HauntedWeen – aka Hauntedween – is a 1991 American comedy horror film directed and co-scripted by Wm. Doug Robertson.
The movie stars Brien Blakely, Blake Pickett (They Bite; Dark Universe), Brad Hanks and Leslee Lacey and was filmed in Kentucky with local performers and crew over a two year period.
Plot:
The Burber Haunted House is a family run business. Horror obsessed young Eddie (he reads Famous Monsters of Filmland) tries to scare a young girl but when she’s accidentally impaled, Eddie flips and makes sure that she soon dies a swift death. His mother takes him away…
Twenty years later, a group of fraternity students are invited by a mysterious stranger — who claims to be an alumnus — to renovate the Burber house, start a new haunted house business and raise money for their sorority. Unfortunately, a killer is in residence and a massacre soon ensues. Plus, the spook show visitors don’t realise that the gory deaths they are witnessing are not just part of the show…
Review:
This is an amiable early 90s slasher movie that reflects regional US filmmakers having a go at releasing a VHS release (as it was then) on their own terms and generally succeeding in delivering what renters for such fare wanted. Humour in low budget movies can be painful but HauntedWeen manages to be agreeably tongue-in-cheek and delivers the cheap gory deaths and fleeting nudity necessary to appeal to young male horror fans.
The acting is generally acceptable and there’s more attempt at characterisation than usual in such offerings, plus a few musical numbers that don’t numb the brain as is often the case. Despite the awful title, HauntedWeen gets a surprising thumbs up!
Adrian J Smith, MOVIES and MANIA
Other reviews:
” … a fun little handmade film that works because it has the right sense of humor and pacing. Shots might not look as polished or composed as what you’ll find on an episode of American Horror Story, but scenes move along fast, and even though most of the killing doesn’t happen until the final 20 minutes or so, there are plenty of wacky masks, bare breasts, and entertainingly idiosyncratic moments to keep the film’s amiable pace steady.” Geek New Wave
