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January 26th, 2000
In general it's believed that sequels are never better than the original. And, yes, in most cases that's right. So I decided to look into sequels that turned out to be better than the first in the series. Pickings were slimmer than I expected, but here's my three picks: Children Of The Corn III:Urban Harvest [1994] finally proved the premise behind Stephen King's short story could be given proper treatment. After suffering through two entries that were mediocre at best, who could've guessed that this would turn out so good? Transplanted to the city this follows two country boys, one of which turns out to be preaching the corn god ways and converting kids in the high school. This leads to quite a bit of grue and some nifty effects by Screaming Mad George. We finally get to see the corn god, and it's pretty cool. Too bad the series went back to its trend of sucking after this one. Scanner Cop [1993] is actually the fourth entry in the Scanners series. And why is it cooler than the previous parts (which granted had their share of neat effects and decent storylines)? Because it tried for a new concept by having a hero who was not only a scanner, but also a law enforcement officer. Plus there's a lot of effects that supply fans with their craving of grue and a likeable lead performance by Daniel Quinn. Sleepaway Camp 2:Unhappy Campers [1988] made most people shake their heads because, after all, who the Hell would want a sequel to the original in the first place! Well, this sequel to the awful original goes for tongue-in-cheek humour from the get go. It's a low-budget romp with plenty of in-jokes, breasts and blood for all. Plus we get to see Bruce Springsteen's sister, Pamela, sing the "Happy Camper" song and murder plenty of promiscuous teens. Also see the third part which continues the fun (and was shot back-to-back with this one). |
