Eli Roth's History of Horror (2018) s03e01 Episode Script
Sequels That Don't Suck
1
Everyone knows
that sequels suck.
By definition alone,
they're inferior films.
Or do they?
What I love about sequels is
the characters are all
established,
we know who they are.
So let's just get into it.
As great as Anthony Perkins
is in "Psycho,"
I think he's even better
in "Psycho 2."
I'm Norman.
Norman Bates.
"Nightmare on Elm Street 3"
is my favorite one.
- Man, it's so good.
- It wasn't just scary
it was funny.
This is it, Jennifer,
your big break in TV.
I think people know when
they see the Chucky movie,
you know what
you're going to get.
I love "The Purge" franchise.
You want to understand
how this even all started.
"Gremlins 2," I think
might possibly be
the best sequel of all time.
It takes everything
that you love about
the first film,
and it cranks it up
to a whole other level.
Horror movie sequels
do not suck.
Horror movie sequels
are actually fantastic.
And sometimes they're even
better than the originals.
Damien.
Horror sequels.
They can be fun.
But usually, they're a long
way from being great.
It's really hard to pull off
a good horror sequel.
There's so many of them
that suck.
But then there are a few that
actually really don't suck.
And it's all the more
impressive when you can go
from "Alien," which
is one of the most iconic
movies in cinema,
and come out with "Aliens."
Come on, come on!
Sometimes sequels fall far
short of the original.
And sometimes they amp up
the body count
and are even better.
The tradition of
the great horror sequel
goes all the way back
to James Wales'
"Bride of Frankenstein."
I always loved "Bride
of Frankenstein," you know,
just the fact that it picks up
right where the original movie
left off, I think really
has a lot of power.
Like wait a minute, so okay,
so the windmill burns down
and then what happens?
So you feel like you're
getting a continuing saga.
Well, you can use
a sequel to enhance and
And build on something
that you did in the first one.
- Groovy.
- Or you can take it
in a different direction.
There's a million things you
can do if you got some
good piece of material
that warrants being revisited.
I've got to remain logical.
I like making sequels because
I don't have to
explain anything.
I can just start from the get-go
and do some new adventure.
For a sequel that delivers
on all levels,
there's no better example than
the greatest slasher sequel
of all time.
"Nightmare on Elm Street 3:
The Dream Warriors"
is like the peak
of the "Nightmare on Elm Street"
series.
It's just jam-packed
with cool stuff.
There's certain films
that it's almost like
the second movie wasn't
so great or wasn't as good
as the first one, and then
the third one reinvents
the franchise
and becomes a masterpiece.
Well, you're right.
Now "Dream Warriors"
managed to click
into the mythology
of the first one
- Freddy's home.
- In a way that was exciting
for audiences, but it also
seemed on a slightly bigger
canvas and you were
surprised by the bigness
and the sense of fun.
For "Dream Warriors,"
series creator
Wes Craven returned
as producer and co-writer.
He brought back his beloved
heroine, Nancy Thompson.
- You.
- Oh, my God.
I think Wes really believed
that Nancy was kind of
the best aspect
that we all have inside of us.
That she is the kind of person
who faces fear head on
and doesn't avoid the thing
that's endangering their lives.
But just goes straight at it.
Krueger's back.
Fred Krueger is dead.
I loved that they brought
her back.
I loved how they brought her
back and that she was there
to sort of help the children.
And in a sense,
she's there to save them.
Now a grad student studying
dream psychology
I have had some experience
with pattern nightmares.
Nancy comes home to help
a new generation of teens
targeted by the dream killer,
Freddy Krueger.
♪
The Elm Street parents,
clueless as ever,
have put the tormented teens
in a mental institution.
- You're killing us!
- Ah.
But they have a secret weapon,
newcomer Kristen,
played by Patricia Arquette,
has the power to bring people
into her dreams.
Nancy.
For the first time,
Freddy's victims have safety
in numbers.
♪
Led by Nancy, they form a gang
of freedom fighters.
They're able to take on these,
like, superhero personas
in their dreams
and fight back against Freddy.
So like one of the them becomes
this super cool punk chick.
Let's dance.
The kid who's in
the wheelchair is, like,
able to walk.
It's about wish fulfillment
as well as, you know,
being murdered.
But the teens soon discover
Freddy has his own bag
of new tricks.
♪
Freddy is in the imagination
of the person he's haunting.
And the imagination is larger
than life, it's kicked up,
it's surreal.
There's a massive worm-like
creature that is gruesome
but also perverted.
And I think that's just
what makes it all the better.
It's horror, like, be weird.
This film has some
of the more spectacular
and memorable deaths.
The scene where the guy's
veins are being ripped out
with Freddy playing him
like a little puppet
and then slicing those veins,
and he falls to his death;
that's an amazing kill.
The thing that made "Nightmare
on Elm Street 3" stick out
so much is that it was
the first entry into fun Freddy
before he became silly Freddy.
So he was still scary in this,
but having a bit more time
to quip.
What a rush.
There were scenes in 3
where I would be really bad,
really evil.
And then
they would add a one-liner.
Sorry, kid,
I don't believe in fairy tales.
That, all of a sudden,
becomes scarier,
of this guy just like,
not only is he gonna kill you,
but he's gonna have
a little too much fun doing it.
I altered one line to
play a little better as Freddy.
And it's become a fan favorite.
Welcome to prime time, bitch.
Wes would tell you
that he's a little upset
with the exploitation
of the humorous part
of Freddy's personality.
And I back him on that.
But Wes is responsible for that.
Wes created a character
that cracked wise.
I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy.
But the fans loved that, and
that's one reason we exploited
the humor so much
is because the fans,
you know were just crazy
for Freddy's personality.
Great sequels make bold choices.
"Nightmare 3" saves
its biggest shock for last.
Whatever happens, stay together.
It's so heartbreaking
because he he tricks Nancy
after he's already
wreaked havoc on her dad
in the real world, and
he reenters the dream world
in the form of her dad.
Then he lulls her into this
state of, like, comfort
and familiarity.
I'll always love you.
And then Freddy Krueger's
there again.
He'll get ya.
♪
Die.
Nancy dying in part 3
was hard to take.
I mean she was the O.G.
So you never want
the O.G. to be killed off.
But I didn't see it coming.
I didn't think I thought
for sure Nancy would never die.
And I think that's something
that the fans needed
and the story needed, and
I think that bringing her back
and bringing
that story full circle,
helped make Freddy Krueger
who he is today.
Some sequels reinvent
the franchise.
And some
Dig even deeper
into the formula.
It's happening again, isn't it?
Hello?
For a sequel to be great,
you have to give the audience
what they're expecting,
just not in the way they think
they're gonna get it.
You gotta be like a magician.
You know the trick's coming,
I'm telling you the trick's
coming, I'm telling you
the trick's coming,
and then you still do it,
and they go "Wow.
I didn't see that coming."
♪
After the massive success
of "Scream,"
the pressure was on director
Wes Craven, and writer
Kevin Williamson to come up
with another magic trick.
How do you make a sequel
to a horror movie
that's about horror movies?
It's a film commenting
on itself essentially
all the way through.
And the answer is,
of course, you make
a sequel that's about sequels
to horror movies.
Sequels suck.
No.
By definition alone,
they're inferior films.
So it does a good job of
honoring the first movie,
but also having its own
identity making fun of sequels.
It's been two years since
the Woodsboro murders,
Neve Campbell returns as
Sidney Prescott,
now in college.
- Hello?
- Hello, Sidney.
Sidney really starts the movie
with some post-traumatic stress.
Who is this?
You tell me.
♪
Cory Gillis.
Sidney seems to be coping
until a sneak preview of "Stab,"
a movie based on the events
of the first "Scream,"
ends when someone
dressed as Ghostface
goes on a killing spree.
One of the things I think
horror does really well
is when an old nightmare
comes back.
And it comes back
in a worse way.
And that's what happens
to Sidney.
The two Windsor College
students were murdered
last night
during a sneak preview
of the new movie "Stab."
To survive, Sidney
and her friends have to ask,
"What would
the killer in a sequel do?"
In "Scream,"
they've set out the rules.
How to survive a horror movie.
Well, by "Scream 2,"
there are rules for sequels.
The kills are more elaborate,
the body count is always bigger.
Never assume the killer is dead.
- Remember me?
- Why don't you show your face
you coward.
My pleasure.
The return of Ghostface
throws the audience off balance.
The film disorients
its audience even more
by intercutting pieces
of "Stab."
Perhaps the first-ever
remake inside of a sequel.
The "Stab" franchise comes
into its own in this film.
So "Scream 2" gets to comment
on, you know, the history
not only of slasher films
and that, but its own legacy.
Because you get a recreation of
the original Scream in there
that's hysterically funny.
Really?
- You still think it's me?
- No.
Said I didn't do it.
I'm innocent.
- I know.
- So it becomes this strange
sort of hall of mirrors thing.
I've been going through
a lot lately, Billy.
Someone tried to kill me.
- I know, I know.
- Sid, I think you need
to just move on.
I mean
both: When my mom left my dad,
I accepted it.
- Yeah.
Both: Your mom left town.
She's not lying
in a coffin somewhere.
My mom's dead and
she's never coming back, ever.
Stupid.
Stupid.
So tell us about this part
you're getting rave reviews for.
Well, I play this young girl,
Sidney Prescott.
"Scream 1,"
my agent sent me the script
and I got to the part where
they were like, "You know,
they might make a movie
of your life."
And she's like, "Yeah."
With my luck,
they'd cast Tori Spelling.
And I was like
But because, um,
she says that, when they make
"Scream 2" they were like,
"Oh, we'll cast Tori Spelling,"
which was kind of brilliant.
I was like, "I'm in. Perfect."
But beneath
the self-aware jokes
When'd she start smoking?
Ever since those nude pictures
on the internet.
It was just my head.
It was Jennifer Anniston's body.
"Scream 2" asks
"What is the real
emotional impact
on slasher film characters
who make it to the sequel?"
Look, Sid, if there is some
freaked out psycho
trying follow in Billy Loomis's
footsteps,
they're probably already
in your life.
As Neve Campbell's character
learns about life,
we're learning with her.
And part two is,
"Guess what. It's not over.
"You thought it was over?
"You thought only one bad
thing would happen to you?
"No, things can get much worse.
"This horrible thing happened
and you have to deal
with that trauma forever."
I don't want
to see you get hurt.
She can't trust anyone
around her.
That's a big theme
in these movies.
Who can you trust?
Because you got to know
the killer.
I need to be alone right now,
okay?
Sidney goes up against
Ghostface again,
but as we know, the original
killers are no more.
So we have no idea
who it could possibly be.
Could it be Gale Weathers
trying to get another book deal?
Could it be Dewey?
Does he really have that limp?
Is he faking it?
You have a point.
And I think that was
the main point of part two.
It was removing all trust
so that the audience
is just completely nervous
and on edge,
trying to figure out
what's going on.
The twist-filled climax
reveals the Ghostfaces
are two new characters;
psychopathic film student
- Mickey?
- I'm gonna blame the movies.
And the mother of the
murderer Sidney defeated
in the original film.
Mrs. Loomis?
You killed my son.
The killers' identity
has a purpose,
to deepen
the series' exploration
of the nature of violence.
"Scream 1" basically asked
the question,
"If you can't blame the movies,
who can you blame?"
Movies don't create psychos!
Movies make psychos
more creative!
"Scream 2" suggested
who you can blame.
And look who the killer was.
It was the mother.
So "Scream 2," in a weird way,
is saying
we can blame the parents.
Bad parenting creates psychos.
And it sets up for
the other sequels.
Now you know it can be anybody.
Another way to make
an old franchise new again,
is to turn the clock back
to the very beginning.
Let's purge, y'all!
This is not a test.
This is your
Emergency Broadcast System
announcing the commencement
of The Annual Purge.
2013 saw the release
of "The Purge."
A film about
a near-future America
in which all violent crime
is legal for 12 hours.
The violence and brutality
of "The Purge"
was intended to reflect
the rising tensions
writer/director, James DeMonaco,
and his collaborators
saw growing in America.
♪
Working in the horror genre
allows you
to not necessarily explore
themes that are different
than would be in a drama,
but it allows those themes
to reach
a much broader audience.
"The Purge" is a great example
of that.
Didn't you hear what I said?
No more killing tonight.
I think this country has
gone off the rails
with its relationship to guns,
and "The Purge" is about
if that keeps going
where we might wind up.
Kind of a cautionary tale.
Is it that hard to understand?
"The Purge"
was an enormous success,
so inevitably, sequels followed.
For the fourth film
in the franchise
DeMonaco decided to explore
the origins of Purge night,
turn the focus from
the privileged to the poor.
He brought in
Gerard McMurray to direct.
You can't purge me, man.
I purge you.
It was centered around
these inner-city communities
which was very heavily
within our Black communities.
You needed a Black filmmaker
and Gerard was able to really
bring home the honesty
and the truth.
What they're doing to us,
what they're doing
to this country I am worried
about this country.
♪
The result was
"The First Purge,"
an action/horror film that's
also a scathing indictment
of race, class,
and power in America.
The American dream is dead.
We will do whatever it takes
to let you dream again.
USA!
In the near future, the NFFA,
America's neo-fascist
ruling party,
runs a test of the Purge
in the New York borough
of Staten Island.
Staten Island,
the chosen site, has become
the focus for the entire world.
The FFA offers money
to people who need it,
and this is how
they incentivize murder.
The benefit of acting
violently without worry
of consequence,
that's a freeing violence.
They have their reasoning
for it, which is, you know,
if we give one night of access
and freedom to commit
any crime you want to do, then
that would lower the crime rate
for the rest of the year.
That's what they say.
This bull experiment
really happening tonight?
Community activist Nya
is against the Purge.
But her younger brother
Isaiah sees it as a way out
of poverty.
I think Isaiah's anger
is relatable to everyone.
I think everyone feels,
you know, a responsibility
to feed,
look after their family,
and the frustration
of the opportunity
that might not be there.
This is wrong!
The sister wants
to help her community survive,
and learns some unsettling
truths along the way.
Nya discovers
that this is deeply rooted
in something bigger
than just a crime rate.
This is rooted
in classism, racism.
You really think these
regular folk
gonna pop each other like
gangsters when the time comes?
Yeah, people pissed.
They ain't got no money.
But at least at the beginning,
it's not all darkness.
What would Black people do
when it comes to the Purge?
Right, like,
we gonna have a party.
We gonna be out on the estate.
We gonna be doing what we doing.
We gonna be having some fun
and it's a Purge party.
♪
There's no law.
We can have a street party
all night long
and nobody will stop it.
That's kind of what
I think would really happen
if there were a Purge.
Some kind of block party.
The FFA saw that
They were confused.
Parties?
They're watching, like
why are they just having fun?
We mean business.
But, of course, in the film,
and also maybe this would also
really happen, people came
from outside of this community
and they're wearing
clan outfits.
And they're wearing
neo-Nazi outfits.
By the end,
a ruthless drug dealer,
who in virtually any other
movie would be a villain,
almost singlehandedly
fights off
the government assassins.
You know, he's the
community "thug" so to speak,
who has to sort of rise up
and fight off these outsiders
Who have literally flooded
this poor community
to try to just kill
as many Black and brown people
as they can.
And it's tough.
It's tough to watch.
That's the truth.
What do we do and how are we
supposed to remain optimistic?
Which they do,
which is a beautiful ending.
It's very optimistic.
And "We're gonna fight
this thing."
But honestly, where do you go
after that moment?
So what to do we do now?
Now we fight.
When I spoke to a lot
of my friends about it,
"The First Purge" felt
the most truest to real life
and people felt like
"Yo, wow. This this feels
like it could actually happen.
And if we don't actually
come together as a people,
then nothing's going to change.
It's over?
For now.
There is another way
to breathe life
into a horror sequel.
Awake! Awake! Awake!
Go for the laughs.
Hi, I'm Chucky. Wanna play?
Hey, wanna play?
Hi, I'm your friend to the end.
What do you do when your
iconic horror franchise
I'm your friend to the end.
Feels tapped out?
There had been
three Chucky movies,
"Child's Play" 1, 2, and 3.
"But Child's Play 3"
was not very successful.
You got me.
I'm bad.
And I felt that we had fallen
into a rut of kind of
remaking the same movie.
All: Ade due Damballa.
And that was something
I didn't want to do again.
So Chucky creator
Don Mancini threw away
the slasher formula and went
in a very different direction.
Horror comedy.
The result
was "Bride of Chucky."
I felt that if
we embraced the absurdity
inherent in the premise
of a two-foot killer doll
who swears
and wields a knife and
chases you down and kills you,
we could revive the franchise.
"Bride of Chucky"
introduces Tiffany,
girlfriend of the serial killer
trapped in Chucky's body.
Well, hello, dolly.
She's determined to bring
her lover back to life
and she will stop at nothing
to get her way.
Awake!
In a stroke of genius,
Jennifer Tilly was cast
opposite Brad Dourif,
the voice of Chucky.
She's the perfect person
for this in so many ways.
She's an Oscar nominee,
just as Brad Dourif is,
she has incredible
comedic charisma,
physical beauty, sexiness,
and a wonderful voice.
Thanks, sweet face,
I owe ya one.
Tiffany has
a certain insouciance
that people are attracted to.
I mean she's just like
the super cool girl.
You know, she just doesn't
give a.
Let me in, huh?
I'll catch my death out here.
Promises, promises.
But she's also a dichotomy
because she loves
Martha Stewart,
she likes to make
Swedish meatballs
and chocolate chip cookies.
Who the is Martha Stewart?
My idol.
Whoa!
To be Chucky's soulmate,
of course, she had to be
a remorseless killer,
but on the other hand,
she's also very sentimental
and romantic and kind of sweet.
We belong dead.
That's not Chucky at all.
So it created
a combustible relationship.
Tiffany resurrects Chucky
but their reunion
quickly turns sour.
After a fatal lover's quarrel,
Tiffany's spirit is also
trapped in plastic.
You son of bitch!
What have you done to me?
When she suddenly finds herself
in a doll's body,
she's kind she's mad.
I mean, but she doesn't
fall into depression.
She gets out the hair dye
and the black nail polish
and tries to approximate a look
that she is comfortable with.
To regain human form,
the couple needs to get across
the country
to steal a magical amulet.
They hitch a ride with two
unsuspecting teenage runaways.
Oh, my God.
A road trip that quickly
turns into a bloodbath.
There is so much more gore
in this movie
than the other films.
It's a measure of how much
respect Don has for you
if he kills you
in a really horrible way.
Now!
Ah!
Killing together helps
Chucky and Tiffany
revive their love and lust.
All couples have something
that brings them together
in the first place.
In Chucky and Tiffany's case,
of course,
it's murder and sex.
Well, at least
you haven't forgotten
how to show a girl a good time.
So they have their
honeymoon period
which climaxes in their
big night in Niagara Falls.
One of the bloodiest scenes
in the movie
leads into one of the most
strange and ridiculous scenes
in the whole film.
Which is when
they're in the love motel.
And that couple's in the bed.
Tiffany has the champagne bottle
and throws it up
into the mirror.
And it just shatters into
hundreds of pieces
and impales them
on the waterbed.
And blood and water
explodes everywhere,
which then leads into
a very bizarre sex scene.
Oh.
Which is so weird,
but so fantastic.
But again, really weird.
We were the first people
to do doll sex.
After that, "South Park" did a
movie where they had doll sex.
Our doll sex I thought
was a little bit more charming.
But like many love stories,
this one takes a tragic turn.
She so wants to be loved
by Chucky,
and does so much stuff
for Chucky,
like cooking
and making his favorite dish
and trying to make him happy.
And he does a thing where
he's critical or puts her down.
And then every once in a while,
she snaps.
Those dishes aren't gonna
wash themselves, you know.
The Tiffany character
is an abused woman.
You know,
she's an abused spouse.
The movie's throwing in
its sympathies
with the woman victim.
I feel like the "Bride of
Chucky" is a romantic tragedy
because it's almost
Romeo and Juliet.
It's almost like a love
that was never meant to be.
I love you, Chucky.
We belong together, forever.
And at the end,
she turns the tables
on her abuser.
We belong dead.
Goodbye, darling.
I'll see you in hell.
Following up a hit is difficult.
Now imagine making a sequel
to an all-time horror classic.
In 1960
Alfred Hitchcock directed
one of the most famous and
influential films of all time,
"Psycho."
We all go a little mad
sometimes.
Haven't you?
23 years later came
the sequel no one asked for.
"Psycho II."
By the '80s, Hitchcock
was treated like some sort of
cinematic saint.
Mmhmm.
So the idea of remaking
a Hitchcock film
The idea of sequelizing a
Hitchcock icon was unthinkable.
People talked about it
like sacrilege.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean it
to sound uncaring.
What do you know about caring?
But "Psycho 2"
proved everyone wrong.
Richard Franklin, director
of the Australian thriller
"Road Games," was convinced
he could make a sequel
that paid tribute
to the original
but was strong enough
to stand on its own.
Franklin hired Tom Holland,
another Hitchcock disciple,
to write the screenplay.
I was desperate for a job,
and I thought, "Well, that's
really the end of my career."
Because I you just knew that
the critics were gonna savage
you for having
the temerity to do it.
Holland and Franklin knew
that they couldn't give
"Psycho" the sequel
it deserved
without one essential element.
The only way that we could do it
was to get Tony Perkins back
as Norman Bates.
♪
Tony had felt that
the Norman Bates was a curse.
And so he didn't want
to do a sequel.
So I had to figure out
how to write a script
that would be so terrific
for the actor
that he'd have to do it.
And so it was how to give him
a character arc,
how to make it into
an acting piece.
And that's how I came up with,
well, you just ask logically,
if it's 22 years later
Which is what the time had been
since the original
Where would Norman have been?
The film opens as
Norman Bates is released
from a mental facility
and returns home.
His doctor says he is cured.
Others have their doubts.
Norman's redemption
is threatened
by a vengeful figure
from his past, Lila Loomis.
The sister of the woman
Norman killed in the shower.
Once again, Lila is played
by Vera Miles.
And when he murders again,
you will be
directly responsible.
I think we identify with
Norman in a different way
in "Psycho 2"
than we did in "Psycho 1."
"Psycho 2" is about, you know,
a misfit trying to find
his way back to the world.
Can I help you?
I'm Norman. Norman Bates.
The new cook's helper.
Norman gets a job at a diner
and begins a relationship
with a sympathetic coworker,
Mary, played by Meg Tilly.
They move in together.
Is this room
where you had your troubles?
One of them, yeah.
Well, I don't know what
happened to you in the past,
Norman, but you're never
gonna get over it.
Not unless you face it.
Then he starts getting
messages from Mother.
Is Norman back to his old ways,
or is someone trying
to frame him?
I'm becoming
confused again.
You're rooting for Norman
to keep it together.
You're rooting for Norman
to be a to be sane.
To be happy.
And now you don't want any
of the horror stuff to happen.
To stay true
to Hitchcock's style
while updating it for 1983,
Richard Franklin hired
cinematographer Dean Cundey,
then known for
"Halloween" and "The Thing."
Originally, we wanted to do it
in black and white
so that it looked like
the original.
But Universal was pretty
adamant,
no black and white.
Richard was very, very specific
about how he wanted to,
you know, make sure that
visually our version
was a continuation.
Nothing unusual.
And to me, that was
a great sort of challenge,
but fun thing to look at.
The filmmakers also
modernized the sequel
with graphic violence
Hitchcock wouldn't have
been allowed to show in 1960.
This is very post "Friday
the 13," post "Halloween,"
so you do get some nods to that.
You get to Dennis Franz,
for example,
getting his face slashed.
Which is kind of a full
color version of what happens
to Martin Balsam in the
original one, but you know,
to see it in color makes
a big difference, obviously.
"Psycho 2" ends
with a series of twists
that would make Hitchcock proud.
Why did you lie to that
sheriff and say Bates
was with you this afternoon?
Mother.
The Meg Tilly character is
the daughter of Vera Miles.
They start to torture him
and drive him mad.
And then Mary,
who's wormed her way
into living in the house
with Norman,
starts to feel sorry for Norman.
I've been to all your meetings,
I've done everything
you've asked me for years,
but I am not going to hurt
Norman anymore.
And she realizes that Norman
really is a good person
at that moment and trying to
hold on to his sanity.
Norman, do you recognize me?
It's me, your mother.
And eventually,
it costs her life
because Norman has gone crazy.
- Let me help you.
- You killed them all!
Freeze!
Well, this is why the sequel
doesn't suck
is because the ending
makes sense.
Typically in good sequels,
the rules of that movie
then change what happened
in the first movie.
Here in "Psycho 2" you find
out that Norman's mother
really wasn't his mother.
So
are you really my mother?
That his real mother
is still around.
The woman you thought was
your mother was my sister.
And that she's the one
that's been killing everybody,
punishing them for
what they did to Norman,
putting him away.
And he whacks her
over the head with a shovel.
And then he's back to being
Norman Bates again.
He carries her up the stairs
and you hear that creepy voice
again.
I'm not sleepy.
Put me in my chair.
Yes, Mother.
So the arc of the movie
is really Norman losing his mind
a second time
and the irony is,
he ends up at the end of the
movie as crazy as a loon
and nobody knows it.
It's a tragedy, in a way.
Don't let them take me back
to the institution.
Anthony Perkins is even be
As great as he is in "Psycho,"
I think he's even better
in "Psycho 2."
I think it's one of the great
lead performances
in any horror film ever made.
You can't make me
kill her.
You don't know the effect
that a film's gonna have.
I went to a dinner,
oh, I don't know,
seven or eight years ago with
all the big horror directors
and they voted "Psycho 2"
the best horror sequel ever.
♪
What do you call a sequel
that ups the ante
on everything in the original
then gleefully tears it apart?
♪
"Gremlins 2: The New Batch."
In 1984,
the horror comedy "Gremlins"
was set loose on the world.
It was a critical
and financial success.
Warner Brothers wanted a sequel.
Director Joe Dante did not.
When I was offered
the opportunity
to make a sequel
to "Gremlins 1," I said no.
I'm sorry, I'm tired.
I just did
this "Gremlins" movie.
We had to make it up on the fly.
We had to invent the technology.
I'm exhausted,
I'm sick of Gremlins
I don't want to have anything
to do with it, good luck.
Six years later, they made Dante
an offer he could not refuse.
They said,
"We really want this picture
and we want it enough to let
you do whatever you want."
So I have never gotten an offer
like that before or since,
and I said "Okay."
Dante and screenwriter
Charles Haas
turn "Gremlins 2"
into a monster movie
imbued with the
establishment-baiting spirit
of classic
Warner Brother's cartoons.
You might as well
just start the movie.
Roll 'em.
"Gremlins 2" seems like,
in the most glorious way
possible,
um, a filmmaker biting the hand
that feeds him.
Most sequels continue
the story by expanding
on the original premise.
"Gremlins 2" took the premise
and shredded it.
Are you a fan of
"Gremlins 2: The New Batch"?
I think Joe Dante
became a director
so he could do "Gremlins 2."
♪
There always is a little bit
of a "Mad Magazine" parody
of his own movie
running in the margin
of a Joe Dante film.
And with "Gremlins 2," he
was able to do a "Mad Magazine"
takeoff on the first "Gremlins"
for the entire movie,
for the length of the movie.
"Gremlins 2"
trades the small town setting
of the first film
for a Manhattan office tower
where returning stars
Phoebe Cates and Zach Galligan
once again become entangled
with the loveable Mogwai, Gizmo.
Cute, isn't it?
Inevitably, Gizmo gets wet
Spawning a legion of
evil gremlins who run riot
through a building that's a
microcosm of American society
in the early 1990s.
Now this week
we have our special salute
to luncheon meat.
Cultural satire
goes hand in hand
with the satire
of the movie itself.
"Gremlins 2" is sort of
a movie about how there didn't
need to be a sequel
to "Gremlins."
I didn't expect that there would
ever be a sequel to "Gremlins"
and much less
that I would be making it.
Uh, so I decided to make
a movie about sequels
and what are they worth.
When they start goofing
on every aspect
of the original premise,
in the movie, in the sequel,
that was hysterical
about, like,
"Hey, don't eat after midnight."
Well, what if they're eating
in an airplane
and they cross a time zone?
I mean, it's always
midnight somewhere.
Well, once Phoebe Cates
started parodying
the Santa Claus story
That's grea-
The the Phoebe Cates parodying
the Santa Claus monologue.
Something terrible
happened to me
on year on Lincoln's birthday.
I didn't know you were
allowed to do that.
I was like, "Are you allowed to
make fun of your own movie?"
- This man with this beard
- Honey, um
And a hat,
looked just like Abe Lincoln
- Honey, I really don't
- Except for the raincoat.
It made fun of the first movie.
It made fun of the concept
of sequels.
This is worst
than the first one.
We just show these movies,
madam.
We don't make them.
It made fun of capitalism.
I look at him,
you know what I see?
Dolls with suction cups
staring out car windows.
Joe Dante just seemingly
took everything he loved
and then used it to make fun
of everything he hated.
All the great horror movies
are in black and white.
Mr. Clamp only likes color.
It's got so many clever
and original ideas.
Including having a film critic
give the first film
a bad review again
in the second film before
I'm killed by the Gremlins.
Whoa, wait a minute.
I was just kidding, ow.
A ten, it's a
I'm sure some people
in the audience are watching
that movie with their popcorn
in their hand thinking,
"What is happening?"
"Gremlins" 2 also topped
the first film by bringing in
special effects maven
Rick Baker to create a diverse
new group of monsters.
It's eating my vegetable medley.
Mutant products of gremlins
running amok
in the genetics lab.
There is a phenomenal
Key and Peele sketch
about the pitching
of "Gremlins 2"
that's so funny.
What if we did this?
Everybody here gets to design
they own Gremlin.
They weren't just like cute
and fluffy and then green.
These were mutated Gremlins.
So you get spider Gremlins,
flying Gremlins.
You got talking Gremlins.
Mind if I have a brief word
with you?
You got my favorite,
you got the bougie Gremlins
with big red lips,
super incredible dress and wig.
And of course the flashing
Gremlin with the sick glasses.
You got ever single Gremlin
you could want in the movie.
The madness builds until
the spectacular finale
when the heroes manage to
prevent a Gremlin apocalypse.
I'm melting! I'm melting.
"Gremlins 2" just gets better
every time you see it.
"Gremlins 2," I think,
might possibly be the
best sequel of all time.
Probably "Gremlins 2"
is my most personal movie.
Not in that it's personal to me,
except that it's
my most unfiltered movie.
I had nobody
looking over my shoulder,
telling me what to do,
and there's a lot of me in it.
And to this day, there's never
been a "Gremlins 3."
'Cause it feels like
"Gremlins 2" scorched the earth.
Horror sequels give us a way
to return to the worlds
that fascinated and frightened
us the first time around.
We get to see our favorite
characters back in action.
And we get more of everything.
More monsters. More scares.
Bigger and crazier kills.
The best sequels give us
what we want
Make the old seem new again.
Everyone knows
that sequels suck.
By definition alone,
they're inferior films.
Or do they?
What I love about sequels is
the characters are all
established,
we know who they are.
So let's just get into it.
As great as Anthony Perkins
is in "Psycho,"
I think he's even better
in "Psycho 2."
I'm Norman.
Norman Bates.
"Nightmare on Elm Street 3"
is my favorite one.
- Man, it's so good.
- It wasn't just scary
it was funny.
This is it, Jennifer,
your big break in TV.
I think people know when
they see the Chucky movie,
you know what
you're going to get.
I love "The Purge" franchise.
You want to understand
how this even all started.
"Gremlins 2," I think
might possibly be
the best sequel of all time.
It takes everything
that you love about
the first film,
and it cranks it up
to a whole other level.
Horror movie sequels
do not suck.
Horror movie sequels
are actually fantastic.
And sometimes they're even
better than the originals.
Damien.
Horror sequels.
They can be fun.
But usually, they're a long
way from being great.
It's really hard to pull off
a good horror sequel.
There's so many of them
that suck.
But then there are a few that
actually really don't suck.
And it's all the more
impressive when you can go
from "Alien," which
is one of the most iconic
movies in cinema,
and come out with "Aliens."
Come on, come on!
Sometimes sequels fall far
short of the original.
And sometimes they amp up
the body count
and are even better.
The tradition of
the great horror sequel
goes all the way back
to James Wales'
"Bride of Frankenstein."
I always loved "Bride
of Frankenstein," you know,
just the fact that it picks up
right where the original movie
left off, I think really
has a lot of power.
Like wait a minute, so okay,
so the windmill burns down
and then what happens?
So you feel like you're
getting a continuing saga.
Well, you can use
a sequel to enhance and
And build on something
that you did in the first one.
- Groovy.
- Or you can take it
in a different direction.
There's a million things you
can do if you got some
good piece of material
that warrants being revisited.
I've got to remain logical.
I like making sequels because
I don't have to
explain anything.
I can just start from the get-go
and do some new adventure.
For a sequel that delivers
on all levels,
there's no better example than
the greatest slasher sequel
of all time.
"Nightmare on Elm Street 3:
The Dream Warriors"
is like the peak
of the "Nightmare on Elm Street"
series.
It's just jam-packed
with cool stuff.
There's certain films
that it's almost like
the second movie wasn't
so great or wasn't as good
as the first one, and then
the third one reinvents
the franchise
and becomes a masterpiece.
Well, you're right.
Now "Dream Warriors"
managed to click
into the mythology
of the first one
- Freddy's home.
- In a way that was exciting
for audiences, but it also
seemed on a slightly bigger
canvas and you were
surprised by the bigness
and the sense of fun.
For "Dream Warriors,"
series creator
Wes Craven returned
as producer and co-writer.
He brought back his beloved
heroine, Nancy Thompson.
- You.
- Oh, my God.
I think Wes really believed
that Nancy was kind of
the best aspect
that we all have inside of us.
That she is the kind of person
who faces fear head on
and doesn't avoid the thing
that's endangering their lives.
But just goes straight at it.
Krueger's back.
Fred Krueger is dead.
I loved that they brought
her back.
I loved how they brought her
back and that she was there
to sort of help the children.
And in a sense,
she's there to save them.
Now a grad student studying
dream psychology
I have had some experience
with pattern nightmares.
Nancy comes home to help
a new generation of teens
targeted by the dream killer,
Freddy Krueger.
♪
The Elm Street parents,
clueless as ever,
have put the tormented teens
in a mental institution.
- You're killing us!
- Ah.
But they have a secret weapon,
newcomer Kristen,
played by Patricia Arquette,
has the power to bring people
into her dreams.
Nancy.
For the first time,
Freddy's victims have safety
in numbers.
♪
Led by Nancy, they form a gang
of freedom fighters.
They're able to take on these,
like, superhero personas
in their dreams
and fight back against Freddy.
So like one of the them becomes
this super cool punk chick.
Let's dance.
The kid who's in
the wheelchair is, like,
able to walk.
It's about wish fulfillment
as well as, you know,
being murdered.
But the teens soon discover
Freddy has his own bag
of new tricks.
♪
Freddy is in the imagination
of the person he's haunting.
And the imagination is larger
than life, it's kicked up,
it's surreal.
There's a massive worm-like
creature that is gruesome
but also perverted.
And I think that's just
what makes it all the better.
It's horror, like, be weird.
This film has some
of the more spectacular
and memorable deaths.
The scene where the guy's
veins are being ripped out
with Freddy playing him
like a little puppet
and then slicing those veins,
and he falls to his death;
that's an amazing kill.
The thing that made "Nightmare
on Elm Street 3" stick out
so much is that it was
the first entry into fun Freddy
before he became silly Freddy.
So he was still scary in this,
but having a bit more time
to quip.
What a rush.
There were scenes in 3
where I would be really bad,
really evil.
And then
they would add a one-liner.
Sorry, kid,
I don't believe in fairy tales.
That, all of a sudden,
becomes scarier,
of this guy just like,
not only is he gonna kill you,
but he's gonna have
a little too much fun doing it.
I altered one line to
play a little better as Freddy.
And it's become a fan favorite.
Welcome to prime time, bitch.
Wes would tell you
that he's a little upset
with the exploitation
of the humorous part
of Freddy's personality.
And I back him on that.
But Wes is responsible for that.
Wes created a character
that cracked wise.
I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy.
But the fans loved that, and
that's one reason we exploited
the humor so much
is because the fans,
you know were just crazy
for Freddy's personality.
Great sequels make bold choices.
"Nightmare 3" saves
its biggest shock for last.
Whatever happens, stay together.
It's so heartbreaking
because he he tricks Nancy
after he's already
wreaked havoc on her dad
in the real world, and
he reenters the dream world
in the form of her dad.
Then he lulls her into this
state of, like, comfort
and familiarity.
I'll always love you.
And then Freddy Krueger's
there again.
He'll get ya.
♪
Die.
Nancy dying in part 3
was hard to take.
I mean she was the O.G.
So you never want
the O.G. to be killed off.
But I didn't see it coming.
I didn't think I thought
for sure Nancy would never die.
And I think that's something
that the fans needed
and the story needed, and
I think that bringing her back
and bringing
that story full circle,
helped make Freddy Krueger
who he is today.
Some sequels reinvent
the franchise.
And some
Dig even deeper
into the formula.
It's happening again, isn't it?
Hello?
For a sequel to be great,
you have to give the audience
what they're expecting,
just not in the way they think
they're gonna get it.
You gotta be like a magician.
You know the trick's coming,
I'm telling you the trick's
coming, I'm telling you
the trick's coming,
and then you still do it,
and they go "Wow.
I didn't see that coming."
♪
After the massive success
of "Scream,"
the pressure was on director
Wes Craven, and writer
Kevin Williamson to come up
with another magic trick.
How do you make a sequel
to a horror movie
that's about horror movies?
It's a film commenting
on itself essentially
all the way through.
And the answer is,
of course, you make
a sequel that's about sequels
to horror movies.
Sequels suck.
No.
By definition alone,
they're inferior films.
So it does a good job of
honoring the first movie,
but also having its own
identity making fun of sequels.
It's been two years since
the Woodsboro murders,
Neve Campbell returns as
Sidney Prescott,
now in college.
- Hello?
- Hello, Sidney.
Sidney really starts the movie
with some post-traumatic stress.
Who is this?
You tell me.
♪
Cory Gillis.
Sidney seems to be coping
until a sneak preview of "Stab,"
a movie based on the events
of the first "Scream,"
ends when someone
dressed as Ghostface
goes on a killing spree.
One of the things I think
horror does really well
is when an old nightmare
comes back.
And it comes back
in a worse way.
And that's what happens
to Sidney.
The two Windsor College
students were murdered
last night
during a sneak preview
of the new movie "Stab."
To survive, Sidney
and her friends have to ask,
"What would
the killer in a sequel do?"
In "Scream,"
they've set out the rules.
How to survive a horror movie.
Well, by "Scream 2,"
there are rules for sequels.
The kills are more elaborate,
the body count is always bigger.
Never assume the killer is dead.
- Remember me?
- Why don't you show your face
you coward.
My pleasure.
The return of Ghostface
throws the audience off balance.
The film disorients
its audience even more
by intercutting pieces
of "Stab."
Perhaps the first-ever
remake inside of a sequel.
The "Stab" franchise comes
into its own in this film.
So "Scream 2" gets to comment
on, you know, the history
not only of slasher films
and that, but its own legacy.
Because you get a recreation of
the original Scream in there
that's hysterically funny.
Really?
- You still think it's me?
- No.
Said I didn't do it.
I'm innocent.
- I know.
- So it becomes this strange
sort of hall of mirrors thing.
I've been going through
a lot lately, Billy.
Someone tried to kill me.
- I know, I know.
- Sid, I think you need
to just move on.
I mean
both: When my mom left my dad,
I accepted it.
- Yeah.
Both: Your mom left town.
She's not lying
in a coffin somewhere.
My mom's dead and
she's never coming back, ever.
Stupid.
Stupid.
So tell us about this part
you're getting rave reviews for.
Well, I play this young girl,
Sidney Prescott.
"Scream 1,"
my agent sent me the script
and I got to the part where
they were like, "You know,
they might make a movie
of your life."
And she's like, "Yeah."
With my luck,
they'd cast Tori Spelling.
And I was like
But because, um,
she says that, when they make
"Scream 2" they were like,
"Oh, we'll cast Tori Spelling,"
which was kind of brilliant.
I was like, "I'm in. Perfect."
But beneath
the self-aware jokes
When'd she start smoking?
Ever since those nude pictures
on the internet.
It was just my head.
It was Jennifer Anniston's body.
"Scream 2" asks
"What is the real
emotional impact
on slasher film characters
who make it to the sequel?"
Look, Sid, if there is some
freaked out psycho
trying follow in Billy Loomis's
footsteps,
they're probably already
in your life.
As Neve Campbell's character
learns about life,
we're learning with her.
And part two is,
"Guess what. It's not over.
"You thought it was over?
"You thought only one bad
thing would happen to you?
"No, things can get much worse.
"This horrible thing happened
and you have to deal
with that trauma forever."
I don't want
to see you get hurt.
She can't trust anyone
around her.
That's a big theme
in these movies.
Who can you trust?
Because you got to know
the killer.
I need to be alone right now,
okay?
Sidney goes up against
Ghostface again,
but as we know, the original
killers are no more.
So we have no idea
who it could possibly be.
Could it be Gale Weathers
trying to get another book deal?
Could it be Dewey?
Does he really have that limp?
Is he faking it?
You have a point.
And I think that was
the main point of part two.
It was removing all trust
so that the audience
is just completely nervous
and on edge,
trying to figure out
what's going on.
The twist-filled climax
reveals the Ghostfaces
are two new characters;
psychopathic film student
- Mickey?
- I'm gonna blame the movies.
And the mother of the
murderer Sidney defeated
in the original film.
Mrs. Loomis?
You killed my son.
The killers' identity
has a purpose,
to deepen
the series' exploration
of the nature of violence.
"Scream 1" basically asked
the question,
"If you can't blame the movies,
who can you blame?"
Movies don't create psychos!
Movies make psychos
more creative!
"Scream 2" suggested
who you can blame.
And look who the killer was.
It was the mother.
So "Scream 2," in a weird way,
is saying
we can blame the parents.
Bad parenting creates psychos.
And it sets up for
the other sequels.
Now you know it can be anybody.
Another way to make
an old franchise new again,
is to turn the clock back
to the very beginning.
Let's purge, y'all!
This is not a test.
This is your
Emergency Broadcast System
announcing the commencement
of The Annual Purge.
2013 saw the release
of "The Purge."
A film about
a near-future America
in which all violent crime
is legal for 12 hours.
The violence and brutality
of "The Purge"
was intended to reflect
the rising tensions
writer/director, James DeMonaco,
and his collaborators
saw growing in America.
♪
Working in the horror genre
allows you
to not necessarily explore
themes that are different
than would be in a drama,
but it allows those themes
to reach
a much broader audience.
"The Purge" is a great example
of that.
Didn't you hear what I said?
No more killing tonight.
I think this country has
gone off the rails
with its relationship to guns,
and "The Purge" is about
if that keeps going
where we might wind up.
Kind of a cautionary tale.
Is it that hard to understand?
"The Purge"
was an enormous success,
so inevitably, sequels followed.
For the fourth film
in the franchise
DeMonaco decided to explore
the origins of Purge night,
turn the focus from
the privileged to the poor.
He brought in
Gerard McMurray to direct.
You can't purge me, man.
I purge you.
It was centered around
these inner-city communities
which was very heavily
within our Black communities.
You needed a Black filmmaker
and Gerard was able to really
bring home the honesty
and the truth.
What they're doing to us,
what they're doing
to this country I am worried
about this country.
♪
The result was
"The First Purge,"
an action/horror film that's
also a scathing indictment
of race, class,
and power in America.
The American dream is dead.
We will do whatever it takes
to let you dream again.
USA!
In the near future, the NFFA,
America's neo-fascist
ruling party,
runs a test of the Purge
in the New York borough
of Staten Island.
Staten Island,
the chosen site, has become
the focus for the entire world.
The FFA offers money
to people who need it,
and this is how
they incentivize murder.
The benefit of acting
violently without worry
of consequence,
that's a freeing violence.
They have their reasoning
for it, which is, you know,
if we give one night of access
and freedom to commit
any crime you want to do, then
that would lower the crime rate
for the rest of the year.
That's what they say.
This bull experiment
really happening tonight?
Community activist Nya
is against the Purge.
But her younger brother
Isaiah sees it as a way out
of poverty.
I think Isaiah's anger
is relatable to everyone.
I think everyone feels,
you know, a responsibility
to feed,
look after their family,
and the frustration
of the opportunity
that might not be there.
This is wrong!
The sister wants
to help her community survive,
and learns some unsettling
truths along the way.
Nya discovers
that this is deeply rooted
in something bigger
than just a crime rate.
This is rooted
in classism, racism.
You really think these
regular folk
gonna pop each other like
gangsters when the time comes?
Yeah, people pissed.
They ain't got no money.
But at least at the beginning,
it's not all darkness.
What would Black people do
when it comes to the Purge?
Right, like,
we gonna have a party.
We gonna be out on the estate.
We gonna be doing what we doing.
We gonna be having some fun
and it's a Purge party.
♪
There's no law.
We can have a street party
all night long
and nobody will stop it.
That's kind of what
I think would really happen
if there were a Purge.
Some kind of block party.
The FFA saw that
They were confused.
Parties?
They're watching, like
why are they just having fun?
We mean business.
But, of course, in the film,
and also maybe this would also
really happen, people came
from outside of this community
and they're wearing
clan outfits.
And they're wearing
neo-Nazi outfits.
By the end,
a ruthless drug dealer,
who in virtually any other
movie would be a villain,
almost singlehandedly
fights off
the government assassins.
You know, he's the
community "thug" so to speak,
who has to sort of rise up
and fight off these outsiders
Who have literally flooded
this poor community
to try to just kill
as many Black and brown people
as they can.
And it's tough.
It's tough to watch.
That's the truth.
What do we do and how are we
supposed to remain optimistic?
Which they do,
which is a beautiful ending.
It's very optimistic.
And "We're gonna fight
this thing."
But honestly, where do you go
after that moment?
So what to do we do now?
Now we fight.
When I spoke to a lot
of my friends about it,
"The First Purge" felt
the most truest to real life
and people felt like
"Yo, wow. This this feels
like it could actually happen.
And if we don't actually
come together as a people,
then nothing's going to change.
It's over?
For now.
There is another way
to breathe life
into a horror sequel.
Awake! Awake! Awake!
Go for the laughs.
Hi, I'm Chucky. Wanna play?
Hey, wanna play?
Hi, I'm your friend to the end.
What do you do when your
iconic horror franchise
I'm your friend to the end.
Feels tapped out?
There had been
three Chucky movies,
"Child's Play" 1, 2, and 3.
"But Child's Play 3"
was not very successful.
You got me.
I'm bad.
And I felt that we had fallen
into a rut of kind of
remaking the same movie.
All: Ade due Damballa.
And that was something
I didn't want to do again.
So Chucky creator
Don Mancini threw away
the slasher formula and went
in a very different direction.
Horror comedy.
The result
was "Bride of Chucky."
I felt that if
we embraced the absurdity
inherent in the premise
of a two-foot killer doll
who swears
and wields a knife and
chases you down and kills you,
we could revive the franchise.
"Bride of Chucky"
introduces Tiffany,
girlfriend of the serial killer
trapped in Chucky's body.
Well, hello, dolly.
She's determined to bring
her lover back to life
and she will stop at nothing
to get her way.
Awake!
In a stroke of genius,
Jennifer Tilly was cast
opposite Brad Dourif,
the voice of Chucky.
She's the perfect person
for this in so many ways.
She's an Oscar nominee,
just as Brad Dourif is,
she has incredible
comedic charisma,
physical beauty, sexiness,
and a wonderful voice.
Thanks, sweet face,
I owe ya one.
Tiffany has
a certain insouciance
that people are attracted to.
I mean she's just like
the super cool girl.
You know, she just doesn't
give a.
Let me in, huh?
I'll catch my death out here.
Promises, promises.
But she's also a dichotomy
because she loves
Martha Stewart,
she likes to make
Swedish meatballs
and chocolate chip cookies.
Who the is Martha Stewart?
My idol.
Whoa!
To be Chucky's soulmate,
of course, she had to be
a remorseless killer,
but on the other hand,
she's also very sentimental
and romantic and kind of sweet.
We belong dead.
That's not Chucky at all.
So it created
a combustible relationship.
Tiffany resurrects Chucky
but their reunion
quickly turns sour.
After a fatal lover's quarrel,
Tiffany's spirit is also
trapped in plastic.
You son of bitch!
What have you done to me?
When she suddenly finds herself
in a doll's body,
she's kind she's mad.
I mean, but she doesn't
fall into depression.
She gets out the hair dye
and the black nail polish
and tries to approximate a look
that she is comfortable with.
To regain human form,
the couple needs to get across
the country
to steal a magical amulet.
They hitch a ride with two
unsuspecting teenage runaways.
Oh, my God.
A road trip that quickly
turns into a bloodbath.
There is so much more gore
in this movie
than the other films.
It's a measure of how much
respect Don has for you
if he kills you
in a really horrible way.
Now!
Ah!
Killing together helps
Chucky and Tiffany
revive their love and lust.
All couples have something
that brings them together
in the first place.
In Chucky and Tiffany's case,
of course,
it's murder and sex.
Well, at least
you haven't forgotten
how to show a girl a good time.
So they have their
honeymoon period
which climaxes in their
big night in Niagara Falls.
One of the bloodiest scenes
in the movie
leads into one of the most
strange and ridiculous scenes
in the whole film.
Which is when
they're in the love motel.
And that couple's in the bed.
Tiffany has the champagne bottle
and throws it up
into the mirror.
And it just shatters into
hundreds of pieces
and impales them
on the waterbed.
And blood and water
explodes everywhere,
which then leads into
a very bizarre sex scene.
Oh.
Which is so weird,
but so fantastic.
But again, really weird.
We were the first people
to do doll sex.
After that, "South Park" did a
movie where they had doll sex.
Our doll sex I thought
was a little bit more charming.
But like many love stories,
this one takes a tragic turn.
She so wants to be loved
by Chucky,
and does so much stuff
for Chucky,
like cooking
and making his favorite dish
and trying to make him happy.
And he does a thing where
he's critical or puts her down.
And then every once in a while,
she snaps.
Those dishes aren't gonna
wash themselves, you know.
The Tiffany character
is an abused woman.
You know,
she's an abused spouse.
The movie's throwing in
its sympathies
with the woman victim.
I feel like the "Bride of
Chucky" is a romantic tragedy
because it's almost
Romeo and Juliet.
It's almost like a love
that was never meant to be.
I love you, Chucky.
We belong together, forever.
And at the end,
she turns the tables
on her abuser.
We belong dead.
Goodbye, darling.
I'll see you in hell.
Following up a hit is difficult.
Now imagine making a sequel
to an all-time horror classic.
In 1960
Alfred Hitchcock directed
one of the most famous and
influential films of all time,
"Psycho."
We all go a little mad
sometimes.
Haven't you?
23 years later came
the sequel no one asked for.
"Psycho II."
By the '80s, Hitchcock
was treated like some sort of
cinematic saint.
Mmhmm.
So the idea of remaking
a Hitchcock film
The idea of sequelizing a
Hitchcock icon was unthinkable.
People talked about it
like sacrilege.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean it
to sound uncaring.
What do you know about caring?
But "Psycho 2"
proved everyone wrong.
Richard Franklin, director
of the Australian thriller
"Road Games," was convinced
he could make a sequel
that paid tribute
to the original
but was strong enough
to stand on its own.
Franklin hired Tom Holland,
another Hitchcock disciple,
to write the screenplay.
I was desperate for a job,
and I thought, "Well, that's
really the end of my career."
Because I you just knew that
the critics were gonna savage
you for having
the temerity to do it.
Holland and Franklin knew
that they couldn't give
"Psycho" the sequel
it deserved
without one essential element.
The only way that we could do it
was to get Tony Perkins back
as Norman Bates.
♪
Tony had felt that
the Norman Bates was a curse.
And so he didn't want
to do a sequel.
So I had to figure out
how to write a script
that would be so terrific
for the actor
that he'd have to do it.
And so it was how to give him
a character arc,
how to make it into
an acting piece.
And that's how I came up with,
well, you just ask logically,
if it's 22 years later
Which is what the time had been
since the original
Where would Norman have been?
The film opens as
Norman Bates is released
from a mental facility
and returns home.
His doctor says he is cured.
Others have their doubts.
Norman's redemption
is threatened
by a vengeful figure
from his past, Lila Loomis.
The sister of the woman
Norman killed in the shower.
Once again, Lila is played
by Vera Miles.
And when he murders again,
you will be
directly responsible.
I think we identify with
Norman in a different way
in "Psycho 2"
than we did in "Psycho 1."
"Psycho 2" is about, you know,
a misfit trying to find
his way back to the world.
Can I help you?
I'm Norman. Norman Bates.
The new cook's helper.
Norman gets a job at a diner
and begins a relationship
with a sympathetic coworker,
Mary, played by Meg Tilly.
They move in together.
Is this room
where you had your troubles?
One of them, yeah.
Well, I don't know what
happened to you in the past,
Norman, but you're never
gonna get over it.
Not unless you face it.
Then he starts getting
messages from Mother.
Is Norman back to his old ways,
or is someone trying
to frame him?
I'm becoming
confused again.
You're rooting for Norman
to keep it together.
You're rooting for Norman
to be a to be sane.
To be happy.
And now you don't want any
of the horror stuff to happen.
To stay true
to Hitchcock's style
while updating it for 1983,
Richard Franklin hired
cinematographer Dean Cundey,
then known for
"Halloween" and "The Thing."
Originally, we wanted to do it
in black and white
so that it looked like
the original.
But Universal was pretty
adamant,
no black and white.
Richard was very, very specific
about how he wanted to,
you know, make sure that
visually our version
was a continuation.
Nothing unusual.
And to me, that was
a great sort of challenge,
but fun thing to look at.
The filmmakers also
modernized the sequel
with graphic violence
Hitchcock wouldn't have
been allowed to show in 1960.
This is very post "Friday
the 13," post "Halloween,"
so you do get some nods to that.
You get to Dennis Franz,
for example,
getting his face slashed.
Which is kind of a full
color version of what happens
to Martin Balsam in the
original one, but you know,
to see it in color makes
a big difference, obviously.
"Psycho 2" ends
with a series of twists
that would make Hitchcock proud.
Why did you lie to that
sheriff and say Bates
was with you this afternoon?
Mother.
The Meg Tilly character is
the daughter of Vera Miles.
They start to torture him
and drive him mad.
And then Mary,
who's wormed her way
into living in the house
with Norman,
starts to feel sorry for Norman.
I've been to all your meetings,
I've done everything
you've asked me for years,
but I am not going to hurt
Norman anymore.
And she realizes that Norman
really is a good person
at that moment and trying to
hold on to his sanity.
Norman, do you recognize me?
It's me, your mother.
And eventually,
it costs her life
because Norman has gone crazy.
- Let me help you.
- You killed them all!
Freeze!
Well, this is why the sequel
doesn't suck
is because the ending
makes sense.
Typically in good sequels,
the rules of that movie
then change what happened
in the first movie.
Here in "Psycho 2" you find
out that Norman's mother
really wasn't his mother.
So
are you really my mother?
That his real mother
is still around.
The woman you thought was
your mother was my sister.
And that she's the one
that's been killing everybody,
punishing them for
what they did to Norman,
putting him away.
And he whacks her
over the head with a shovel.
And then he's back to being
Norman Bates again.
He carries her up the stairs
and you hear that creepy voice
again.
I'm not sleepy.
Put me in my chair.
Yes, Mother.
So the arc of the movie
is really Norman losing his mind
a second time
and the irony is,
he ends up at the end of the
movie as crazy as a loon
and nobody knows it.
It's a tragedy, in a way.
Don't let them take me back
to the institution.
Anthony Perkins is even be
As great as he is in "Psycho,"
I think he's even better
in "Psycho 2."
I think it's one of the great
lead performances
in any horror film ever made.
You can't make me
kill her.
You don't know the effect
that a film's gonna have.
I went to a dinner,
oh, I don't know,
seven or eight years ago with
all the big horror directors
and they voted "Psycho 2"
the best horror sequel ever.
♪
What do you call a sequel
that ups the ante
on everything in the original
then gleefully tears it apart?
♪
"Gremlins 2: The New Batch."
In 1984,
the horror comedy "Gremlins"
was set loose on the world.
It was a critical
and financial success.
Warner Brothers wanted a sequel.
Director Joe Dante did not.
When I was offered
the opportunity
to make a sequel
to "Gremlins 1," I said no.
I'm sorry, I'm tired.
I just did
this "Gremlins" movie.
We had to make it up on the fly.
We had to invent the technology.
I'm exhausted,
I'm sick of Gremlins
I don't want to have anything
to do with it, good luck.
Six years later, they made Dante
an offer he could not refuse.
They said,
"We really want this picture
and we want it enough to let
you do whatever you want."
So I have never gotten an offer
like that before or since,
and I said "Okay."
Dante and screenwriter
Charles Haas
turn "Gremlins 2"
into a monster movie
imbued with the
establishment-baiting spirit
of classic
Warner Brother's cartoons.
You might as well
just start the movie.
Roll 'em.
"Gremlins 2" seems like,
in the most glorious way
possible,
um, a filmmaker biting the hand
that feeds him.
Most sequels continue
the story by expanding
on the original premise.
"Gremlins 2" took the premise
and shredded it.
Are you a fan of
"Gremlins 2: The New Batch"?
I think Joe Dante
became a director
so he could do "Gremlins 2."
♪
There always is a little bit
of a "Mad Magazine" parody
of his own movie
running in the margin
of a Joe Dante film.
And with "Gremlins 2," he
was able to do a "Mad Magazine"
takeoff on the first "Gremlins"
for the entire movie,
for the length of the movie.
"Gremlins 2"
trades the small town setting
of the first film
for a Manhattan office tower
where returning stars
Phoebe Cates and Zach Galligan
once again become entangled
with the loveable Mogwai, Gizmo.
Cute, isn't it?
Inevitably, Gizmo gets wet
Spawning a legion of
evil gremlins who run riot
through a building that's a
microcosm of American society
in the early 1990s.
Now this week
we have our special salute
to luncheon meat.
Cultural satire
goes hand in hand
with the satire
of the movie itself.
"Gremlins 2" is sort of
a movie about how there didn't
need to be a sequel
to "Gremlins."
I didn't expect that there would
ever be a sequel to "Gremlins"
and much less
that I would be making it.
Uh, so I decided to make
a movie about sequels
and what are they worth.
When they start goofing
on every aspect
of the original premise,
in the movie, in the sequel,
that was hysterical
about, like,
"Hey, don't eat after midnight."
Well, what if they're eating
in an airplane
and they cross a time zone?
I mean, it's always
midnight somewhere.
Well, once Phoebe Cates
started parodying
the Santa Claus story
That's grea-
The the Phoebe Cates parodying
the Santa Claus monologue.
Something terrible
happened to me
on year on Lincoln's birthday.
I didn't know you were
allowed to do that.
I was like, "Are you allowed to
make fun of your own movie?"
- This man with this beard
- Honey, um
And a hat,
looked just like Abe Lincoln
- Honey, I really don't
- Except for the raincoat.
It made fun of the first movie.
It made fun of the concept
of sequels.
This is worst
than the first one.
We just show these movies,
madam.
We don't make them.
It made fun of capitalism.
I look at him,
you know what I see?
Dolls with suction cups
staring out car windows.
Joe Dante just seemingly
took everything he loved
and then used it to make fun
of everything he hated.
All the great horror movies
are in black and white.
Mr. Clamp only likes color.
It's got so many clever
and original ideas.
Including having a film critic
give the first film
a bad review again
in the second film before
I'm killed by the Gremlins.
Whoa, wait a minute.
I was just kidding, ow.
A ten, it's a
I'm sure some people
in the audience are watching
that movie with their popcorn
in their hand thinking,
"What is happening?"
"Gremlins" 2 also topped
the first film by bringing in
special effects maven
Rick Baker to create a diverse
new group of monsters.
It's eating my vegetable medley.
Mutant products of gremlins
running amok
in the genetics lab.
There is a phenomenal
Key and Peele sketch
about the pitching
of "Gremlins 2"
that's so funny.
What if we did this?
Everybody here gets to design
they own Gremlin.
They weren't just like cute
and fluffy and then green.
These were mutated Gremlins.
So you get spider Gremlins,
flying Gremlins.
You got talking Gremlins.
Mind if I have a brief word
with you?
You got my favorite,
you got the bougie Gremlins
with big red lips,
super incredible dress and wig.
And of course the flashing
Gremlin with the sick glasses.
You got ever single Gremlin
you could want in the movie.
The madness builds until
the spectacular finale
when the heroes manage to
prevent a Gremlin apocalypse.
I'm melting! I'm melting.
"Gremlins 2" just gets better
every time you see it.
"Gremlins 2," I think,
might possibly be the
best sequel of all time.
Probably "Gremlins 2"
is my most personal movie.
Not in that it's personal to me,
except that it's
my most unfiltered movie.
I had nobody
looking over my shoulder,
telling me what to do,
and there's a lot of me in it.
And to this day, there's never
been a "Gremlins 3."
'Cause it feels like
"Gremlins 2" scorched the earth.
Horror sequels give us a way
to return to the worlds
that fascinated and frightened
us the first time around.
We get to see our favorite
characters back in action.
And we get more of everything.
More monsters. More scares.
Bigger and crazier kills.
The best sequels give us
what we want
Make the old seem new again.