Hauntedween

Hauntedween is a 1991 horror film that was written and directed by Doug Robertson. The film was shot in Bowling Green, Kentucky, after which it took the director two years to release onto home video. Hauntedween centers upon a fraternity fundraiser held in an abandoned haunted house, where the staff is slaughtered by the masked son of the attraction's original owner.

Hauntedween
Directed by	Doug Robertson
Written by	Doug Robertson
Cinematography	Cory Lash
Edited by	Cory Lash
Music by	Ernest Raymer
Distributed by	Consumer Video Distributors Vinegar Syndrome
Release date	1991 (1991)
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$160,000

A sequel was planned, but was never released.

Synopsis

The film opens with a young Eddie Burber collecting admission for his mother's haunted house, as he has been told that he is too young to work inside. Frustrated, Eddie decides to sneak into the house and scare a girl around his age. The scare turns deadly and the girl is impaled on a spike. Eddie decapitates her before growing frightened and running into a nearby field. He is retrieved by his mother and the two flee to a cabin in the woods, where they live for the next twenty years. This seemingly peaceful life is interrupted when Eddie's mother dies, causing the man to snap and return with her body to their now closed and abandoned haunted house.

Meanwhile, a nearby fraternity is at risk of losing their charter, as they are behind on their dues. They decide to hold a fundraiser party. This proves to be unsuccessful as they are unable to attract enough participants and end up spending almost all of their funds on alcohol to keep the party going. During the party Eddie arrives at the home claiming to be a former member. He gives them a key and suggests that they re-open the old haunted house, which the members think is an excellent idea. Several of the members and their friends then fix up the house, unaware that Eddie has already killed one of the brothers and his girlfriend.

The fraternity opens the haunted house for a single night. Initially things go well and they make a large amount of money in a short period of time. However soon after Eddie appears and starts slaughtering several of the brothers and volunteers. Some of the murders occur in front of patrons, who assume that it is part of the show. Eventually the truth is revealed by one of the surviving brothers, Kurt, causing everyone to flee. Kurt overpowers Eddie with a flame thrower. He walks away, assuming that Eddie is now dead. This is shown to be wrong, as Eddie then bursts out of the barn driving a van. Someone shoots at the van, which explodes into flame. Despite this, the van continues to drive away just as the film cuts to credits.

Cast

• Brien Blakely as Kurt
• Blake Pickett as Mel
• Brad Hanks as Hanks
• Leslee Lacey as Sally
• Ethan Adler as Eddie Burber
• Bently Tittle as Bentley
• Tim Hubbard as Jack
• Franklin Martin as Farris
• Dan McNamara as Listen
• Angela Scanlan as JoAnne
• Lori Rae Nally as Donna

Development

Robertson has stated that it took him about three months to write the film's script and that pre-production took six weeks. Hauntedween was filmed in Bowling Green, Kentucky, during August 1989,^[1] over a period of 23 days on 16 mm film and with a budget of around $160,000.^[2] It would take him about two years to release the movie to home video.^[3] Locations used for the film included the Western Kentucky University campus.^[4]

Release

Hauntedween was initially intended to release during October 1990.^[5] This release was delayed until the following year; Robertson was offered three distribution contracts, however he chose to release it independently on VHS through Consumer Video Distributors at the Video Software Dealers Association convention in July 1991. 2,628 copies of the film were sold to directly to video stores at the convention, with the promise that if the VHS did not rent, stores could return the copies for a refund. Per Robertson, they made about $22,000 and none of the copies sold were returned.^[3][4]

In 2011 the film received a 20th anniversary DVD release and was screened at Western Kentucky University's South Lawn.^[4] The movie was later released through Vinegar Syndrome as part of a three disc Blu-ray box set along with Christopher Lewis's Revenge and Michael O'Rourke's Deadly Love.^[6][7]

Sequel

In 2015 Robertson announced his intent to create a sequel, Hauntedween 2: The Revenge of Eddie Burber, with Dustin Ferguson. The film would have been set 25 years after the events of the first movie and would have featured Tuesday Knight in an unspecified role.^[8] A crowdfunding campaign was run through Indiegogo.^[9]

Reception

Hauntedween received reviews from Bleeding Skull and Ben Nagy of JoeBobBriggs.com, the latter of whom rated it four stars and stated that it was "a special, earnest movie that mashes up Halloween, a 1980s college frat sex comedy and the performance-art aspects of Blood Sucking Freaks."^[10][11] Dread Central also recommended Hauntedween, calling it an underrated Halloween horror film.^[12] Yasmina Ketita reviewed Hauntedween for Rue Morgue, calling it "acceptable".^[13]