Jeff Betancourt, director of the straight-to-DVD horror film Boogeyman 2: Unrated Director’s Cut, told SCI FI Wire that his sequel has next to nothing to do with the original, a low-budget PG-13 theatrical movie that was a modest hit in 2005.

That is good to know. Really, because I remember the first one was terrible. (Coincidentally, this reminds me of Ghost House Pictures picking up Todd Farmer’s The Messengers script and turned that into a crapfest).

“I got the script, and [before reading it,] I was like, ‘Well, what could they really do with this?’” Betancourt said in an interview.

“And I was so excited that they went in a totally different direction, because whatever anyone thinks about the first movie, I felt like it was done. I didn’t think that anyone really wanted to see that story continue and so we got a chance to sort of start out fresh.”

Boogeyman 2 centers on Laura (Danielle Savre of Heroes), a young woman who has voluntarily checked herself into a mental institution in hopes of overcoming a fear of the Boogeyman, whom she claims killed her parents. When her fellow asylum residents begin dying violent deaths that reflect their own worst fears, Laura begins to believe the Boogeyman is back to get her.

Co-stars include Tobin Bell (Saw) and Renee O’Connor (Xena: Warrior Princess) as doctors and Mae Whitman (Avatar: The Last Airbender) as one of Laura’s fellow patients. They sure do like using Xena castmates in their flicks.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released Boogeyman 2: Unrated Director’s Cut on Jan. 8, but I don’t think anyone noticed.