Hauntedween is getting a sequel. You’ll probably have one of two reactions to that news. One is something along the lines of, “What the fuck is Hauntedween?” and the other is more like, “Holy shit, really? They’re making a sequel to Hauntedween!? Now!?”
Either reaction would be completely appropriate. It’s not the most well known of early 90s slashers. It’s a low budget bit of fun that some (including myself) mostly likely encountered at a mom and pop video store years ago. If you’re from Kentucky, there’s a better chance you’ve heard of it, as that’s where it’s from, but even around the state it’s not exactly a well-known classic. I lived in Kentucky for many years, renting many, many VHS horror movies from various video stores before I ever stumbled upon it about ten years after its release. Yet Hauntedween’s presence was not limited to the area by any means.
I spoke with director Doug Robertson about the film last year, and he told me that back in 1991, the film was sold into 22 states across the country. I managed to track down my copy on eBay about a decade ago, though it has since come to DVD with decidedly less exciting cover art.
The film follows a fraternity trying to raise money by putting on a haunted house for Halloween. The house they use for it turns out to belong to a killer, who has been hiding out for year. As you might guess, the event turns into a real life horror show.
Now, in 2015, a sequel is set to start production in July from filmmaker Dustin Ferguson.
Robertson tells me, “I’m not involved in the writing or any part of the production. I simply have an agreement with him to call the movie Hauntedween 2. Originally he was going to do a remake of Hauntedween but then decided to do a sequel instead. Dustin seems like a good guy I wish him all the best.”
We shot Ferguson himself some questions about Hauntedween 2: The Revenge of Eddie Burber, and it sounds like his heart is in the right place. Even better, it might actually have Tuesday Knight in it!
I’ve directed 19 feature films and over 60 music videos. I was the editor on “Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor”, I’ve directed several horror sequels and remakes such as: “The Legacy of Boggy Creek” (a sequel to The Legend of Boggy Creek) a remake of “Die Sister, Die!” a spin-off of “Cheerleader Camp” called “Cheerleader Camp To The Death”, “Silent Night, Bloody Night 2” and several others. I’ve also worked with several bigger artists like KMFDM, Lords of Acid, X-Marks The Pedwalk, Egyptian Lover and Katalina making music videos.
If you’ve watched thru the end credits of Hauntedween you’ll notice they promised a Part 2. While that was sort of always meant as a joke, the potential was always there. I’m a huge horror fan (I own over 5000 horror films on various formats) and Hauntedween was always a personal favorite. I’m working on my 20th feature film now and all of my movies have been made in the same sort of fashion as Hauntedween and usually carries that same sort of charm. After re-watching it last year I got to thinking about a remake. A movie LIKE Hauntedween, but set in modern day, yet made in the same sort of manner as that one (all locals, everyone wears multiple hats, practical f/x, low budget). I reached out to Doug Robertson on Facebook and approached him with the idea. After some talking we both decided a sequel might actually be better for several reasons: it was advertised in Part 1, a sequel would direct attention to his original film, whereas a remake might even go unknown as a remake, besides every horror fan knows that true sequels ARE ALWAYS BETTER THAN REMAKES plain and simple. To see Eddie Burber killing again is something HauntedWeen fans thought would never happen. It’s not 1991 anymore. How fun to see something that obscure resurrected with a sequel? It had to happen for the fans of the original as well as to sort of expose the material to younger audiences. Besides, if it was going to happen, I couldn’t live with myself if I couldn’t be the one to do it.
It will be as close as it gets to the original. My hope is that people will watch this and SWEAR Doug directed it himself like a year after the original. That’s sort of what we are going for. However, while it will start with the ending of Part 1 (including a couple new scenes set in 1991) it will actually jump to Halloween, 25 years later. It’s being filmed in a small town in Nebraska, so it will have that same “look” and “feel” of Part 1 and the prime location is a place called Roca Scary Farm, that looks like it fell out of the 80s. It’s loaded with old skool haunted houses, a corn field maze, old monster cut-outs, a scary mile long walk, all sorts of things you just don’t find at most modern haunted attractions these days. It’s perfect and will really look similar to the Burber House once the set is designed.
Kind of, ha! There has been 4 totally different outlines written, and the actual script is being written as we speak. It’s been a complicated process because of a switch between distributors, producers and so many “hands in the bucket” so to speak. We need to please the fans first and to make something that will actually translate as a good sequel. Horror fans are pretty skeptical when it comes to new sequels or remakes. There’s really a fine line you walk between being too repetitive and being too different. It needs to feel fresh and new while still maintaining the spirit of the original. We won’t shoot it until we have the perfect script. And it’s finally almost there.
We’ve got a few names pending yes, the only one I can probably mention is Tuesday Knight (star of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4) but nothing is set in stone yet and we are trying to work it out with me directing a music video for her “Nightmare” EP re-release at the same time we film HauntedWeen 2 so we can kill 2 birds with one stone essentially. The other couple people haven’t committed until they’ve seen a script, which should be very soon!
It will be shot on a modest budget like Part 1, but on HD with some elements being shot on VHS (!). Doug Robertson himself will be here for most of the production to oversee all the aspects. Screamtime Films (owned by Todd Jason Falcon Cook – another indie horror cult director) will be distributing the film on both DVD and VHS and we have an official Facebook page here where you can follow all of our updates!
https://www.facebook.com/Hauntedween2?fref=ts
