Hauntedween (1991) – Douglas Robertson.

Any slasher that playfully commences with a masked nerd perusing a copy of Famous Monsters before committing his dastardly deed is sure to hook me, fortunately Hauntedween maintains its kitschy/creepy vibes throughout. This by-the-numbers collegiate blood-spiller proves winning despite its preponderance of formulaic fraternity fright gimmickry. The extraordinarily smug Kurt (Brien Blakely) is one squeaky clean Abercrombie mench, and while not the finest Thespian, he is a textbook A-1 frat dude archetype. While splatter in the horror house is certainly better exemplified by the likes of Funhouse, or Night of The Demons, Hauntedween gives it a darn good college try! And there won't be a dry ass in the house during Kurt & Mel's (Blake Pickett) touchy-feely reunion!

Hauntedween takes its sweet time getting to the fratboy culling, and when it does, it won't cause The Mutilator any sleepless nights, but there's a bodacious scene of T & (almost) A, the hectic hack n' slash in the horror house delivers a grisly array of outstanding kills, and the Kill Room shtick provides some quality grand Guignol. Hauntedween has pacing issues, and the performances are endearing, rather than compelling, but 'ween has beaucoup B-horror charm, an earwormingly gross theme, and some chewy gore gags. Far more entertaining than I imagined, and it might sound incongruous, appreciating a late-cycle slasher due to its innate wholesomeness, but the film's earnest D.I.Y ethic absolutely won me over.

'These Halloweenies don't have a ghost of a chance getting laid in anything but a grave this Hauntedween!'