Murder, Mystery, Mayhem – the Haunted House Hotel has it all. One ghost even brought a camera.
The Haunted House Hotel is a short comedy film directed by Moe Acharki and filmed at the Nu Boyana studio in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was part of the Film Forge training scheme, and screened at the In The Palace festival in 2025.
It was an enjoyable but unusual film to make. Moe and I were deep into another project – The Cost of the Crown – when we were offered another. It had strict rules – it needed to be a murder mystery, a mockumentary, and have something to do with the 90s. We had less than a week to shoot it.
Or about a day to write it.
If that sounds terrifying, it was. My bit was hectic but quick. I wrote most of The Haunted House Hotel in a single sitting, working into the night and finishing it the next morning. We had no time for a second draft – changes would have held up everything else. I was able to tweak a word here or there.
Then it was up to Moe and the brilliant cast and crew to actually get this thing made. They did a fantastic job. It’s a fun, chaotic passion project. Every single person brought something to The Haunted House Hotel, and it shows.
Moe was originally going to play the Skull, but changed his mind on the day. We swapped on the fly – that’s the speed these decisions had to be made at. I recorded most my lines in an alcove behind the home set, where Edward has his detective moment.
Fun fact: The Skull may have appeared in the poster for the 2011 version of Conan the Barbarian. That little fellow has range.
SYNOPSIS
Welcome to the Haunted House Hotel! The rooms are okay, the owner dangerously quirky and the murders deliciously unsolved. Although that might be about to change.
When Edward DeWitt rises from the grave to solve his own murder, he brings along a camera so he can finally release a world-famous documentary.
But will he solve the riddle of his death? Will the love of his life return his affections? And is Hollywood ready to accept its first deceased documentarian?
The Haunted House Hotel is a murder mystery comedy about love, loss, and ectoplasm.
CAST
Bojidar Nikolov – Edward
Martin Zannato – Tetch
Philipa Nikolova – Evie
Yana Kushlova – Marge
Mat Growcott – The Skull
CREW
Moe Acharki – Director/Editor/Producer
Mat Growcott – Writer
Erik Bassan – Director of Photography
Harry Winstanley – Music