HauntedWeen

Hauntedween is a film that tiptoes on the fine line between clever indie brilliance and hokey B-movie charm, occasionally stumbling but never quite falling flat. The story-a dark psychological thriller with just a whiff of campfire horror-is nothing groundbreaking, but it's executed with enough originality to stand out in a genre cluttered with dime-a-dozen knockoffs. Think Halloween meets The Cabin in the Woods, if both were directed by someone who forgot their tripod.

The acting and direction are serviceable-nothing to write home about, but nothing to burn the house down over either. And the effects? Let's just say the wet-work is more "spray bottle of ketchup" than "Oscar-worthy gore." But there's an endearing sense of humour woven into the film's cheaper moments, like a knowing wink from a cult movie that's aware of its own limitations.

The biggest gripe here is the marketing: Hauntedween isn't horror-it's a psychological thriller that uses horror tropes as window dressing. So, if you're expecting spine-chilling terror, you'll be left colder than a cemetery breeze. That said, this is a thoroughly entertaining watch for those who appreciate a clever story with some campy seasoning. Grab some popcorn and let the low-budget mayhem roll.

I had never heard about this movie that carried the odd title of "HauntedWeen" when I stumbled upon it here in 2024. But with it being a horror comedy that I had not seen, much less ever heard about, of course I opted to watch it, as I do enjoy horror comedies.

It should be noted that I didn't really expect much from the movie, given its title and the fact that I had never heard about it. So in a sense, writer and director Doug Robertson had every opportunity to entertain and impress me with this 1991 movie.

The movie starts out with a theme that definitely were riding along on the success of the theme from the "Halloween" franchise, except it wasn't nearly as memorable or catchy a tune.

The storyline was very much something you'd expect from a late 1980s horror movie, so I guess writer Doug Robertson was straggling a couple of years behind schedule. So was it a good movie? No, not really. It was rather bland and generic, and didn't manage to stand out among so many other, and far better, horror movies from the same period of time. And that makes "HauntedWeen" a rather forgettable movie. There were a couple of kills throughout the course of the movie, but hardly something that made it particularly worthwhile sitting through 88 minutes.

"HauntedWeen" is listed as a horror comedy, but there wasn't an ounce of comedy throughout the course of the movie.

I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. Some of the performances were fair enough, while others were somewhat rigid and wooden. Not exactly the finest moment of horror cinema.

This is not a movie that I would recommend to horror fans. Nor is it a movie that will ever make a second round on my screen.

My rating of writer and director Doug Robertson's 1991 horror comedy "HauntedWeen" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

I don't really like most horror films from the 1990s. I feel that the 1990s was the worst decade for horror films, with tons upon tons of horror films that were just well were not very good, and this movie well, it's not well acted but at least you can tell the people who were making it had a good time doing so. it's silly, yes, but it was also a rather enjoyable romp. It is certainly better then a whole shitload of horror films that were made between 1990 - 1999, and frankly that's good enough for me.

A slight recommendation, rent or buy a copy if you can find it cheap at a local video store. It's not going to be your new favorite horror film but it's a good way to spend 90 minutes.

I found this movie in 2001 at a local video store's "for sale rack" not knowing what it was, I've thoroughly enjoyed it every few years since. It was also fun to see it was filmed at Western University in Ky and I live across the state in Louisville. It's full of boob action and light on the blood which is nice because I'm usually No into slasher. There's a lot of corny things in it that I think of from time to to time. The silly theme song in it is terrible but it's going to get stuck in your head forever. There's a lot of stuff to laugh at watching it now. The poofy hair and ignorant lines that the girls have to say. Also funny, how all the people that live in this town at the haunted house must be sadomasochist "like kill her!!! Yeahh! I know there was a documentary about the movie too and I look forward to watching it.

I remember watching this movie many years ago with my cousins, my aunt, and her boyfriend. The latter, both more than 10 years older than me, were students at Western Kentucky University and had some friends who were in the movie, which is why we watched it in the first place. It made for a pleasant popcorn movie night, nothing too scary or overly risqué for a bunch of preteens. To answer a comment from another IMDb reviewer, it's not a wonder that not everyone in the movie was southern. The cast members were WKU students, who come from all over the country. I remember the movie as basically an excuse to show co-ed breasts and well-toned calf muscles (those hills around the campus are good for something!). But if you're into a bit of eye candy and an innocuous, generic horror plot, it's not the worst thing in the world you could watch. Honestly, I was surprised to find this movie listed on IMDb at all, since the budget was about $20.