dvd sequel Tagged Articles at Cinematical

For some strange reason we've been covering the hell out of a movie called Return to House on Haunted Hill. Sure, we'll write up little pieces about direct-to-video sequels whenever they're interesting or amusing, but there's something a little extra-special about this particular DTV title -- and I'm sure you've already read about it by now. Through the magic of DVD technology, RTHOHH will be the world's first 'choose your own path' horror movie. (I was going to say 'choose your own adventure' but out of respect for the silly little book series that I devoured as a kid ... I went with 'path'.)

Joel Silver has been hyping this "revolutionary" video release for the last several months, and now we finally have a look at some footage. Bloody-Disgusting.com is linking to the apparently-YouTube-exclusive first trailer for Return, so click right here to get a peek at that clip. (They also give you access to a Quicktime version, which is always nice.) Aside from the multi-multi-branching option, the movie looks to be just another haunted house romp, only with a generous dose of gore because that's what horror flicks are (mostly) like these days.

But as the trailer spun, I noticed something a little strange: The words "exclusive to HD" (or something) ran across the screen as the announcer was describing the 'pick the options you want' feature. So now it's time to do a little digging...

First stop, Amazon.com: There you'll find four listings for Return to House on Haunted Hill: The HD-DVD (81 minutes), the Blu-Ray DVD (81m) and two regular DVDs, one at 81m and another at 79m -- which tells me that the "normal" DVD will also be available in an R-rated version, as if anyone would want that. No info on if the 'branching story" option is indeed exclusive to the next-gen DVD players. Then a Google search led me to this press release, and that's where the news was confirmed: Apparently this whole "multi-story" option was just a shameless ploy to get you to buy an HD or Blu-Ray DVD player. The regular DVD releases will offer the linear story only, plus some featurettes and such.

LAME!

Like most people of my generation, I really loved The Goonies when I was growing up. I was the perfect age for the flick when it first came out, and although I still enjoy the movie, I'd be lying if I said, well, the flick's a bit louder, goofier and dumber than it was in 1985. Still, a fun little confection that I do pop into my DVD player from time to time -- and like most of you, I'd be very curious to see Richard Donner bring the whole cast back together for a sequel. Apparently it's almost happened once or twice, but now it looks to be a completely dead project.

The final nail in the Goonies 2 coffin seems to have arrived in the form of a Richard Donner interview over at IESB.net. It's there that the very successful director of Superman, Scrooged and the Lethal Weapon series mentioned that Warner Bros. might be mounting a direct-to-video (shot in 11 days?) sorta sequel to The Goonies. Because that's what's popular and profitable these days: Delivering a bunch of in-name-only follow-ups to popular films and then unleashing them directly to video. (Anyone out there rent The Sandlot 3 yet? Didn't think so.)

Mr. Donner hints that he might soon be directing a Western movie, but it seems a foregone conclusion that a "real" Goonies sequel will never happen. But hey, we now have a DTV release to "look forward" to! Maybe they'll get Josh Brolin and Kerri Green to come back as parents whose kids go on a mega-cool subterranean adventure that involves pirates, gold and a budget of about $2.1 million. Sheesh. More details as they ooze out of WB's chintzy sequel division.