HauntedWeen – or Hauntedween — is a 1991 low budget American horror comedy directed and co-scripted by Wm. Doug Robertson. It stars Brien Blakely, Blake Pickett, Brad Hanks and Leslee Lacey and was filmed in Kentucky (also William Girdler’s base for Abby) with local performers and crew over a two year period.
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 alumni — 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…
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-cheeks and delivers the cheap gory deaths and fleeting nudity necessary to appeal to young male horror fans. Acting is ok 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, a surprising thumbs up!
Adrian J. Smith, Horrorpedia
‘The visuals in Hauntedween are certainly a step above many shot-on-video flicks, and it’s obvious that -– aside from being horror geeks -– the cast and crew put a lot of time and care into the work here. The result is 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
We are most grateful to Geek New Wave for some of the images above
