Fanshawe Professors bring Canadian cult TV legacy to the big screen

Faculty celebrate success of documentary showcasing history of 1970s children's series

Professors Tammy Heisel and Morgan Baker (Broadcasting – Television and Film Production) began their film journey three years ago. Fueled purely by passion and zero outside funding, they balanced their teaching schedules with tireless months of interviewing, traveling and editing.

Behind the Castle Doors: The Origin of The Hilarious House of Frightenstein tells the story of how the Canadian cult-classic television series came to be. Alongside the show’s associate producer Mitch Markowitz, original crew members, celebrities (including Kids in the Hall’s Dave Foley, The Red Green Show’s Patrick McKenna, The Mandalorian’s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and the late Eric Bauza, voice actor), the film reveals how hearing “yes” from the legendary Vincent Price helped get the series greenlit.

By the end of 2025, Heisel and Baker began their festival run by premiering Behind the Castle Doors at the Hamilton Film Festival, in the city where the original series got its start at CHCH. From there, the acceptances continued with several sold-out screenings in cities including Windsor, Stratford, Toronto, Oakville, North Bay, Ajax, Port Hope, Thunder Bay, Owen Sound and Chatham-Kent in Ontario along with Winnipeg, Manitoba and Edmonton where Heisel and Baker were flown in to be a part of the screening.

The film to date has been awarded the audience-chosen Best Canadian Feature in Edmonton and the Audience Favourite in Stratford and was selected to play as a featured film during National Canadian Film Day. It was also selected by the Toronto International Film Festival to screen at one of their TIFF Film Circuit locations.

"Filmed partly during COVID, this project was a labor of love that took time, but it was worth every second. Working on it while our students tackled their own films allowed us to bring authentic, real-world industry lessons straight to the classroom. By staying active in the field, we can bring those experiences back to our students—and we even invited one of them to shoot b-roll for us! Working alongside our students and filming in our own community is truly a gift."
— Tammy Heisel

Behind the Castle Doors: The Origin of The Hilarious House of Frightenstein returns to London for a special Halloween screening on Saturday, October 31, 2026 in collaboration with the Palace Theatre. Special treats, costume contest, sugary cereal for purchase, replica props along with camera operator for the original series. With over 100 seats filled, tickets can still be purchased online (palacetheatre.ca) with student pricing made available.

For more information, visit squirrelsofthesky.com.

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Hilarious House of Frightenstein screening poster