EXCLUSIVE: RLJE Films, a brand under the RLJ Entertainment umbrella, has acquired North American rights to The Houses October Built 2, a horror sequel to the 2014 found-footage haunted-house pic. Original director/co-writer/star Bobby Roe returns, as does his ensemble cast of Brandy Schaefer, Zack Andrews, Mikey Roe and Jeff Larson. A September theatrical and VOD bow is in the works. Steven Schneider (Insidious, Split) produced with Andrews.

Penned by Andrews and Roe, the new pic picks up the five haunted-house enthusiast friends still trying to recover from the trauma of being kidnapped last Halloween by the Blue Skeleton — a group who takes “extreme haunt” to another level. They decide to face their fears in order to move on and go back out on the road to find more haunted houses, but signs of the Blue Skeleton start appearing again.

RLJ Entertainment chief acquisitions officer Mark Ward and Jess De Leo negotiated the Houses 2 deal with Andrews. It joins the company’s upcoming release slate that includes Once Upon a Time in Venice with Bruce Willis, Bushwick with Dave Bautista and Brittany Snow and Pilgrimage with Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal.