Some of the finest horror films have the flaw of not explaining why their storey unfolds the way it does. For example, why was Rosemary chosen to be the mother of Satan’s offspring? Alternatively, why did Pazuzu the devil pick Regan McNeil? Filmmakers frequently create franchises as a result of their deep dread of its unpredictability.
These need a jumbled mythology that introduces previously unknown figures in an attempt to explain. Some of these features are surprisingly exhilarating, but others receive negative reviews and poor studio promotion. This movie will show you a couple excellent horror prequels that were wrongly criticised by reviewers!
Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
This film is a prequel to William Friedkin’s 1973 horror masterpiece The Exorcist, which follows 12-year-old Regan McNeil, who is the unlucky victim of a horrible demonic possession. Damien Karras and Lankester Merrin, two priests, are enlisted by her mother to assist Regan.
Archaeologist Lankester Merrin is invited to go on an excavation at a church in East Africa that has been entirely buried in the sand for years in Exorcist: The Beginning. He is also a Roman Catholic priest who is haunted by his experiences from the Second World War. Fascinated by his findings, Merrin is accompanied by a younger priest who keeps an eye on their discoveries’ religious elements.
He meets a young doctor, Sarah, and realizes something peculiar in the air over the campsite. Soon, a series of ominous events begin occurring when Father Merrin is forced to re-evaluate his faith.
Renny Harlin’s film mostly transforms psychological terror into a gore-fest. It’s a fair attempt at explaining why Father Merrin was brought in initially to assist Regan. Unfortunately, people overlook the film’s innovative style of directing and Stellan Skasgard’s outstanding performance as Father Merrin while assessing it.
Along with Vittorio Storaro’s magnificent cinematography, the madness of the final battle between the Turkana and the British are convincingly brought to the big screen. Trevor Rabin provides a kickass soundtrack, and Stefano Maria Ortolani’s production design is out of the world.
It has a suspenseful vibe that keeps viewers engrossed throughout the movie and displays some great location shots. Overall, it is safe to say that this is an underrated prequel movie that deserves a watch.
Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)
This film is based on Clive Barker’s 1987 novel, in which Kirsty’s uncle Frank summons a group of demon sadists from another realm using a magical puzzle box. To get away from Pinhead and the cenobites, he’ll have to make a series of blood sacrifices.
Pinhead finds himself onboard a space station in deep space operated by scientist Dr. Merchant in the year 2127, in Hellraiser: Bloodline, which acts as both a prequel and a sequel to the original. Dr. Now, Merchant’s mission is to close the gates of hell for good after his ancestor in the 18th century built the evil puzzle box that opens the gates.
It is revealed that through the generations, the bloodline’s family has tried to do the same, failing every time. However, now Dr. Merchant has built a reverse box that will close the gates that the original box had opened.
Alan Smithee directs the fourth thrilling episode in the series. It neatly ties together the events of previous films and depicts a logical and fascinating narrative. Although several critics complained that the film’s space setting was a little corny, the tale could not have been told any other way.
It’s shot in a unique way that keeps viewers interested throughout. Smithee cleverly employs the background of prior stories to offer a plausible and logical explanation. It adds a great deal of speculation to the cenobites’ reality. Unlike other prequels that require the originals to be watched to understand and follow, this movie is an entertaining and thought-provoking watch on its own.
Not to mention, it showcases a decent amount of violence, gore, and is every bit as informatively executed. Its dark space atmosphere evokes a chilling vibe while Doug Bradley, Bruce Ramsay, and Valentina Vargas all deliver outstanding performances. Overall, this fantastic sequel of Clive Barker’s original is an underrated piece of work that excellently portrays the origin story of the cenobites!
The Thing (2011)
It is a direct prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 film The Thing, in which an alien life form is discovered at a US research facility in Antarctica and may spread like a virus and merge into various life forms. Dr. Sandor Halvorson invites palaeontologist Kate Lloyd to join his team, who have discovered an amazing extraterrestrial ship deep beneath the Antarctic ice, in the prequel.
Not far from where the craft landed, they find an occupant’s remains. They cut it out of the ice and take it back to their camp, but as the ice melts, the creature reanimates and begins attacking everyone. It manages to infect them while team members are devolving into the alien creature.
This film, made by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., tells the storey of how the Thing came to be found as well as its limits. Although popular opinion is that nothing compares to John Carpenter’s original, it does include a few modern-day features. It has well-designed characters and excellent CGI animation.
The Thing’s realistic effects are terrifying, and they’re employed successfully in a few instances. The characters have a lot of substance to them, with a variety of fascinating personalities and compassionate qualities. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joe Edgerton display fine performances. One of the reasons this movie received scepticism and backlash was because Carpenter’s film was so outstanding no one thought this would stand a chance.
Viewers can see that Heijningen Jr. was attempting to be both respectful to the original and coherently follow through with it. It has breathtaking cinematography in Antarctica’s ice glaciers and calls for sufficient mental resources to understand completely. The prequels ends exactly where John Carpenter’s iconic THE THING starts!
Final Destination 5 (2011)
The original Final Destination film, released in 2000, about a youngster who escapes death after being suspected of being involved in a horrific plane crash. Before the plane crashes in mid-flight, he and many of his classmates get out.
Death, on the other hand, finds each of those who was supposed to die on the trip. Final Destination 5 is a prequel that tells the story of Sam. While on a business trip, he has a premonition that he and several other people, including his co-workers, will die in a horrific bridge collapse.
He tries to make everyone leave the bus, but only a few of his co-workers and boss go. After the bridge collapses, everyone thinks they are safe until the survivors begin dying in mysterious ways. It is now up to Sam to find a way to prevent everyone from dying.
This film, directed by Steven Quale, contains many of the same gloomy aspects as the previous. It has a logical storyline that moves along at a leisurely pace, allowing viewers to absorb the events and relate them to the original. It features an excellent plot with a cast of realistic and fascinating characters.
It portrays excellent inventive death sequences that are not too over the top and are believable. Although critics claimed that every other film following the first one was just a repetition of people dying in different ways, but this film truly packs an excellent build-up.
Furthermore, no one foresees the amazing surprise near the conclusion. Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, and Miles Fisher all do an excellent job. The film is very graphic, which is not surprising for the franchise and evokes an uncomfortable level of thrill and anxiety that hasn’t been seen since the first installment. Its swift and enticing editing style truly reaches different levels and sets a standard for prequels, making it a must-watch film.
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004)
This film is a prequel to the original Ginger Snaps, which was released in 2000 and heard the tale of two death-obsessed sisters who are outsiders in their suburban neighbourhood. When one of them is bitten by a dangerous werewolf, they must deal with the devastating repercussions. Ginger Snaps was a huge sleeper success, and it inspired a slew of decent sequels.
The 2004 prequel is set in 19th century Canada where Brigette and her sister Ginger take refuge in a trader’s fort. This later becomes under siege by some savage werewolves. An enigmatic Indian hunter decides to help the sisters, but one gets bitten by a werewolf. This leaves the girls with no one to turn to but each other.
Grant Harvey’s prequel was able to convincingly recall the themes of sibling rivalry, death, suicide, puberty, feminism, and sexuality that we saw in the original film. It features a cast of complicated people that have a real dislike for their environment.
Katherine Isabelle and Emily Perkins, two skilled and attractive actresses, give a great and convincing performance. With an exciting and frightening atmosphere, the film reimagines the sisters in a new age. For a b-movie, it features amazing special effects, which is a significant advance over the original. It contains a remarkable climax with a hint of poignancy.
This film is both an entertaining werewolf movie and showcases a pair of underrated, talented actors. It is an imaginative third installment filled with dark humour and a witty script. It is set in a snowbound fort that is absolutely beautiful and pulls the viewers into olden era.
The religious metaphors and Native American mysticism seem to be used in the appropriate period. Overall, this underrated prequel is a great watch, so grab a bowl of popcorn and settle down.
Amityville II: The Possession (1982)
This prequel is based on the 1979 film The Amityville Horror, which stars George and Kathy Lutz as newlyweds who move into a big mansion where a mass murder has taken place. They soon begin to experience odd occurrences, which eventually drive them away.
The prequel depicts Anthony and Dolores Montelli, together with their four children, moving into their ideal mansion in Amityville. They begin experiencing strange occurrences from the very first night.
Their expectations are shattered as the restless spirits of the house open the unfathomable dark portal to hell. The family’s oldest child Sonny is the perfect vessel of destruction as he befalls victim to the invisible demon’s possession. Father Frank Adamsky is the family’s only hope.
Damiano Damiani directs this horror prequel, which has a very frightening narrative based on a true murder case. Incest, child abuse, marital violence, and mental illness are among the supernatural and real-life horror topics explored. It has major counter-culture moments as well as an exciting, spooky mood.
It has gloomy cinematography to go along with a dismal set. The film’s camerawork is so eerie that spectators can’t help but believe that something sinister lurks in the shadows. Admittedly it borrows certain elements from other possession movies like The Exorcist, but it is still a terrifying classic on its own. It portrays average performances from the actors, but the film’s tension more than makes up for this.
Its special effects might seem a tad cheesy, but they are way superior to those that 80s horror classics usually displayed. The detailed special effects make viewers hide under their blankets due to certain repulsive scenes, but this movie remains a great prequel and should not be missed.
PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING (1990)
This film is a precursor to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 psychological thriller The Bates Motel, in which Marion Crain flees with a huge quantity of money only to meet her untimely death. Norman Bates, the proprietor of the Bates Motel and the focus of the original’s primary events, makes a cameo appearance in the prequel storyline. He is invited to talk about the memories that he and his mother shared by a radio talk show host. He also fears that he will resort to his old ways and attempts to find closure.
In this fourth episode of the Psycho series, directed by Mick Garris, Anthony Perkins once again excelled as Normal Bates. Henry Thomas plays a decent young Norman Bates in the film, which is a pleasant surprise. More than the words, he brilliantly conveys the mentally tortured, oppressed maniac within Norman Bates with his excellent facial expressions.
This isn’t to suggest that the film’s dialogue delivery isn’t excellent. It has incestuous overtones and takes a gloomy approach to the mother-son connection. It evokes a dingy atmosphere accompanied by an eerie vibe that is thrilling yet frightening to the audience. Olivia Hussey takes the cake with her performance as Norma Bates. Usually, viewers who watched the original Psycho criticize this for not matching Hitchcock’s direction style.
Due to this, they often overlook the significant aspects of Mick Garris’ comic book approximations of desire, madness, and murder lust. He tries his best to match up to Hitchcock and please the fans with his unique direction style and, in the process, created one of the best additions to the Psycho series.
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
A young middle-class couple moves into a new house in the suburbs in this found-footage supernatural horror film, which is a prequel to the 2007 original Paranormal Activity. They are increasingly troubled by a presumably demonic presence that is most active at night. The third installment narrates how Dennis, a cinematographer, movies in with his girlfriend and helps raise her daughters Katie and Kristi.
When certain unusually disturbing events begin occurring around the house, Dennis places cameras throughout, to capture images during the night. They soon discover that they are being haunted by an entity, which turns out to lead back to a coven of witches on further research.
This film, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, follows the same plot and premise as the previous two. It elucidates the heroine Katie’s childhood in the first film. It was interesting because of the voyeuristic perspective it provided viewers, and the found-footage camerawork added to the realism.
Since the characters all begin expressing their anxieties in different ways, the mood generated throughout the film is a significant selling factor. These are through obsession, denial, and a few other human sentiments that highlight their character traits. More than being visually horrific, this film plays on one’s psychological fear, and despite not being able to see a ghost, portrays several jump scares.
It contains a lingering eerie vibe from the beginning, much like the first two installments in the series, leaving viewers to feel like something scary will happen any second. As far as prequels go, this is the highest-grossing film of the franchise and must be watched by everyone.
RINGU 0 BIRTHDAY (2000)
It is a precursor to the Japanese horror movie Ringu, which was released in 1998 and follows a reporter and her ex-husband as they investigate a cursed videotape. This tape is said to have deadly effects for everyone who watches it. The film’s backstory is told in Ringu 0 Birthday.
Sadako is shown as a quiet, reserved college student who joins the drama club. While she impresses the director, the rest of the members are jealous of her attention. In the meantime, a reporter investigates her spiritualist mother and also suspects something odd about Sadako. She arrives on the college campus to confront her just as several deaths begin occurring throughout the drama club.
This Japanese horror film, directed by Norio Tsuruta, is set thirty years before the original. It’s a psychological thriller with a well-crafted narrative in the Ring series. Sadako’s character, like Stephen King’s Carrie White, is a young woman with low self-esteem who wanders around minding her own thing.
The film has a lot of eerie moments sprinkled throughout it, as well as blurry dream sequences. It displays stricken corpses and a horrific flashback of Sadako’s mother. Its out-of-the-world climax presents her as everyone knows, with hair on her face in a long white dress. The camera technique in this sequence was shot backward and then run forward, giving it a hideous jerkiness that leaves the viewers shocked.
Yukie Nakama portrays a brilliant performance as Sadako, giving viewers a tragic heroine. She is a good and pure person who possesses the power to heal the sick. Viewers are shocked as her dark past is revealed, and they empathize with her while her character develops for the worse right up to the chilling, inevitable end.
From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter (1999)
This film is a precursor to the 1996 action-thriller From Dusk till Dawn, in which two crooks and their hostages take sanctuary in a truck stop. This truck stop, unbeknownst to them, is filled with vampires, resulting in chaos for the gang. The prequel, released in 1999, is set in Mexico a century ago.
Johnny Madrid, a dangerous local outlaw, kidnaps his hangman’s beautiful daughter Esmeralda with the help of an American female outlaw. Johnny soon meets with his gang, and they all seek shelter in an isolated brothel. Here, he is in for a massive shock since he isn’t prepared for the revelation regarding his hostage.
P.J. Pesce’s prequel is a spectacular gore-fest that pays tribute to the original tale, setting, and plot. Although the film’s campy tactics hurt it, they were only half of the charm, and audiences still adore it for its entertainment value. It showcases Michael Parks’ versatility as an actor and is a significant improvement over the last chapter in the series.
The script is well written, and Pesce directs the movie in his unique style to make it scary and action packed in different ways that viewers enjoy. It has great production value and an interesting set of memorable characters. It has unexpectedly astonishing action sequences and a handful of creative deaths.
Its decent special effects and certain elements of comedy highly impressed the fans of the series. Although this movie is no award winner, it manages to give a satisfactory back story to the original!
Cube Zero (2004)
It’s the third game in the Cube franchise. The first Cube was launched in 1997, and it depicted six strangers with wildly disparate personalities. They are dragged unwittingly into a never-ending maze filled with terrible traps.
The prequel shows a young programmer whose job it is to watch over the reality-warping cube. He defies orders to rescue an innocent woman trapped in one of the rooms within the cube.
This sci-fi psychological thriller was directed by Ernie Barbarash. The first two chapters of the series took place exclusively within the cube, while this one takes place both within and outside of it. With a new, rebuilt set, it returns to the original film’s industrially constructed colourful chambers.
This film is a well-made third episode that fully explains the events of the first film. It has interesting characteristics that psychologically excite viewers while also perplexing them owing to its edgy nature. It introduces a fascinating concept to the series. This is the psychological nature of authoritarianism and the banality of evil.
The actors’ performances are good, and its script is so intelligently written that it immediately captures viewers’ attention and holds it throughout. The most appreciated element of this film is that it accurately captures the claustrophobic vibe of the original. It has an overall dark and bleak atmosphere akin to the Matrix trilogy.