The iconic Hilarious House of Frightenstein is back on the 'kutting edge.'
Kutting Edge Inc., an Orillia promotional apparel company, has obtained a licence to produce apparel that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Canadian children’s television series, The Hilarious House of Frightenstein.
Mitch Markowitz, who played Super Hippy on the show and served as a co-producer, says he was approached by Kutting Edge creative director and longtime show fan Colin Campbell, to celebrate the show with a line of apparel.
“I asked them to send me some of their products and images so I could see what kind of work they do, and they sent me four different things that they had done. When I looked at it my mouth dropped open, I said 'This is absolutely incredible.' I loved it,” Markowitz explained.
“I’ve licensed lots of people over the years for t-shirts, hoodies, things like that, but all of them have been laminate vinyl heat press, which is great, and they look terrific, but they are one-dimensional. Kutting Edge produces products that are three-dimensional which makes it jump right off the page with the embroidery and a felt background," said Markowitz.
He quickly gave Kutting Edge the green light to start up an online store where fans of the show can purchase their 50th anniversary apparel.
“People are writing me to say how much they love it; they are just raving about the product. It’s a wonderful scenario for everybody involved,” he said.
So far, the online store has been a hit, which comes as no surprise to Markowitz, who believes the legacy of The Hilarious House of Frightenstein will live on for at least another 50 years. Recently, the show got a reboot with a 10-episode series for preschoolers called The Happy House of Frightenstein.
“I think the brand will go on forever, I really do,” Markowitz said.
“When we first produced the show, we thought it would run for a year and then it would die and go to television heaven, but it didn’t work out that way. It’s now the longest-running kids’ television show in Canadian history," he said.
Colin Campbell says Kutting Edge Inc. is "honoured" to be able to create clothing apparel for the iconic show.
“I grew up in the ‘70s watching the show. I used to get up at six in the morning to put on CHCH which is one of the only channels we could get in Orillia at that time, and I would watch it,” he said.
“Every kid my age from 50 to 60 has great nostalgic memories from watching the show. The show still has a huge fan base. There are 11,500 people on the Hilarious House of Frightenstein fan page. Tt has a huge cult following.”
Campbell says the show touched so many kids who are now adults today.
“We lived in an era of 13 channels. Now there are hundreds of channels, so the things that we did get we would watch. I’m not surprised that it’s held its longevity for all these years and it’s affected so many people.”
Campbell says the licensing agreement Kutting Edge has with Markowitz and The Hilarious House of Frightenstein has paid off when it comes to business.
“In the first 27 days the online store has been open we’ve gotten a great response. Whether it makes money or not, just being associated with it and being able to put out a good product that complements the brand is something we are happy with,” he said.
“If Markowitz is happy with it, the fans are happy with it, then we are happy.”
