20th anniversary edition of ‘HauntedWeen’ premieres Oct. 31

The 20^th anniversary edition of HauntedWeen will premiere on Oct. 31 on WKU’s South Lawn.

The 20th anniversary edition of "HauntedWeen" will premiere Oct. 31 on WKU's South Lawn. The anniversary DVD will be available before Christmas.

The film, directed by WKU graduate Doug Robertson, will begin at 7 p.m. on an outdoor screen that is 34 feet wide and 22 feet tall. Students and the public are invited to tailgate at 5 p.m. Admission is free.

HauntedWeen was shot on 16mm film in 1989 at locations at WKU and the Bowling Green area. The cast and crew included professional and amateur talent from the southeastern United States.

“Our biggest night of cast and crew was when we filmed the scene ‘Fundraiser Hell Raiser’ at the old Sigma Alpha Epsilon house on College Street at WKU,” Robertson said. “We used every light available in our equipment truck. There were over 200 people present that night.”

WKU professors Cory Lash, Bart White, Steve Probus and Steve White along with many WKU students from the mid to late 1980s worked on the film. “Without the efforts of all the locals and volunteers, this movie would have never been made,” Robertson said.

When HauntedWeen debuted in 1991, “we sold the movie directly to video stores with a money back guarantee. If it didn’t rent, we would buy it back. Not one of the 2,628 VHS copies that sold nationwide was returned,” he said.

In the Bowling Green area, 323 VHS copies were sold and rented out for six weeks in a row.

The 20^th anniversary edition of HauntedWeen will be released before Christmas. A website for pre-orders will be open by Nov. 15 with a shipping date of Dec. 15.

The DVD will include the original movie, the Trailer, a 45-minute documentary on “The Making Of HauntedWeen,” producer and director commentary, a photo album, the original HauntedWeen song by local artist Ernest Raymer and scene selections.

The first 1,200 copies will be sold for a special holiday price of $19.95 plus shipping. After that, the retail price will be set at $29.95 plus shipping. Plans for local rental have not been established yet.

Contact: Doug Robertson, (270) 246-2860.