Original subtitles

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.