Is the third time the charm?  Check out these wacky film trilogies to see if that's true or not.

Good things come in threes.  Jokes, threesomes and Chuck Norris' final kicks on Walker, Texas Ranger- just to name a few...or three.  In addition, film trilogies have proven to be very commonplace.  When you have a story that you just can't tell in one film, make a sequel.  When you still feel that a bit is lacking, make a third!  This became especially big once a video- and eventually DVD/Blu-Ray- market came about.  How else do we have The Grudge 3, people?!?  With so many film trilogies out there, we were bound to get some weird ones.  Hey, guess what I'm going to focus on!  From apocalypses to unrelated films to reboots, we've got it all.

12. Mad Max/Road Warrior/Beyond Thunderdome: The first stop on our tour is Australia- g'day!  The first film was an accidental hit and led to more.  With the second film, we suddenly have a nuclear apocalypse.  Oh, I see.  This big event was so important that it occurs in the opening narration and not, you know, the first film!  The third film jumps a giant number of years, so Max has a white streak in his hair.  Yeah, that covers it.  Never mind the truckload of new things thrown in here, so much that it makes it into basically two movies.  Don't believe me.  Watch the film up until Max is sent out on the donkey.  From that point on to the finale, you have a second film, complete with new characters, settings and plots to resolve!

11. The Three Mothers Trilogy: As a wise man once said, it's only a matter of time.  Suspiria was a hit for Dario Argento, both critically and financially.  He followed it up with Inferno, a story that was confusing, but visually-appealing.  After that, he waited- a lot!  27 years after that movie, he finally released The Third Mother.  He literally waited my entire lifespan between sequels!  Many things changed between films, including the inclusion of a killer monkey (Argento has a thing for animals), some freaky goth chicks and his daughter finally being old enough to star in the series.  That was worth the quarter of a century!

10. Corman's 'Carradine Trilogy': Here's a great example of how escalation works.  In 1975, Roger Corman made Death Race 2000, a satire film starring David Carradine that's about as subtle as Commando.  He followed that up with Deathsport, a film where Carradine is in a post-apocalyptic future driving motorcycles and swinging swords.  Finally, there was The Warrior and the Sorceress, a full-fledged sword and sorcery tale starring Carradine battling with a magic weapon.  So you went from the future with cars to the future with bikes and barbarians to a film with just barbarians.  Interesting.

9. 'The Kelton Trilogy': Ed Wood- what a card.  While he had a limited filmography (if you exclude his porn work), Wood managed to pop out a trilogy- at least, to him.  He produced Bride of the Monster, Plan 9 from Outer Space and Night of the Ghouls.  What do they have in common?  The same actor playing a dorky cop (Kelton).  That and a bit of silly dialog that I must now quote (to the best of my memory): 'Man, first that mad scientist, then the aliens and now this!'  Sigh.

8. Warlock I-III: All I ask for some continuity!  The original Warlock features Julian Sands escaping the Salem Witch trials and wreaking havoc in the present.  In Warlock II, Sand is back as a different Warlock- who is actually the Son of Satan.  How?  In Warlock III, he's no longer Sands, but is a weird wizard who is up to some vaguely-evil scheme.  If they don't explain it properly, why should I?  So yeah, there's that.

7. The Hills Have Eyes I-III: Yeah, here's a trilogy that people forget...for a reason.  The first film is a classic tale of a family escaping mutants in the desert.  The Hills Have Eyes: Part II is a mix of stock footage (from the first film) and some questionable retcons.  The big one: Pluto is alive, despite having his throat ripped out.  They just don't show the whole clip in the flashback, so it never happened!  The Hills Have Eyes III is a 1995 film by Wes Craven that...has nothing to do with anything.  However, it was produced by Craven, so it's now part of the 'series.'  Darn, I was really hoping for The Hills Have Eyes III: Deadly Friend!

6. Class of 1984/1999/1999 II: Speaking of escalation, here's another weird case.  Class of 1984 is a tale of rebellious teens in a future High School.  Hey look, Michael J. Fox.  A bit later, they made Class of 1999.  This film features the Principal (not the same one) going in a radical direction: hiring robot teachers!  Yes, robots.  A bit later, they made Class of 1999 II, which follows up on the tale.  I always love it when the film labeled II is actually the third film.  So yeah, robots.

5. Poltergeist I-III:  Here's an example of how real life can mess up your movie plans.  Poltergeist is a classic tale that shows a family trying to deal with their possessed house.  Poltergeist II moves the family to a new house, but the same problems arise.  In Poltergeist III, the lead girl ends up in Chicago and is still chased by the evil spirit.  Now, here's the catch: nearly every other actor in the film died during the production cycle.  Dominique Dunne (the older daughter) died between I and II, the villain from II died after production ended, as did Will Sampson.  Of course, the actress who played the daughter died after initial shooting ended for III, but before re-shoots.  Hello, awkwardly-shot film finale!

4. Troll I-III: Yeah, this had to make it on here, didn't it?  Troll tells the story of a family whose apartment building is overrun with the titular beasts.  Troll II features a town full of goblins, because...why the hell not?!?  Troll III (aka Contamination .07) is a movie about killer trees grown by radioactive dumping.  Why is this a series?  Why are there no trolls in part II and III?  Because- that's why!

3. Boogeyman I-III: Direct-to-DVD marketing leads to some weird and confusing things!  Boogeyman was a 2005 theatrical release involving a man confronting the demon from his past- literally.  Boogeyman II is the story of a mental asylum besieged by a serial killer with ironic sensibilities.  Boogeyman III is the story of a College Dorm attacked by the titular creature, empowered by people's fear of it.  How did we get here?  As a bonus, the first film is completely-ignored by the second and third one.  Oh yeah, they connect II to III by incorrectly-stating the events of it in a newspaper headline and Photshopping a picture of their actress with Tobin Bell (from II).  This is sad stuff.

2. Beyond the Door I-III: I love it when companies lie to you.  Beyond the Door is an Exorcist rip-off from Italy that is alright, but nothing more.  Beyond the Door II is a retitled Mario Bava film about a ghosts in a house.  Beyond the Door III is about a group of 'teens' on a train that is run by a Satanic cult.  No, really.  None of these relate, but lazy, international marketing say that they are sequels.  Sure- why not?

1. Xtro I-III: This one is a bit tricky, so stay with me!  Xtro is a British horror film about an formerly-human-alien infecting his still-human son and murder ensues.  Xtro II tells the tale of a military experiment involving inter-dimensional travel that ends in a killer alien attack.  Xtro III is a revenge tale involving a captured alien loose on an island.  Why are they so different?  Well, the director/writer did not retain the story rights after the first film, but did retain the title rights.  So he could make other films and call them Xtro II/III, but couldn't actually continue the story.  No, I'm not kidding.

For more film talk like this, go to my blog.  It wreaks of both yuletide and teen spirit.

Up next, Christmas Week deserves a special List.  This one will focus on the Silent Night, Deadly Night series and all of it's wacky decisions.  Stay tuned...