Some movies are so awful that people wonder how they ever got made, let alone spawned sequels. Yet Hollywood keeps churning them out, chasing quick cash or fan nostalgia. Here are a few standout examples of terrible films that somehow got follow-ups, proving bad ideas die hard.
Take the Home Alone series. The original 1990 hit with Macaulay Culkin as a kid outsmarting burglars is a holiday classic. But director Chris Columbus has slammed the later entries as disasters. He calls Home Alone 3 from 1998 the start of the slide, saying it and the ones after used fake wire stunts that ruined the real slapstick charm. For more on his rant, check this piece from GamesRadar: https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/comedy-movies/home-alone-director-says-the-classic-franchise-has-some-really-bad-sequels-theyve-completely-f-ked-it-up/. The franchise kept going with Home Alone 4 in 2002, Home Alone: The Holiday Heist in 2012, and Home Sweet Home Alone in 2021. Columbus did not hold back: “They’ve completely f**ked it up.”
Then there is Son of the Mask from 2005. This sequel to the 1994 comedy The Mask tried to revive the wild green-faced chaos with a new family and a baby who inherits the magical mask. Critics hated its cheap effects, lame jokes, and Jamie Kennedy’s over-the-top performance as a struggling dad. It bombed at the box office and holds a spot on worst sequel lists. Details here from Epicstream: https://epicstream.com/article/10-worst-movie-sequels-that-shouldnt-have-happened. No third Mask movie happened, but fans still cringe at this one.
Grease 2 in 1982 is another head-scratcher. The 1978 Grease with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John became a cultural phenomenon. Its sequel flipped the script with Maxwell Caulfield as a shy British exchange student turning cool biker at Rydell High. Songs like “Cool Rider” fell flat, acting felt forced, and it lacked the original’s spark. It flopped hard but earned a cult following later for being so oddly bad. Epicstream ranks it among sequels that never should have existed: https://epicstream.com/article/10-worst-movie-sequels-that-shouldnt-have-happened.
TRON: Legacy in 2010 followed the groundbreaking 1982 sci-fi flick TRON. The original wowed with computer-generated worlds inside a game. The sequel brought back Jeff Bridges with flashy 3D effects and a young Garrett Hedlund diving into the digital grid to find his dad. Pretty visuals could not save a thin plot, wooden dialogue, and music that overshadowed the story. It sits on bad sequel rosters per Epicstream: https://epicstream.com/article/10-worst-movie-sequels-that-shouldnt-have-happened. No third TRON has hit theaters yet, though talks linger.
These flops show studios often bet on name recognition over quality. Wikipedia tracks such trainwrecks in lists of worst films by century, including many with unwanted sequels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_films_considered_the_worst. Even in 2025, critics note bad sequels persist among the year’s duds, as one review roundup gripes: https://kdat.com/ixp/442/p/worst-movies-2025-matt-singer/.
Sources
https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/comedy-movies/home-alone-director-says-the-classic-franchise-has-some-really-bad-sequels-theyve-completely-f-ked-it-up/
https://epicstream.com/article/10-worst-movie-sequels-that-shouldnt-have-happened
https://kdat.com/ixp/442/p/worst-movies-2025-matt-singer/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_films_considered_the_worst
