Houston High School was the birthplace of Old School Pictures, a filmmaking collective that has produced a series of digital video comedies, thrillers and shockers for an audience that slowly has expanded beyond its original circle of friends, parents and teachers.

"Collective" is perhaps too formal a word to use for Old School, even though the commercially ambitious group received some artistic validation last year when its Sixth Sense-like ghost story, The Path of Fear, was named best local narrative feature at the fifth annual Indie Memphis Film Festival.

"We're basically a group of friends who love movies," said Brad Ellis, 23, co-director of The Path of Fear and director of Hustled 2, the new Old School picture scheduled to premiere tonight at Malco's Trinity Commons 9 in Cordova, with screenings at 10:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. (Don't worry - the theater's power returned Wednesday night.)

Hustled 2 is Old School's fifth feature since the summer of 2000, and a sequel to its first, titled (what else?) Hustled. That was the project that convinced the five Old School founders - Ellis, Matt Weatherly, Mark Norris, Allen Gardner and Joey Watson - that they not only enjoyed making movies but could produce something they were proud of, even without professional experience or much of a budget.

Ellis describes Hustled 2 as "the ultimate live-action cartoon," a sort of Old School equivalent of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back aimed at fans who appreciated the "completely absurd and unrealistic universe" of its predecessor.

The movie - peopled with veteran Old School actors - stars Gardner (who also wrote the script) and Norris as a pair of pool hustlers and two-bit con artists who set off on a road trip to Las Vegas in hopes of a "big score." Their goal is complicated by the hot pursuit of their vengeful ex-girlfriends (Gaby Rodrigues and Lauren Chapman).

After the original Hustled, Old School produced three followups in rapid succession, all directed by Ellis: Halloween 2000, an unauthorized remake/update of the John Carpenter slasher classic; Means to an End, a twisty mystery-thriller; and The Path of Fear (co-directed by Watson), about a group of high school friends whose lives are changed after an encounter with the ghost of a little girl in an abandoned theater.

"To be perfectly honest, the break from a dramatic film to one that is nothing but silly and lighthearted was a welcome change for us," Ellis said. "Hustled 2 certainly isn't going to win any awards or film festivals, but for what it's worth, we had a blast making it."

Ellis, Gardner, 22, Norris, 21, and Weatherly, 22, are listed as the producers of Hustled 2, with Ellis the co-editor and director of photography and Weatherly the co-editor and graphics designer. Chapman acted as production supervisor.

The 30-year-old Watson - the unofficial mentor of the group - wasn't involved in Hustled 2 because he was too busy writing the screenplay for the friends' next film.

Ellis said Old School exists due to "a twist of fate." He and Gardner - longtime friends and film buffs who taped their own Siskel-and-Ebert-inspired movie review show during middle school - were encouraged to transform their movie love into something serious by their theater arts teacher at Houston High, Natalie Parker.

In their film production class at Houston, the friends bonded with Weatherly and Norris. Watson - now an instructor in the Communication Department at the University of Memphis - was the film and video teacher at Houston, and he encouraged the friends to pursue feature-length projects, even becoming part of the team.

"I told them we would all make movies together," Watson said. "They had and still have an amazing amount of creative and technical talent. They understand filmmaking better than many professionals I know."

Unlike some independent filmmakers, the Old School collaborators produce accessible rather than experimental or arty movies. Their movies lack production values, but Ellis and friends have demonstrated a true understanding of composition, camera placement, editing and the other key elements of cinematic storytelling.

Now, the friends - who graduated from Houston in 1999 - are preparing for post-college life. Gardner already is in Los Angeles, pursuing a professional acting career. Ellis said he and the others - all film students at the U of M - may follow, but they aren't sure.

"Either way, I know all of us belong in the entertainment industry, and whether that means Hollywood or another city has yet to be determined," Ellis said. "But whatever the future holds for us, I can say with certainty that we will always make movies, even if only as a hobby. The satisfaction you get from hours and hours of teamwork and hard labor is absolutely worth it when people come out to support you. They may not like the film you've put together, but they know you've put your heart into it."

Tickets to Hustled 2 are $5 each. For more information, http://www.oldschoolpictures.net.

- John Beifuss: 529-2394