Horror movie (or at least has horror elements), indie filmmakers sneak into rich man's mansion haunted by said rich man

Question

I would say this came out in the mid-late 80's timeframe.

The heroes (or at least protagonists, might be a stretch to call them heroic) are a small group (no more than three of them, IIRC) of independent filmmakers who hear the story of a ghost of a rich man who haunts his mansion and possessively attacks anyone who seeks the wealth he possessed in life- and, of course being a movie they think it's a good idea to break into the ghost's old home. It turns out the ghost's fortune is in the form of certificates rather than cash in the traditional sense and no good to them (at least that's the impression I got), nonetheless the rich man's specter is rather upset at their intrusion and assumes them to be thieves.

The particularly memorable part of the film is the beginning, when the actress of the group complains to her director that she's tired of playing the murder victim of his slasher-type pictures- She says something like "I'm an actress, NOT a human sacrifice".

Answer 1

Could this be Ghost Chase (1987), AKA Hollywood Monster, starring Jason Lively as Warren McCloud, Tim McDaniel as Warren's friend Fred, and Jill Whitlow as their friend Laurie Sanders?

A summary from IMDB:

In an old Hollywood mansion, the spirit of an old family retainer inhabits an old grandfather clock. When a movie company uses the mansion for a film, the spirit inhabits the body of a prosthetic robot based on the photo of the butler whonthen persuades the two filmmakers to track down the Great Grandfather's fortune before the old house is destroyed, revealing a family scandal.

From a spoilerific review on IMDB:

Fred (Tim McDaniel) ... is a huge horror film buff & aspires to make his own & uses his friend's Warren McCloud (Jason Lively) & Laurie (Jill Whitlow) to star in it. One night, on his 21st birthday, Warren receives a phone-call from his lawyer (Julian Curry) who informs him that he is invited to the reading of his Father's will. Sensing some money Warren & Fred are visibly disappointed when all he is left is an old suitcase containing a clock ...

as the clock strikes one the ghost of his Grandfather's butler Lewis appears who reveals that there is an absolute fortune hidden in his Grandfather's house & he was murdered to protect it's whereabouts. Warren, Fred, Laurie & Lewis set out to find the missing fortune...

Another review on IMDB:

the director of the films sees the ghost, and immediately after he wakes up, begins to construct a bunch of things that resemble what he saw when the spirit came into his room. He makes puppet about two feet tall, a scale model of a huge house, and writes a script for a movie based on his vision.

Across town, another film maker (this one in his 30's) hears about the will reading, and orders a spy to steal the clock. The ghost appears again, scaring away the spy, and this time, he inhabits the puppet made by the director guy. This leads the ghost (I think his name is Lewis) to speak of the great grandfather and how he had lots of money, but he never gave it to anybody, rather put it in the basement of some house.

Well, they finally find the house after a girl recognizes the house in one of the older movie maker's movies, only to find out that the older guy is going to blow it up for the grand finale of some movie. They sneak into the closed set, end up in the basement of the house and are about to break into a wall, when the ghost of the great grandfather shows up, inhibits a suit of armor, and begins battling the kids.

At the end,

They find the fortune, the director kid is upset because he lost Lewis, the old director is bankrupted because the kids exploit a fraud he committed back a few years ago, and to end the movie, they drive away in a limo with guess who driving?... Awww... it's Lewis... Everybody with me, Awwwww... Lewis is still alive.