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Dr. Jimmy

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    Dr. Jimmy's first impressions.

    in Reviews

    Posted

    So after opening night Friday the 18th, I have done all nine houses once except for Asylum which I saw twice.

    I think additional nights are necessary before a full review and any sort of ranking. But overall a very good year. One person who has been going to HHN as long as I have told me it was the best one in many years.

    Highlights of the Houses:

    RUN: Blood, Sweat and Fears - Ninja Geisha, Canadian Back Bacon and Candyman!

    Asylum in Wonderland 3D - Quite simply the best use of the revolving tunnel ever.

    Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem - Got some of the best scares of the night from Classic Monsters. Many delightful surprise appearances!

    An American Werewolf in London - Not 100% the same house. There is at least one thing from 2013 that is missing now, nothing major, but it had personal meaning for me. However, there is at least one thing new added. The punchline to one of the best scenes, a real "Holy F@ck" moment. Also new Wolves are awesome.

    Freddy vs Jason - Major love for both of these guys in this house. Brilliant use of video. And a good use of one of Jason's earlier looks.

    Body Collectors: Recollections - Fun crossover. Ornate and beautiful sets and costumes. Another one of my biggest scares of the night, a scare that was also used last year in a very different house. But maybe I misunderstood what some had been saying about this house? I saw no indications of any big revelations of secrets about important characters' back stories and origins. Or maybe I missed something due to timing issues?

    The Walking Dead: The Living and the Dead - The biggest surprise for me was that I actually liked this. I did not expect to. Hot tub zombies are silly, though. But there were a couple things that i really thought were clever and well done. The revolving door for example. And did A&D plant an inside joke? Perhaps at the expense of those who force them to do this series for four years? I mean there was a scene where they are literally (b)eating a dead horse!

    The Purge - Another example of grace under pressure. Brilliant overlay of The Purge on the existing Scream sets. And perhaps it is a better house than that one would have been? Very high energy, the Havoc of the year I think. Funny how that mannequin looks so much like Drew Barrymore....

    Insidious - A lot has already been said on how creepy and terrifying this house is, and they are not wrong. But that hallway. That one hallway. Maybe one of the scariest moments in all HHN history. Ranks along with the first scene in Insanity and the crowd room in Dead Exposure.

    Highlights from Zones:

    Scary Tales: Screampunk - Cute and Clever. My kind of wrong.

    Icons: HHN - Didn't have time to catch all the kills, but a zone to revisit over and over. And I did see a certain Lady!

    Psychoscareapy: Unleashed - I must confess that I thought the first inmate who approached me, giggled and said "this is fun!" was a fanboy guest. A bit close to home, sometimes. But fun, fun, fun! I look forward to spending a lot of time at the block party during this event.

    All Nite Die-In: Double Feature - There are so many guests passing through this area getting from one side of the park to another that sometimes it's hard to see the scareactors! But clever to have little used characters from the Classic Monsters. And at the risk of raising political controversy, does anybody else think that Tiffany looks weirdly a lot like Hillary?

    Evil's Roots - Just beautiful. Very very pretty zone.

    Notes on shows:

    Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure - Glad to see they continue now to change up the sets and take the basic structure of the show and tweak it a bit. Lots of funny jokes at the expense of Disney, but at least one hysterical one at their own expense.

    The Carnage Returns - Sexier than B&T, and ruder and of course, way more violent! Fun and irreverent. A harder, more R rated version of the show from 2007. But NOT just a re-worked version of that show. This is actually rather new.

     

    Over all this has taught me to not pay attention to those people who never have a good thing to say about HHN under any circumstances. They were way off course with all the negative talk earlier this year.

    • Like 12

    Body Collectors: Recollections

    in Haunted Houses

    Posted

    Here's to hoping that the theme from "A Summer Place" by Percy Faith makes an appearance in some form, though it doesn't fit the theme and time period very well. While I've never experienced a Psychoscareapy maze, from what I've heard, that song is a staple of Shadybrook. Just hearing it in videos of Maximum Madness and Echoes of Shadybrook gives me chills. 

    I would expect to hear this at HHN 25, but more likely in the zone in NYC. That would be my guess. 

    Still ironic though, house is in winter and zone is in autumn - so neither can be a "summer place"!

    • Like 1

    HHN 25 Discussion

    in Halloween Horror Nights 25

    Posted

    IGN: There is a Crimson Peak presence at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal in Orlando as well this year, right? Did you talk to the team there about a maze?

    Del Toro: We didn’t talk about the maze but we did talk about things that would be exclusive to Orlando like a make up effects and wardrobe exhibition. They’re going to have some of the wardrobe from the movie, which is quite beautiful and powerful. The movie has a level of visual and audio design of high caliber and beauty. They wanted to showcase some of the craftsmanship of the wardrobe and the displays and stuff like that. 

    There I made this legible. I wonder if this is a new display at Horror and Make-up? If so, maybe it will be up longer than just for HHN?

    American Werewolf In London

    in Haunted Houses

    Posted

    AWiL rights are a tangled thing, and I may not have this all exactly right, and some is guesswork.

    But the production company and ultimate rights holder is the appropriately named Lycanthrope Films controlled by John Landis. 

    The film was originally released and distributed in cinemas by Polygram Pictures which no longer exists. Universal acquired the home video release rights which it still maintains.

    But the rights for remakes and sequels were acquired by Dimension. Dimension was at one time under the umbrella of Disney as part of Miramax. (before this Disney had actually released An American Werewolf in Paris through its Hollywood Pictures label, but that story is even more convoluted!) Now Dimension is part of the Weinstein Company.

    You know, the people who fucked up Scream for us.

    So long as Weinstein holds those rights there may be troubles in adapting American Werewolf. Here is the speculation part: I believe that Weinstein prevented the houses planned in 2008 and 2012 as at that time they were still interested in making a reboot/remake film - and did not want attention diverted to the original, similar to their thinking in relation to Scream this year.

    Of course I have no way of knowing that for certain, but it is interesting that we got Werewolf in 2013 after Weinstein abandoned their plans for the film project.

    • Like 6

    ICONS: HHN

    in Scare Zones & Shows

    Posted

    I don't think we should assume just yet whether or not Lady Luck is in this zone. We can't simply assume that based on what has been revealed so far.

    It was stated that there would be many other iconic characters in the zone. She may still be there, she may not. We won't know for certain until Team Member Preview... unless they tell us for certain before then.

    • Like 3

    HHN 25 Discussion

    in Halloween Horror Nights 25

    Posted

    If they really are opening Diagon and Gringotts they could totally close Simpsons as well lol, just close it and have one of the hordes stand in front of the ride (the clown with chainsaws one) That would actually be really cool :D

    Apparently Fox won't allow that.

    RUN: Blood, Sweat, and Fears

    in Haunted Houses

    Posted

     

    RUN: BLOOD SWEAT AND FEARS You’ve just been selected as a contestant on RUN, a brutal TV show where everyday people are stalked by skilled assassins. Just remember: the more horrifying your death, the higher the ratings. Entrance: Near Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue Location: Disaster! queue • Exit: Across from MIB Gear D

     

    I have a very strong suspicion that there was some sort of error on the exit location. Because that would be a very strange place to exit unless this is a remarkably large house that somehow goes under the lagoon.

    • Like 8

    HHN 25 Discussion

    in Halloween Horror Nights 25

    Posted · Edited by Dr. Jimmy

    This warms my heart.  :)  Doc, any thoughts on when we will actually see the damn thing?

    Nope. I haven't even seen the one people have posted yet on actual television.

    It does seem to be the "resorts" commercial though. 

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