return to house on haunted hill Tagged Articles at Cinematical

You thought that with all the love we've been throwing at Austin's Fantastic Fest we'd probably forget all about good ol' L.A. Screamfest. Not with me on horror watch! The event runs from October 12 to 20, and if you happen to be located anywhere near the legendary Mann's Chinese Theater -- you just might want to duck inside to see what sort of murderous mayhem is going on.

And the Screamfest looks to be starting off on the right foot this year: Last night's opening night film was George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead! After much praise from the audiences at Toronto and Fantastic Fest, the master's latest zombie opus will hit the west coast with much excitement and gore. And the fun doesn't stop there. The festival will also offer Robert Rodriguez's director's cut of Planet Terror (which is awesome) and a 25th Anniversary screening (and cast reunion) of Friday the 13th Part 3. Yes, in 3-D!

Attendees will also get to check out the long-awaited DVDquel Return to House on Haunted Hill, a screening of the great-looking 30 Days of Night (and the video prequels Blood Trails), David Arquette's festival fave The Tripper, and a variety of genre titles of various shapes, sizes and nationalities. Of the Screamfest flicks we've seen, we've already given a strong seal of approval on the quiet but creepy Alone, the robust zest of Wrong Turn 2, the Pakistani lunacy known as Hell's Ground, , the freakishly ferocious Inside, and the apocalyptic awesomeness that is The Signal. Plus I keep hearing that Shrooms is pretty amusing, Buried Alive is gruesome, and Storm Warning is really solid.

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!

Well if Warner Bros. was trying to hatch a new and novel concept in an industry generally known for warmed-up leftovers, here it is: Apparently that direct-to-video House on Haunted Hill sequel will be using what the DVD geeks know as "branching" technology to put the viewer in control of the story. Put another way: If you've ever read one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books, that's what we're looking at here -- only in movie form. (There actually is a Choose Your Own Adventure DVD, which is for kids, but it's pretty nifty all the same.)

According to the Wall Street Journal and Return to House on Haunted Hill producer Joel Silver, the DTV sequel "will give viewers the option to pick different story lines and four alternative endings." (Thanks to Bloody-Disgusting.com for sharing the news, because WSJ.com is a subscription-only website.) This would represent a big step forward from New Line's Final Destination 3 DVD, which took only a few baby steps in the "choose your own plot" direction. And frankly I think it's a very cool little gimmick. Let's face it: Something called "Return to House on Haunted Hill" was, fun flick or awful trash, destined to hit video stacks as yet-another-DTV sequel, but now with this potentially amusing little interactive twist, it could make for a really entertaining novelty flick.

Directed by Victor Garcia, RTHOHH doesn't have a definite release date yet, but the movie just went from a "mild curiosity" to something I hope to review on this very website. Here's hoping the producers have opted to present an "official version" along with all the branching options. It would make the reviewers' job so much easier.

Back in June, Bloody-Disgusting.com brought word that there would soon be a direct-to-video sequel inspired by the remake of House on Haunted Hill, and so I shared the news here. Now comes word (from the same source) that not only has the flick wrapped production, but also that we've now got a big fat cast list to pick through. So let's see who's on board (I'm betting Rutger Hauer is somehow involved).

Lining of for a Return to House on Haunted Hill* will be horror veterans Cerina Vincent, Erik Palladino, Jeffrey Combs and a few other semi-familiar faces, most of whom will no doubt be devoured by evil spirits. Fans of the original House (and by original I mean remake) will remember that its strangely eclectic cast included the likes of Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen and ... Chris Kattan -- as the obnoxious one, if you can believe it.

The video sequel comes from first-time director Victor Garcia and equally first-time screenwriter William Massa; it also marks Dark Castle's first foray into the DTV market, but considering the outfit's body of work (13 Ghosts, Ghost Ship, Gothika, House of Wax), I'm guessing it's not all that steep of a leap. No word yet on when Return to House on Haunted Hill will be released, although I'm sure it'll be a "long wait" title at Netflix for at least a week.

( * The title is already a filthy lie; if none of these characters were even in the first movie, how could they be making a return to the haunted house?)

Alas, no Rutger Hauer.