"Return to House on Haunted Hill" takes place a few years after the 1999
version. The sole survivors are not seen in this sequel, but are merely mentioned. Sara Wolfe's (One of the
survivors from the first movie) sister enters the house against her will to recover an idol that is apparently causing
hell to break loose ... literally.
The first movie may not have been perceived well by a lot of the audience and most of the critics, but I was a fan ...
well, up until the last ten minutes that is. It had a lot of things going for it, such as: The hot leading lady
played by Famke Janssen. It also had some of the freakiest scenes I've seen in a long time, which was caused by a small
feature they added to each ghost ... the twitching of the head. But enough of the first movie, let's talk about the
second one.
Although it's based on the "House on Haunted Hill" movies, it wasn't necessary to even use that title for this film.
It may have been better to use an all new name, so the people who saw the first one and hated it would pick this
one up and watch it. To me, it just seemed that they were milking the title for every little drop they could get.
And the twitching of the head effect that I mentioned in the paragraph above was rarely seen ... and if it was seen it didn't
give off the same feeling.
I did enjoy the fact that the used the same house (set) for this version. It may not have been the same
set, but it looked exactly like I remember the house looking. From the details of the lobby - to the glass still on
the lobby table which fell in the first half of the 1999 movie. It was also nice to see Jeffrey Combs playing good 'ole
Dr. Vannacutt, a lot of times studios use different people for sequels ... especially since it's been eight years since the
first one. Even though Mr. Combs reprises his role as the evil doctor, his character seemed different ... maybe it was
because he was more of a main character than a background image.
The acting was well above par for a straight to DVD movie, but not nearly as good as the first. I actually wish they
released it to the theaters instead of straight to DVD ... it would have done considerably well in the box office because
it was better than most straight to DVD titles I've seen in the last few years.
Bottom line is - it has a decent storyline that is different from the last movie, good acting, and some chilling moments
that you shouldn't miss ... if you're afraid to buy the movie, at least grab some beer, cold pizza, and pop in a rental.
I don't think you'll regret it.
