Thread: Bates Haunt DVD

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I know he has been selling these for a while and it's pretty expensive. Has anyone here actually used it and how did it come out?

Thanks,
Phl

Hi. I appreciate your interest. Hopefully some of the users of my DVD post here, but as far as the price goes here is the stuff from my faq:

Why so expensive for just a DVD?
There are basically two reasons for this.

It was expensive to create. To recoup the costs with the limited number of people willing to stick a nice video projector outside their house. I needed to charge enough to make it worth my while.

I don't want my show on every street. Not that it would happen, but I want to limit my show to an exclusive group, and not have it everywhere.

Anyway, feel free to ask me any questions you may have. There are a couple of testimonials on my site, but I haven't ever heard back that anyone was dissatisfied with the DVD... Well actually for a bit they complained about the label wearing off, so now I have professionally applied ones. ;-) Happy Haunting!

The Bates Haunt is fantastic and very creative. I've not used the DVD and don't have a place to set the projector, but I would definitely give it a shot if I had a location for the projector.

Originally Posted by datbates

To recoup the costs with the limited number of people willing to stick a nice video projector outside their house. I needed to charge enough to make it worth my while.

I've been using a Vid Projector from inside the Haunt to the front entrance for about 4 years or so. It's under the roof of the haunt, plus I add a solid sheet of plastic just above it & the DVD player. I've had no problems, even with the exceptionally heavy rain and wind storms last year.

Now that there are a few more Halloween affects Vids surfacing, I started shopping ebay for more projectors. Tips if you decided to do the same.
1. When shopping for the lowest priced, used projectors, look for the bulb life remaining and the manufacturers expected life of the bulb. This is always high.
2. Price out a new bulb on ebay and elsewhere. Know what it will potentially cost you to replace the bulb. I've not had to replace one as yet - I only use the projector at Halloween - but they can run several hundred dollars for some models. Generally, the more popular the model, the less expensive the replacement bulb.
3. Try to check the net for reviews of the projector. Be certain it has the features you need. Generally, if this is to be a Halloween projector, you don't need an HD 16:9 projector for your haunt. This opens up the older 4:3 projectors as practical starter projectors.
4. Check the "Lumins" for the projector. Some of the cheap new models are for kids to play games in a darkened room and might be as low as 10 Lumins. A daytime professional business presentation on a large screen needs between 1000 to 3500 lumins depending on how much light and how big the needed projection.
5. How much electricity are you using in your haunt? The 1000+ lumins projectors are using a very bright, very expensive (usually), very power hungry incandescent bulb. LED projectors require a small portion of that power, but are going to require fairly close placement to your projected surface and will be lower resolution.

All that said, I just received my ebay won, Infocus LP350 (a Professional Business machine made in 2000 with a 270 SHP lamp that has about 1500 lumins. This is more than enough for my very dark haunt. It came with low hours on the bulb (replacement bulb will cost $119 - eventually), a rolling / handle extension case, all the original cables, booklets and remote control for $76. I plugged it in and it works great so far. Deals can be found if you are patient.