Through a series of events too convoluted to talk about here, I was put in contact with Doug Robertson, the director of the 1991 slasher film: HauntedWeen. The film was shot in my hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky and Doug was very kind to consent to an interview for Doomed Moviethon. Before I go, I’d like to thank him for being my first interviewee. Because of this interview, Richard doubled has my pay and promoted me to 2nd Executive Senior Corespondent. Enjoy!

Brad Hogue: What was the genesis for HauntedWeen?

Doug Robertson: The idea came completely from my brain. I wanted to write an easy movie to make. So the scenes, dialogue, and ideas were all built around the concept of few locations while keeping camera set ups to a minimum. We knew we only had three weeks to shoot a movie.

Had you shot any short films before this or was this your first plunge into directing?

I directed a scene in college. We shot 16mm film for a 2 minute project. I also directed many projects we shot on video. I also made a dozen or so commercials on video. But this was the first big project.

How much did knowing that John Carpenter had lived in Bowling Green and referenced locations in Bowling Green in the film Halloween play on the development of Hauntedween?

John Carpenter’s success put BG on the horror film map. But he had little to do with my movie. I wish I could have made the connection with him during the late 80’s when we were filming. His name alone could have been a big boost for HauntedWeen. He was very big back then and on his way up the film ladder. I do know that he and I had the same creative writing teacher at WKU. Mary Ann Miller said the he wrote THE FOG, the short story, for one of her classes.

How long did it take you from script completion to start filming?

You can’t really measure that time line in days. The script took about 10 weeks to write. We put another 2 weeks in re-writing. Pre-production was about three months. We made few changes in the shooting script. We allowed for ad-libs if we had enough film that day to shoot. We shot the movie on a 4 to 1 film stock ratio. In low budget filmmaking, you have to conserve film stock . We did lots of practice takes before we opened the lens. The actual filming took 23 days. Then it took two years to get it into video stores.

Was it all filmed in the Bowling Green area?

The four locations were, Woodburn, KY (The Burber House). This is where we did all of the exterior Haunted House shots. WKU was the locale we shot the exterior campus shots and old SAE house on college street is the fraternity we used. There we shot interior and exterior shots. It was the only house on campus that looked like a classic fraternity house and was large enough to use film equipment. The third location was Old Hickory Lake in Gallatin, TN. We shot the lake scenes there. The interior Burber House shots were filmed at an old warehouse on lower college street. We converted it into a small studio for interior shooting and it was also our production office.

I recognize some locations at Western Kentucky University. Was it difficult to get permission to film there?

I am an alumni of WKU and at the time and Cory Lash our DP was a professor there. He is retired now. WKU was very helpful. They even let some of our cast a crew stay in the dorms during filming. We couldn’t afford hotels.

Sometimes Hauntedween is mistakenly referred to as ‘shot on video’ (which is probably due to old VHS copies.) What was it shot on?

Every scene of the movie was shot on 16mm film. We used a Nagra recorder for the sound so we used a clapper for syncing the film. It was them developed and transferred to one inch video tape. Then we color corrected the tape and edited the master onto a Beta SP format.

I liked the special effects and the scene at the end is (I won’t spoil it) quite nice. How much input did you have in the effects?

Dave Snyder, a budding SFX guy from Evansville, IN, who also worked at his local TV station as a field camera guy, answered the call. He actually found us through our incredible media onslaught. He was very interested in doing our movie. He came down and interviewed for the position. He was very impressive. I’m glad he was able to help us, he was the only SFX guy that interviewed. He did a great job.

As with all good slashers, there is a bit of nudity in the film. Did you encounter any trouble with the locals about this?

All of the nudity was filmed at a private location around Old Hickory Lake. All of the nudity took place within a 50-foot area diameter. We even kept the set semi-private for those scenes. We didn’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable.

What was your biggest challenge in making the film?

I cannot remember any one thing. The entire movie process was a challenge. I’m not sure if I would ever take on a project like that again. It was a small movie but we had nights of 150 people working on the film. I look at movie making as a continuum of challenges. It’s like eating a elephant. As long as you have a plan and take small bites you will eventually finish. But it’s not easy. To date is by far my biggest accomplishment.

Hanks is quite a character. Was that all in the script or did you encourage him to run with it?

Brad Hanks blurred the lines. I wrote scenes especially for him. I knew him from WKU and his abilities. But he had plenty of rope to make things funnier. I believe that everyone working on a movie set has a creative edge. We never squashed any ideas from the cast and crew. We rejected many ideas but we gave everyone the same voice. Some producers and directors make mistakes not listening to the workers. A lot of them had shot small projects before as well. We used ideas from everyone. It was very much a team effort.

I read that you had a policy of buying back the rental tapes if it didn’t rent and out of 2,628 tapes not a single copy was returned. How did it feel to see your film at a video store?

I remember walking into BG Blockbuster and seeing all of the copies of HauntedWeen rented. That was a good feeling. It had nothing to do with Ego. It was more a feeling of reaching a goal. So many people told us we couldn’t do it. There were bets against us. We persevered. We made our movie. That felt good to see on the shelf. Wheeeew! Finally, it was done!

Have you kept in touch with any of the cast or crew?

A few… Facebook has helped. I’m sure more will come out of the woodwork when the DVD is released.

Haunted-ween has a cult following. Were you surprised by that?

I’m still surprised by that. I appreciate its cult status. It’s cult on a small scale.

How often do you get asked or contacted about HauntedWeen?

Once you make a movie and it’s OUT THERE. People seem to want to talk about it. I’m happy to talk about our experience and the path we chose to make the film. It was very fun. I’ll always remember the feeling of being in my element while making my movie. I am very proud that we had no accidents and everyone came to work on time each day. It’s hard to say how often people talk about it but I get contacted at least once per quarter… and lately, about every week as we get closer to the DVD release.

Have you ever considered making a sequel?

Sequels are usually reserved for financially successful films. 90% of ALL movies lose money. Haunted-ween is in the top 90%.

When will the DVD come out?

We are looking at late summer for the DVD release. We want WKU students around when the release it’s the streets since WKU was a big part of the movie.

What kind of extras will be on the DVD?

The original trailer, The music video, a photo album, Producer and Director commentary tract, The Making of Hauntedween (a 45 minute documentary) and of course, the enhanced Feature Film… Haunted-ween.

How difficult was it to transfer HauntedWeen to DVD?

About $7,000 worth of difficult. That process was beyond my area of expertise. I just funded the creation of the DVD. I hope to generate some sales to pay myself back. But even if it doesn’t sell, the folks that were a part of the movie will have the opportunity to own a copy. I know that summer we made the movie was special for a lot of folks. It was a realized dream for a lot of us to make a movie. The DVD is the proof.

You recently had a 20th anniversary screening at Western. How was HauntedWeen received?

We set up the screen and everyone that passed us asked about it. No one knew about the screening. There wasn’t much press or the event. Also, we were competing with Halloween parties and everything else that goes into Halloween. We had fun.

What are you up to these days?

I work in the medical field. I work for a specialty pharmacy as a sales rep. And since 2004, I own and operate a hot air balloon ride business in Nashville and Bowling Green. I have been a balloon pilot for 10 years.

Hauntedween is available for purchase right here.