Sunday Scaries: The ‘A Quiet Place’ Franchise Has Quietly Become One of Horror’s Best

The Sunday Scaries are upon us once again! Yes, as the weekend concludes, most of us feel an oncoming sense of anticipatory dread about the week ahead. Anxiety about work manifests itself into a feeling that’s known as the Sunday Scaries. However, we at Awards Radar are here to combat that, by taking back the name. Now, we want you think about a horror-centric piece on the site when you hear the term. So, let us continue on with another installment of the Awards Radar Sunday Scaries! Today, we’re looking at how we’ve, under the radar, gotten a first rate new horror franchise…

A Quiet Place was never meant to start a franchise. The horror film from John Krasinski, which he co-starred in with his wife Emily Blunt, surprised in all manner, starting up what is now a full fledged series. There’s a sequel, A Quiet Place Part II, which Krasinski helmed and the entire cast returned for, as well as this weekend’s prequel, A Quiet Place: Day One. All of a sudden, there’s a trilogy. When you look at the overall reception, this might be one of the best received horror properties out there, with no obvious signs of slowing down.

The first film wasn’t just a pleasant surprise and a hit, but it was a legitimate awards contender. It ended up just missing in several Academy Award categories, though it did swing an Oscar nomination for Best Sound Editing. Most notably, Blunt scored a mildly shocking Best Supporting Actress win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. There ended up being a sheen of prestige to it when all was said and done, which is rare for horror, as we all know.

With A Quiet Place Part II, we had a sequel that managed to continue the story in a largely satisfying manner. The awards aspect mostly faded, but in terms of entertainment value and effective filmmaking? It was more than on the money. There wasn’t necessarily an obvious place to go forward for a third part, but the powers that be managed to find a way, ironically by looking backwards.

Now, we have the prequel, which the general consensus is, well…is so much better than it was expected to be. Closer to Aliens than Alien, franchise wise, it’s more of a blockbuster, but somehow just as intimate. A switch to Michael Sarnoski co-writing (with Krasinski) and directing breathed new life, as well as a largely new cast, headlined by Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, and an excellent cinematic cat.

My review here said the following about A Quiet Place: Day One. Take a look:

Despite enjoying both prior films in the franchise quite a bit, I actually went into A Quiet Place: Day One with some level of apprehension. A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II had managed to find smaller, more character based stories within a monster movie premise. Would this prequel, trafficking in more blockbuster territory, have any hope of capturing that same feeling? Well, to my surprise, the answer is a resounding yes.

A Quiet Place: Day One is the rare prequel that doesn’t exist purely as a money grab. Having an interesting filmmaker like Michael Sarnoski at the helm certainly helps, but resisting the urge to fully make this a dumb blockbuster really makes all the difference. There are science fiction and horror tropes at play, but we’re always meant to be invested in our survivors. It’s a different flavor than the last two flicks in some ways, but in others, it’s clearly part of a whole.

As you can see, we have A Quiet Place the property in a very good place. I have to assume that more are coming, and as long as they maintain this level of quality, I’m all for it. If that’s the case, it could wind up an all-timer of a franchise. As it stands now, this series is already one of the best reviewed and highest quality for the genre. It wasn’t the plan, but now that a third installment is here, that’s just what happens when you do horror right.

Stay tuned for another Sunday Scaries installment next week!