is no coincidence that runs parallel with the advent
of home video and its growth. Either way it is a miracle that so many of us kept
watching horror movies by the 2000’s after having been burnt so many times on
abysmal rental viewings. But alas, here we are sharing in the banter today
though, so I guess all is well. They made their shitty movies/money and we are
still here.
Horror fans, Tinseltown’s masochistic cash cows…
Tell us what franchise you think was handled the worst? Was
it this one or do you think there is a better example of a great film being tarnished with a lame franchise that followed? Let us know on social media!
Until next time……
Beware of the moon,
The Professor
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