Chapter Two

The Fine Art of the Sequel...2

The music swells, the credits rolls, the revenue racks up. What's often next? A sequel! And it has to be just right: not too derivative, not too original. Film historian Brett Ballard-Beach examines the cinematic tradition of the sequel, in a collection of witty, incisive reviews and analyses.

A sequel stands between a mere film and the holy grail of Hollywood, a franchise. Why do some sequels bloom into franchises, while others do not? Why do some sequels outperform their predecessors? And when is a sequel not really a sequel?

From blockbusters like Beverly Hills Cop II and Exorcist II, to lesser-known "cult films" like Curse of the Cat People and Shogun Assassin, Ballard-Beach surveys the past several decades of filmmaking in search of some of the best--and some of the worst--sequels ever made.

The movie's over...and the movie has just begun.