If it had any other title, Lost Boys 2: The Tribe wouldn't provoke any outrage. But if it had any other title, would anybody give it a second glance? I harbored a ray of hope, but it doesn't take very long to realize that Lost Boys 2: The Tribe was always destined for the direct to video garbage heap.

The 1987 original, photographed by the superbly talented Michael Chapman, was super stylish and jammed with juicy performances, cynical wisecracks, and post-modern tweaks to cinematic vampire legends. The best idea was placing fanged lords of the night in a sun-soaked California coastal town populated by aging hippies and freaks, not to mention a boardwalk, rollercoaster, and great, crashing surf.

As a budget sequel, LB2 has to make do with less attractive, less flattering video imagery and the rockier Canadian coastline standing in for "Santa Carla" * (actually, Santa Cruz, California). The script by Hans Rodionoff makes some half-hearted attempts to tie in the original (antlers and motorcycles, anyone?), but is bereft of any new twists of its own. Director P. J. Pesce makes certain to include the obligatory amount of gore required to justify the so-called "uncut" version, with notable attention to ripped throats and spilled intestines, along with bared body parts displayed by lovelies such as Moneca Delain. LB2 has precisely two good moments -- one in the opening scene, provided by Tom Savini -- stranded within 94 minutes of running time.

I've read my fair share of plot summaries, and I have to say -- this one is definitely interesting, and strange enough that it could be good. So The Hollywood Reporter posts that there's this new indie black comedy on the way, Possessions, and it will star Trent Ford (The West Wing), Jaime Murray (the crazy Lila on Dexter), and Autumn Reeser (The OC). The film was written, and will be directed by, newcomer Nathan Adolfson. But the plot's the key.

According to this job post, the film will focus on a dude named Orlando (Ford) who is dying from cancer. "Resigned to his fate, all he wants is to be left alone with his alcohol and drugs. But his hopes of solitude are destroyed when he wakes to hear Jean-Luc, an incessantly chatty Frenchman who happens to be a voice in his head. Now, in addition to cancer, Orlando must deal with Jean-Luc's never-ending questions and commentary, as well as the discovery that Jean-Luc is slowly taking over every sense of his body (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch)."

Strange, eh? I guess if Orlando isn't going to make use of it, Jean-Luc will pick up the slack. THR says that Murray and Reeser "form an odd quadrangle" with the struggling man. Production began Friday in Los Angeles.

Eminently rewatchable, a near-perfect slice of California cool versus East Coast paranoia, dancing on the edge of the truly ridiculous, The Lost Boys neatly captured the zeitgeist in 1987. Pitting a gang of ultra-hip young thrill-seeking vampires against a town that epitomized Middle American values was a master stroke. As Scott Weinberg commented more than a year ago, fans have been clamoring for a sequel ever since. Scott reported that a sequel was finally in the works, but that it would be direct to video, filmed in sunny San Diego, and revolve around Surfer Vampires.

Monika Bartyzel told us that Autumn Reeser (my favorite cute, insecure wisecracker from The OC) had been added to the cast as "a girl who moves with her brother to Trinidad, California and is seduced by the leader of the vamp surfers." Erik Davis broke our hearts with the news that Corey Haim would not be appearing in the film * (see update below), though Corey Feldman is still intact (phew!) and the production had moved to Vancouver.

To whet your appetite further, ShockTillYouDrop has an exclusive look at a new fang-tabulous still from The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. You can check it out in all its full-blooded splendor at their site, where you can also see who's underneath the bloody vampire. Shock also lists Tad Hilgenbrink (American Pie Presents Band Camp) and Angus Sutherland as additional cast members. P.J. Pesce directs. Look for it to hit DVD shelves this July.

UPDATE: As our faithful commenters kindly pointed out, Corey Haim will indeed be making an appearance, as reported by someone at some movie site I really should read once in a while. Thank you, readers!

So I'm usually not one to get all worked up about a remake/sequel of a favorite film. (lord knows it happens often enough) You just sort of get used to it. However I have yet to work up that Zen attitude for the straight-to-DVD sequel to The Lost Boys, which looks like it'll go by the title Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. Let's just say I have a bad feeling about the whole thing. Moviehole.net is reporting that sources have confirmed that Warner Premiere (the direct-to-DVD production arm of Warner Bros.) has already started casting their teen bloodsuckers. According to Moviehole's sources; Angus Sutherland -- Keifer's half-brother, will be joined by, Kyle Cassie (Devour), Shaun Sipos (The Grudge 2) and Merwin Mondesir (Godsend) as fellow 'Lost Boys'.

This time the story focuses on another pair of siblings who move to Trinidad, California (What? No Santa Carla?) and are targeted by the vampire gang. This time it's not about motorcycles, it's all about the surfboards -- that's right, vampire surfers. Back in January, Scott confirmed that not only was a sequel in the works, but that already it had been pegged for the straight to video market -- which is never a good sign. Then just last June Monika gave us the news that Autumn Reeser (best known as Taylor on The OC) had been hired to play the new girl in town who is seduced by the vampire surfers. Since then it has been reported that living cautionary tales for child stars everywhere Corey Feldman and Corey Haim would be returning to reprise their roles from the first film. (Although Haim's involvement is still up for debate due to some pesky immigration issues.) So I might be biased when I say that with an expanding C-list cast and a ridiculous plot even for a vampire movie ... as much as I love the original, it's probably for the best that this flick is going straight to the DVD bin.

There's lots of small casting announcements popping up over the last few days -- some of which might make you oooo, ahhh or possibly convulse in repulsion:

• Back in May, I told you that John Turturro was going to be the Evil Mouse King in the upcoming film, Nutcracker: The Untold Story. Since then, it seems that the name has been changed to Nutcracker: The True Story (I guess they weren't getting enough cred with the untold version), Variety reports that Odyssey Entertainment will take care of international sales and the cast has been completed. When word first came out, Turturro was joined by Nathan Lane and Elle Fanning. Now the list includes the wonderful Richard E. Grant added as Father, and Frances de la Tour added as the Rat Mother/Fraulein Eva.

The Hollywood Reporter also has a slew of casting updates up, check these out:

• Autumn Reeser, Taylor from The OC, has been added to the cast of the much-feared Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. If you remember, this film is going to deal with vampire surfers, and rumor was that both of the Coreys were going to be in it. In a bit of unoriginality, she'll play a girl who moves with her brother to Trinidad, California and is seduced by the leader of the vamp surfers. Can she live up to the likes of Jason Patric and Jami Gertz?
• Jessica Walter, who you might remember as Lucille Bluth* on Arrested Development, is going to play Luke Wilson's mother in the upcoming Henry Poole is Here. The film is about a depressed and terminally-ill man whose life is changed by a miracle -- seeing a stain on the wall that looks like the face of Christ. Jesus shows up in the strangest of places.. I imagine Lucille making the poor guy's life hell, but it seems that this mom is more focused on Wilson's lack of ambition and interest in other people. Anyhow, you can check out more info on the film in our posts here, here and here.
• Rounding things out -- Mark Feuerstein, Mia Wasikowska and Ravil Isyanov have joined Defiance, the Holocaust drama, Lindsey Kraft has signed on to See You in September and Melissa Keller is joining Brian Austin Green in an indie thriller called Breaking Point. (How exciting is that?)

* Good lord, I have no idea how or why my fingers typed "Booth!" Thanks for the catch, dear readers! -MB

Last time we told you about Lost Boys 2, Corey Haim was bent over, arms wrapped around Corey Feldman, crying like a guy who just realized his various drug addictions had caused his career to go into the toilet. The scene was part of the new "reality" show The Two Coreys, and it began when Feldman told Haim they were making a direct-to-DVD Lost Boys sequel without, well, the two Coreys. Feldman insisted that he had been asked to make a cameo, but wasn't going to if Haim wasn't invited to join in on the fun too. Now, however, it appears a lot has changed. ShockTillYouDrop is reporting (via an anonymous source) that not only are Feldman and Haim returning for the sequel, but fellow Frog brother Jamison Newlander (who also appeared on the "reality" show in the same episode) will join them.

And just when you thought things couldn't get any stranger, the horror site also claims Keifer Sutherland's half-brother, Angus Sutherland, has been cast as the film's vampire villain. (For those not familiar with the original, Kiefer himself played villain.) His half-brother. Angus. I love it! Tad Hilgenbrink and Autumn Reeser have been cast in the lead roles, while P.J. Pesce (From Dusk Till Dawn 3) will direct. Production is set to begin a week from tomorrow. Now I'm not one to anticipate direct-to-DVD sequels, but this one has the potential of being so damn bad, I'm almost dying to see it. If anything, it should be fascinating to watch Feldman, Haim and Newlander together again, on the small screen, for the first time in 20 years. Hopefully some movie theater out there will host a screening of the sequel, because for my money, I want to witness this atrocity on the big screen first.