In a darkened stairway, the crew of Kenzie Productions shoots a scene Sunday for "Horror House," an independent film, at the LeDuc Historic Estate near downtown Hastings. The crew rented the manor for 10 days. (JOE ROSSI, Pioneer Press)

IIn Hastings, a group of actors put the finishing touches this week on a slasher film, using the 140-year-old LeDuc Historic Estate as the setting for their story of betrayal, bloodlust and moviemaking gone wrong.

The title of this independent thriller is "Horror House," a film-within-a-film-style movie that wrapped up shooting Monday at the large manor near downtown Hastings. And for the real-life talent behind the movie, the house was an essential setting for creating a bloodfest on a limited budget.

The premise: Struggling actors in an abandoned old home are dying to get a career-launching horror flick over and done with. Unfortunately for the fictional cast and crew, the twisted filmmaker behind this B-movie bust appears eager to do the same to them. And yes, the body count is rising.

The setting: William Gates LeDuc's catacomb-like basement, creaky stairways and sweltering attic, with a few shots around the Twin Cities, including the Lowry Lab Theater in St. Paul.

The shoot: Two weeks.

"Horror films, frankly, are all about volume," said Aaron Courteau, a St. Paul-bred actor whose "Horror House" character meets a quick and gory end. "They're films the industry wants to crank out quickly. And the less time on set, the better. They save money by hiring unknowns. People go to horror flicks to feel the fear. You don't need Matt Damon in order to make the money."

Matt Damon, perhaps not, but the right scary house, yes. After all, what's a slasher flick

To set the scene, Kenzie Productions negotiated with the Dakota County Historical Society to rent the LeDuc's eerie halls for 10 days in June and July. (The production company is named after the producer's younger sister, Mackenzie Overlander, who was killed by a drunken driver in 2003.)

The stone walls and dirt floors of the LeDuc basement lent themselves to a dungeon-like backdrop for a scene piled with dead bodies, played by crewmembers in pale makeup. But first, a camera grip was kind enough to sweep away the real bat droppings.

"A lot of people were freaked out by the basement," Courteau said. The producer "told a story about how, apparently, there was some sort of cubby where someone had actually died - a house servant was in there cleaning and passed out."

Then there were the bats.

"I think I saw maybe a dozen bats, but they were all outside. They were dive-bombing us here and there."

And the creepiest room for Courteau?

"The very upstairs, in the attic - there was this little chapel room. That was the creepiest part of the house for me - this square little room, with the tall ceiling and dilapidated pews. I felt like if anything was going to happen, it was going to happen in this room. It was very Alfred Hitchcock."

Chad Roberts, executive director of the historical society, was on set for much of the filming and said the crew took pains not to disturb the house's historic flourishes. They photographed plaques and wall items that had to be moved for shots and then returned them to their exact locations.

The building, which belonged to a Civil War general and one of Hastings' founding fathers, underwent a lengthy restoration a few years ago and reopened to the public in 2005. But its Gothic Revival architecture hasn't changed since it was completed in 1866.

That detail hasn't escaped the attention of other budding horror-makers. Two Hastings High School graduates used the LeDuc for "The Room Upstairs," their eight-minute short about a college sophomore locked in a rented room. The short was an official selection last year at the Solstice Film Festival in St. Paul.

Actor, producer and screenwriter Justen Overlander gave up a career as an elementary school teacher two years ago to break into film full time. "Horror House" is his first project as lead producer, and he's banking that the breakneck 15-day shoot will get picked up by a distributor next year to be shepherded onto the big screen - or, at least, straight to DVD.

Frederick Melo can be reached at fmelo@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2172.