The recent release of Ghostbusters: The Video Game for Windows, Playstation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 has been a big hit. Most of that’s due to the reunion of almost all the original cast to provide voices for their CGI counterparts, with Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman; Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Raymond Stantz; Harold Ramis as Dr. Egon Spengler; Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore; Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz (their receptionist); and William Atherton as Walter Peck (the jerk politician).

For fan film enthusiasts, however, there’s an additional perk to the game—a veiled reference to two popular Ghostbusters fan films: Freddy Vs. Ghostbusters (2003) and Return Of The Ghostbusters (2007), both produced by Hank Braxtan.

SEE THE REFERENCE, PLUS TRAILERS FOR RETURN OF THE GHOSTBUSTERS AND THE VIDEO GAME, AFTER THE JUMP!

In the firehouse, upstairs near the computer in Egon’s lab, there’s a child’s crayon drawing of a Ghostbuster firing his proton pack. The drawing is signed, “To Uncle Egon, from Ed;” that’s a reference to Egon’s nephew, Ed Spengler, from the two fan films. While the flicks are set in the current day, the video game takes place around 1991, so Ed would have been just a little kid back then; now that’s attention to detail! So, does this make the fan films official GB canon? Give your thoughts below in the comments section! [Big thanks to Broccoli for the first pics!]

This is the latest in a series of articles, each one covering five “must-see” fan films. After all, there’s so many flicks out there—how do you find the good stuff? Try these! Some are classics, others are just cool, but either way, you’ll be entertained.

When you say “Horror Franchises” to people, they tend to think of the standards like Halloween, Friday the 13th or the Nightmare on Elm Street series. There’s one, however, that’s continued through the years despite a wildly uneven slew of feature films: Hellraiser.

Whatever you might think of it, the series has a legion of followers, as proven by the multitude of fan films out there. There are dozens of tributes to the franchise that made Pinhead a household name; here’s a rundown of five fan film-related selections that are worth checking out.

SEE THE LIST AFTER THE JUMP!

Closets (2007): Horror knows no boundaries, which is likely why it’s so popular around the world, as proven by this entry produced in Warsaw, Poland. Extremely well-shot with nice production values, this fan film was adapted from Hellraiser comics and sports English subtitles for those of us who aren’t fluent in Polish. The creepiness, of course, doesn’t require translation.

Clive Barker on Hellraiser Fan Films (2007): Clive Barker—the guy who actually created Hellraiser—offers his thoughts on fan films during a book signing, but more importantly, gives pointers about how to write a decent script for one. It’s good advice not merely for Hellraiser filmmakers, but anyone who writing fiction.

Hellraiser: Prophecy (2006): Jonathan Kui—the filmmaker in the Clive Barker clip above—has made a few fan films based on Hellraiser. I saw this one at I-Con‘s film festival a few years ago (he currated that year; hmm, coincidence?). Clearly the filmmaking experience was good enough that he’s now completing a new one, Hellraiser: Deader–Winter’s Lament. Here’s Prophecy, presented in two parts:

The Hellraiser Chronicles: Lifebringer (2008): Mark Adams (AKA “Scarecrow”) has compiled a fantastic run-down of Hellraiser fan films at Hellraiser: The Hellbound Web, and as you might expect, he’s made one himself, available on free DVD. Lifebringer follows Thomas Abberton, a damaged guy who wishes he could be a surgeon. Once he crosses paths with the Lament Configuration, he gets some help following his dream….

Hellbent (1993): The earliest known Hellraiser fan film, this one was “inspired” by Hellraiser III—the filmmakers left the cinema and basically said “even we could do better than that.” Did they? That’s your call. A young addict is going through painful detox when he gets his hands on what he believes is a box of drugs; what he discovers is far worse.

Freddy’s coming back—and Christopher Johnson wants be him. The creator of a fan-made, faux film trailer, Johnson made the short flick to grab the attention of producers behind an upcoming reboot of the long-running Nightmare on Elm Street horror series. Thursday, the story was picked up by Slashfilm and Live For Film, and soon the flick went viral.

While many people have used fan films in an effort to break into the production side of filmmaking, few have seen them as a route to an acting gig. Reportedly, Johnson’s agent, Robert Depp at the Beverly Hecht Agency, has been using the trailer in an effort to land his client an audition with the casting director behind Platinum Dunes’ impending feature film production.

SEE THE TRAILER AND MORE AFTER THE JUMP!

So, what do you think? Does Johnson have what it takes? Do you think more actors should try fan films as a way to break into the big time? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!