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This year's Campus Movie Fest Winner for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Organization is The Warden's Asylum produced by members of H.O.U.S.E.
The horror film even included a hint of comedy. The Warden's Asylum was about four curious students who decided to investigate the Rathskeller based on rumors about a deranged doctor that did strange experiments on his patients during the Spanish American War.
During their investigation, the lights in Rathskeller began to flicker and the door that they propped open had been slammed shut. With no way to escape, the students were forced to find another exit. As they began to run, one of the members fell behind and woke up to a deformed nurse pushing him in a wheelchair. Unaware of his surroundings and what was happening to him, the student begins to panic and realizes he is tied down to the chair. The doctor enters the room, picks up an instrument, and begins to saw off the student's head.
The inspiration for The Warden's Asylum came from the group's idea for the Fall 2008 Haunted House. Alumnus Adam Kunz had wanted the Haunted House to be a success and his wish came true this fall. Due to the success of the Fall 2007 Haunted House, this film was made as an advertisement to draw a bigger crowd to next year's show.
"We casted people that we knew were very talented actors who could improvb and make the role look natural. We also took in consideration people that participated in this years Haunted House," Rockell Alhale, a group member, stated.
The casting worked in the groups' favor as Jackie Schram, who was featured in the movie, also won Best Actress with an awesome performance.
"I don't think I would have done anything differently," said Schram, "It was what it was… I just had a lot of fun getting to work with people I haven't before."
In overcoming the obstacle of renting out the Rathskeller and accommodating everyone's schedule, the students were able to win Best Organization.
"The filming only took two nights and the rest of the week was spent editing," group members said.
During the two nights H.O.U.S.E. members stayed away from filming in the bathroom because it was spooky.
"There is always talk about the ghost named Emily that haunts the girls bathroom, so we didn't even go in there," said Keleigh Hancock.
In addition to accomplishing their goal of winning several awards and being able to use the film as a promotion for next years Haunted House, group members agreed that working together was another fulfilling aspect of producing this film.
For Poonam Nagar, sitting in the audience and watching the audience's reactions was satisfying to her.
"Our movie was very unique in that we used two different views…the view of Will filming and an outside view. Also our movie had a lot of creativity and thrill. I think that the movie brought out a lot of emotion and fear for some people." Nagar also stated. "As a co-found of H.O.U.S.E. we really want to thank our actors and filmers: Melinda Nelson, Fawn Testa, Jackie Maass, Jackie Schram, Sara Maas, Will Holly, Bradley Knight, Adam Garnica, and Lauren Marsicano. We also want to thank Adam Kunz for coming down and supporting us."
