Brianb14
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Posts posted by Brianb14
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Twitter quote: "Landis is saying how much better Hollywood does actor prosthetics compared to Orlando"
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Haven't been on the site for a while so I thought I would weigh in on this post. In my opinion, creepiness is fear in the sense of being uncomfortable mentally, while being disturbed is fear in the sense of feeling physically unsafe in the environment. With that being said, here are my top 3 for each category!
Creepiest:
3) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Saw is the Law (I put this iteration in the maze as one of the creepiest because it had a much different feeling--to me at least-- than its superior sister maze, Back in Business (more on that below). There was something about standing outside the house that was extremely unsettling. Everything seemed "normal" from the outside, yet you knew what was coming up when you stepped inside the maze. The first room was a simple foyer, and having no scare in the first room further built upon the mood of uneasiness. I didn't really dread this maze, but instead felt a heightened amount of unease from the apparent "normality" and familiarity of the situation. While I wholly dreaded Back in Business, in this maze I just felt uncomfortable, almost as if I didn't belong in the house.)
2) A Nightmare on Elm Street: Never Sleep Again (This maze was easily one of the creepiest for me because of the dreamlike state it was set in. The whole nature of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street" is a loss of sanity, and this maze captured that perfectly. Freddy chasing you throughout the dreamlike maze got under my skin and made me feel wholly uncomfortable the whole maze. To me, it wasn't the scares that made this maze creepy but rather the environment it was put in.)
1) Insidious: Into the Further (It was that damn "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" that got me every time. I never "dreaded" this maze--I never felt as though I was going to die for lack of a better term. But something about wandering through the house with the sounds of Tiny Tim made me extremely uncomfortable. The house and the nature of the maze itself had this placebo effect on me, where I would constantly think I was seeing and hearing scares even if they weren't there. The maze itself, as DTH316 put it, had this dusty and "stuck in time" feeling to it that escalated that feeling of creepiness. Something just felt weirdly off the whole maze which solidified its position as the creepiest maze.)
Disturbing:
3) Friday the 13th: Kill, Jason, Kill! (Okay, I know this wasn't a particularly good maze. The maze itself was uninspired. But I will never forget walking into the maze and seeing the man trying to free himself desperately from one of Jason's traps, screaming at us in pain and agony while we passed by. Something about that as a setup for the rest of the maze added the disturbing nature to the whole maze. The somewhat repetitive, wooded setting of the maze actually benefited this feeling of dread, as I never knew where to expect Jason next. Overall a mediocre maze with a surprisingly disturbing feeling.)
2) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Back in Business (DTH again put it perfectly: this maze offered the closest feeling to death of any maze I've ever been in. I literally felt unsafe the entire maze, even having a passing thought that maybe this maze wasn't all fiction. Seeing all the victims was quite a disturbing experience, especially at this time because it seemed way more violent than any other maze. I definitely dreaded walking into the next room each time, and to me this maze exemplifies a "disturbing" maze.)
1) El Cucuy: The Boogeyman (I think I have some biased towards this one because the situation I was put in, but overall this was the most disturbing maze for me. My (small) group and I were sent into this maze totally alone-- no one behind and no one in front. This was the first time I ever experienced this (perfect timing in my opinion). The operator actually told me, quote, "there's no one in the maze right now". That feeling that all the scareactors were waiting just for us was extremely dreadful. Add that to the already disturbing concept of the maze--hunting children-- and this was easily the most disturbing maze experience for me.)
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So there's going to be a walking dead scarezone too... This announcement actually looks pretty cool.
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I don't think it's Cooper as well because it doesn't seem feasible. If Murdy was flying out to Cooper, he would have to go to Sweden. Minimum time it would take to get to Östersund, Sweden from LAX would be 11 hours (that would be direct flight, minimum head wind). If he left 4 hours ago (according to his tweets), took 11 hours to get there, and added +9 hours for the time zone change, Murdy would be there at 1:00 AM tomorrow at the earliest, and in his tweet, he says that he wants to shoot TODAY. Also, you can't get to Östersund in 2 flights (like he says); it takes at least 3. So based on that, I don't think this one's Cooper...
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Friday The 13th - Part VI: Jason Lives or Original
Halloween - Original 1978
A Nightmare On Elm Street - Wes Craven's New Nightmare (Does that count?)
Saw - II
Scream - Original
Evil Dead - II
Alien - Original 1979
Predator - Original
Hellraiser - Original
Child's Play - II
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Original
Final Destination - 5
Paranormal Activity - Original
Romero's Living Dead - Dawn of the Dead
Jaws - Original
The Ring - Japanese Original
Ju-On: The Grudge - Japanese Original
Hills Have Eyes - Remake
From Dusk Till Dawn - Original (I didn't know there were multiple...)
28 ___ Later - Days
Hostel - Original
Rec- Spanish Original (Still one of the best horror movies of recent times... and if someone says Quarantine is better...
)The Exorcist- Original
The Omen- Original 1976
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Okay, so we all pretty much know that Insidious is coming to HNN. In case no one has done it yet, I decided to break it down based on the clues for "Rock Icon"
The original clues are:
"Rock Icon"
-A rock icon is a hint to this maze (Literally)
-This Rock Icon was active (recording) when Murdy was in elementary school.
-Some of the costumes in the maze are from that era, and some from the 80's, and others from late 1800's to 1940's
-There is one song that was originally recorded in 1881. And another song from the 1920's.
-Research involving 10,000 images has been done.
-There is one scene that has a "florally and pleasant" smell in it.
-There will be a character in front of the house handing out prizes (ala Hostel and Silent Hill)
I believe the rock icon is Ozzy Osbourne. I don't exactly know when Murdy was in elementary school, but I'm going to say that he was while Ozzy was recording (probably in Black Sabbath). My thought is that the connection is through a song, Over the Mountain. In the song, he sings I've seen life's magic astral plane I travel through, and nevertheless the entire song is about this Astral Plane. In case some of you don't know what the Astral Plane is, it is commonly referred to as The Further. The Further is the "dream" land Dalton is stuck within in Insidious. The Further is basically the whole point of Insidious.
The costume thing seems obvious based on the numerous amount of creatures in the film. We have people in regular clothes (this era), the doll twins (1940's presumably), the dancing boy (1920's), the witch/old lady (1800's), and the list goes on and on. If the second film is being included, 1980's costuming would come from Lorainne's past job as a nurse (watch trailer), which, from an interview, is from the 80's. That is just speculation however if the second film is included in this maze.
The song in 1881, I believe, is Liszt's "Nauges Gris", translated to "Gray Clouds". Gray clouds are seen in a lot (including the poster for Insidious) and the in The Further. Also, the haunting tone of the song fits perfectly with the atmosphere of Insidious. The second song, from the 1920's is a little more obvious, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", originally recorded in 1929, and famously redone by Tiny Tim in 1968, is the song playing on the record player during the scene where the mom goes outside, sees kid dancing, goes after him, etc.
I think it would be really cool for the souvenir outside the house to be the paranormal investigator woman with her polaroid camera, and if given the secret passcode, would snap a photo of you and the photo would be the souvenir. Or perhaps it will just be the investigator's business card. Who knows.
Well, that's my speculation. Most of this was probably known already, or wrong, but these were the best connections I could make between rock icon and Insidious.
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The fact that at HHNO Evil Dead edged out AHS...and we aren't getting two big IPs and AWIL...I'm holding out hope for AHS still. It fits Murdy's history of obvious clue misdirection IE Trivia not being Scream but getting us still getting Scream.
And I'm really glad that AWIL isn't coming. I freaking love that movie...as a dark comedy. But as a horror movie I can really take it or leave it. And this is from somebody who had his last dance at his wedding to a song partly about AWIL.
With low hope, I still want American Horror Story to happen so badly. I can't even imagine all the things Murdy could do with an IP such as AHS. I want it to happen this year. Please. And I agree with you on AWIL. My core belief is that comedy should stay out of haunted houses/mazes.
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John Murdy grew up with Alice Cooper.
AC has never been suggested in the last 7 years of HHN.
Since Murdy went to a Christian High School Just like Marilyn Manson and Manson was warned never to listen to Alice Cooper, AC was considered a "Very Dark" subject for Christians during this time.
The building in France that is supposed to be the facade is The Grand Guignol. The Grand Guignol is considered to be the setting in The Last Temptation.
The Grand Guignol is located in Paris a city in Europe that is also a city in the U.S. New Paris, Indiana.
Steven the main character of The Last Temptation portrays Alice Cooper who attended a Christian Elementary School that had a tradition during the Holiday Thanksgiving. It is not done anymore. The tradition was to run around the hallways and say thanks.
The Grand Guignol closed in 1956.
Alice Cooper recorded his 20th studio album in the Early 20th Century.
The Last Temptation was a comic so that counts as inspired by a book.
Some songs and stories in the comic TLT is about a treasure hidden by Medieval Templars.
Some plays in the Grand Guignol were about a Victorian age Witch named Alice Cooper. There was also a play called "The Grand Guignol's Victorian Horror Musical"
There you have it all the clues connect to TLT. DTH I know you were the first to mention this album but if y'all remember I was the one that started AC for Trickster because of what I found out from what Marilyn Manson said. I dint just tried to connect the clues with AC I tried different 1980's Horror Films, Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson, AC in Wonderland. Out of all of them TLT connected with all the clues.
I don't doubt you on this because I think this is right, but you said that Paris is the name of the city (that is also a name of a city in the US) but Paris isn't in England, as his clue is "Here's a hint...a city in England that is also a city in the US, the name appears in the maze...". That's the only thing I see wrong with your speculation. Anyways, nice job, this is impressive clue solving.
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what were the connections for EvilDead and Name Game?
The hint for Evil Dead was the connection between 3 people- 1) x-boy band member, 2) NBC TV Star in the 90's, 3) Make up artist- was "ED". 1.) JT was discovered by ED McMahon on Star Search, 2) Matt LeBlanc from Friends starred in the "classic" Uni monkey baseball movie ED.... and 3) Jack Pierce who designed the classic Universal Monsters ended his career working on the talking horse TV show "Mr. ED".... The picture hints tweeted a while back had Universal Monster magnets (Jack Pierce) and a statue of a monkey smoking a pipe (ED movie)... The ghost in the attic left hints on the DRY ERASE BOARD OF DAMNATION, including the word "initials." The Initials for Evil Dead are ED.
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In case you guys haven't seen this...
Evil Dead is being built right now, its the venue behind Mummy at USH (that previously housed Silent Hill, Hostel, Saw, TCM etc). And for those who pay attention, the code name for "Evil Dead" was "Name Game" Didn't "open the window" because someone ruined it. Booo! The hint for Evil Dead was the connection between 3 people- 1) x-boy band member, 2) NBC TV Star in the 90's, 3) Make up artist- was "ED". 1.) JT was discovered by ED McMahon on Star Search, 2) Matt LeBlanc from Friends starred in the "classic" Uni monkey baseball movie ED.... and 3) Jack Pierce who designed the classic Universal Monsters ended his career working on the talking horse TV show "Mr. ED".... The picture hints tweeted a while back had Universal Monster magnets (Jack Pierce) and a statue of a monkey smoking a pipe (ED movie)... The ghost in the attic left hints on the DRY ERASE BOARD OF DAMNATION, including the word "initials." The Initials for Evil Dead are ED. The hints of course were designed to drive you INSANE, which I hope it did. Now the cat is officially out of the bag...on to the next maze.. And last, thanks to Fede, Bruce and Sam for allowing us to create "Evil Dead: Book of the Dead" Who knows where this will lead in the future.
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@dkdoggie No wub wub in scare zone zone
Does this confirm no UMR scarezone, or is this just a trick (like they'll use different music or something)?
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I don't know if someone has mentioned this but the list of words (written in Croatian) speculation has been wrong (for me at least) because Murdy just tweeted that the list has a hint to all the mazes, not just one. He claims all the mazes were covered in that list, with one red herring.
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For those people that like themes, just mash all the properties together:
Alice Cooper vs. Resident Evil Alice vs. Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash vs. Bicycle Girl Zombie vs. Norman vs. Sister Mary Elephant vs. John Murdy vs. Slenderman's grandmother
Sister Mary Elephant <3
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Yeah.. You're right.
Switch it up: Evil Dead
Happy: ...Unhappy: ...Initials: DEMON (The characters names spell out Demon)gourd: Skulls? (Read it on google somewhere)Dead: Deadites/Book of the DeadSpirit: Evil spirits within the bookPuppet: ...Monster: ...Nativity: Birth of the last guy?Friends: ...They're friends, right? (Also, Ash remembers his friends in the first movie to come back from being a Deadite)Crazy/Madhouse: The cabin?Werewolf: ...Btw, does anyone have the pictures he posted? The two good ones.The puppet (if the new film is included) is the picture in the book (in the new Evil Dead film) where the demon has the person on a giant set of puppet stings... I guess you could call the "possessed" (or whatever you call them) monsters, and for gourds, quote from IMDB: "The hanging gourds and bones are a tribute to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", so there are actually gourds in the film. To say the least, the possessed people in the film (newest film at least) seem to be, err, very happy when they are torturing other folks. And I guess that the other healthy people are unhappy? But the last line of the translated text (where he calls us idiots or whatever) heavily reminds me of an insult the "possessed girl" would throw out during the new movie (calling everybody stupid and other names). I don't know where werewolf would come in though, other that the attacks in the original Evil Dead happen during (a very fake looking) full moon...
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I think it is a hint, but although I don't recall truth or dare in the Evil Dead (maybe just bad memory), they did play truth or dare in CITW (very memorable to say the least with the blond chick "seducing" the wolf head...)
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The Cabin in the Woods seems perfect for "The Name Game", but trying to connect TCITW with the careers Justin Timberlake, a male character from Friends (I'm thinking Matthew Perry) or some other 90's sitcom (Frasier, Wings, Will & Grace, there's too many) and a makeup artist (Could be anybody) is making my head explode. Too many wikipedia pages, so little time...
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Not only is the table from Alice in Wonderland in the maze #2 picture, but the "Drink Me" bottle is also a reference to it. But is a book a hint or one of the figurines?
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This might sound dumb or too obvious, but for some reason I'm thinking (if there is an Alice Cooper maze), it will be "Alice in Wonderland" (or for absolute correctness "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"), except instead of the girl Alice it would be none other than Alice Cooper. In (I recall) 3 of Murdy's tweets, he says, "I warned you...attempting to decipher the hints might send you down the RABBIT HOLE and could drive you INSANE...are u there yet? Are you?" and for some reason I think (since he has said something similar to this multiple times) that these tweets lead to some kind of hint, like rabbit hole (the one Alice falls down) and insane (mad hatter). And in another tweet from May 23, he says "You can try to figure them out but be careful, once you go down the rabbit hole, you may never come back. Curiouser and Curiouser..." Again with the rabbit hole, but "Curiouser and Curiouser" is a quote from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Google it). Since there is supposed to be a third Alice maze, it may or not be a coincidence that these names match up... I don't feel like Murdy would be that obvious though in his tweets, although a weird, crazy, peculiar, and scary re-imagining of wonderland would be cool...
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Did you do the HHN VIP Experience? I did the HHN VIP Halloween night, and a few days later for an email with a similar survey. I'd say 70% of it was more about the park and the VIP services and extras, but there was a good 3-4 pages about the mazes, terror tram, and Scarezones, asking you to rate them and pick your favorites. There was also a comment area talk about things you'd like to see in the future.
Yes I think that may be it. Honestly I can't remember if I did VIP haha. But like you said there was some stuff about mazes and future things. I say Evil Dead for the win. I'm not big on remakes but the new one coming out looks awesome.
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That was the link but when I clicked on it just now it said "this survey is now closed"... Damn. But I remember (I received the survey November 5th) it asking about park size, favorite maze, music I like, television shows I like, movies I like, and then an icon, kind of like the surveys from the year before....
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For some reason I got a survey from Universal... If anybody wants to see it I can try and dig it out of my email.
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With the VIP, did you utilize multiple runs through some of the mazes? I believe you said you did in the beginning, but when talking about the mazes, it seems as if you're referring to a singular time when going through. Anywho, point being, my first run through Silent Hill on opening night was very bad but when I went back, it was easily one of the better mazes of the night. Did any of the mazes better or lessen as you went through them multiple times?
And I was just curious to your thoughts on the TCM house from 07/08, since you speak highly of this one
I went through all them twice, but they mostly stayed the same each time so i didn't bother mentioning the two times, I just kind of combined them. Sorry for the singular point of view. And while I enjoyed the TCM house in 07, I thoroughly enjoyed this years better. TCM from 07 had way to many chainsaws for my taste and I hate repetitive scares, so thats why I liked this year better. I still liked the 07 maze though.
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Here’s a little bit about how I review mazes. I don’t read any reviews before I attend the event, so I can formulate my own opinions. I hold no bias against mazes, like I don’t grade one down because it’s a repeat or give one a higher grade because, say, I like it’s IP (i.e. give TCM a higher grade because I love TCM). I am a veteran at the park, having been to every event since the beginning (when HHNH opened for the second time). Also, I don’t grade wait times, as I always opt for a VIP pass so I can go though the mazes multiple times.
My mazes are reviewed on a 10 point scale, and are reviewed on Facade, Scares, Decor, Actors and Costumes, and Ambiance/Feel of the maze. I then give an overall score of the maze. Enjoy:
La Llorona:
Facade-9... The facade on La Llorona was great. It had a spooky, old Mexican town vibe to it. The constant sounds of crying and the telling of the story (of Llorona) was fabulous and was a scary way to prepare the crowd for a haunting maze. The church facade is probably the grandest of them all, as it stands tall and looks like a old, disintegrating building. I was glad to see on my first facade that it is not like 2009, where facades felt completely non-existent. I don’t know if it was just me being oblivious, but I did not see or cannot recall a single facade from that year. This is definitely a memorable and awe-inspiring facade fit for such a grand maze.
Scares-8... This scares in this maze are probably the most inventive of all the mazes; they are not standard pop-out-and-scare scares, but rather creepy and ultimately terrifying scares. The two particular scares that stuck out to me were the horse scene and the picture scene. The horse scene, the actors were reaching over the edge of the barn and the whole effect was actually very effective and scary. The picture scare was my favorite. You saw a picture (a scary picture) of La Llorona, which faded briefly to the image of a girl. Just as you think you are delusional, an arm reaches out and scares the crap out of you. Overall though, I missed to many of the scares due to a jammed pack line inside the maze to give this maze to give it a higher score.
Decor-10... No room in the maze was left bare or neglected; all the rooms were amazing. The opening room is probably one of the grandest and terrifying opening rooms I can think of in a maze. No room was underwhelming, and with pictures, statues, decorations, and props, every room felt alive and terrifying. The whole maze felt consistent, too, which I liked. Also, though, every room was different enough to hold your interest. The river scene was one example of a shocking room that didn’t need actors to scare you. Their were some greatly designed “scare holders”, where the actors waited to pop out and scare the guests. Favorite room: Opening Church scene.
Costumes/Actors-9... From the opening scene of this maze, you know that everything is going to be superbly scary. This is partially because of the costumes, and the great work by the scare actors. Everything from the horse costumes to the bloody “La Llorona’s” are intricate and are absolutely terrifying. The actors were always “yelling”, which was actually effective and scary. The big puppets near the end were amazingly detailed, and a great way to end the maze. Although neither puppet actually scared me (scared the people in front of me, skipped me), they were great to look at.
Ambiance/Feel-10... Not much I can say- this maze is creepy as Hell. Honestly, their isn’t one part that isn’t creepy and terrifying. This easily gets a ten mark from me, and is easily the creepiest (not scariest, but creepiest) maze this year and for any year.
Overall-9... La Llorona is a great maze that is superbly creepy. As it is the closest thing HHNH has to a ghost maze, I found this maze unique, creepy, and scary all at once, and is officially my second (of third) favorite maze of the night.
UMR-
Facade-4... I almost feel as if this is inapplicable, because the House of Horrors venue never really has a facade, but I think this maze went really well into the permanent facade. The castle look and clapping thunder with the dubstep music in the background fit together surprisingly well. I can’t imagine this house going into any other facade. Still, since it is practically facade-less, it receives a low score.
Scares-6... Honestly, there were some good scares in Universal Monsters Remix. Yes, the strobe lighting made it easy to see a few scare actors lurking, and most of the places were obvious, but since (especially on the ground level) so much was going on and their was a ton of noise, it made an easy distraction so that people could get scared. I got scared pretty good by a stilt walked on the DJ floor, and also by that darn Chucky doll. Always gets me. More scares than Alice Cooper, just not the quality as some of the other mazes.
Decor-6... The decor is always really the same in here, so it’s very hard to judge the decor level. This year though, they did add the most decor, and I really appreciated the fact that they are at least trying to make this venue scarier and varied from the House of Horrors attraction. The scene right before the stairs was felt very crypt-y and offered was a very “old” looking decor set rather than the modern, “electronic-inspired” decor that was in the rest of the maze. Probably the most decorated and “different” scene was the DJ scene, which wasn’t super impressive, but more impressive than past years. I really did appreciate the Go-Go dancer, even though she was tying her shoe while I walked through that area. As always, its great to see the decor whilst looking from the balcony catwalk area (at the top of the stairs). I saw many people gazing from the catwalk, and rightfully so, as the area is very decorated and large. Still, I expect more decor in this venue period, not just this maze. Bravo to Universal Monsters Remix for trying harder than past mazes, though.
Costumes/Actors-7... I got to give it to the actors; they tried. Were they successful? A lot of the times, no. I saw quite a few “wandering” actors, trying to get into their cramped hiding spots, but they weren’t anywhere close to the actors in other mazes like “The Walking Dead”. Some felt aggressive, and would follow you and chase you, yet the others would either just wave their arm at you or simply make a sound. Tactics, people. The more aggressive you are and the more inventive, your scares will be a hundred times better. And I have no idea why DJ Franky was there. He did nothing. He wasn’t even a convincing DJ. The actors themselves would be borderline 6 or 7. But the costumes, I feel, pushed that score to a 7. They were very inventive in recreating the classic monster’s costumes, and, even though I couldn’t identify some, others were super creepy, cool, and ultimately, modern, like the maze was trying to do.
Ambiance/Feel-4... Going to keep this short. The maze didn’t all have the same feeling. I kind of liked this, but the only place that felt like “Remix” was the lobby and the DJ scene. More cohesiveness would be great, but still, better than last year.
Overall-6... A good maze. Better than what some people say about it. A good overlay for HOH. Overall, it was a really fun experience, yet not a scary one. Borderline 5 or 6.
ACGTH-
Facade-8... The facade for this maze was awesome. The flames looked really cool when you had the 3D glasses on and I really liked the little ticket booth that said admission was one soul or something like that. They were blasting the Alice Cooper music, but since I’m not too in-tune with his music, I couldn’t fully appreciate that aspect of the facade. I took off two points because even though what they had was awesome, it overall just felt underwhelming. I thought there could be more of something somewhere. I can’t describe it.
Scares-6... This is where the maze lacked the most. I think I got two scares the entire maze; one where the lady shocked the guy in the chair and he jumped out at me, and the other in the “Hell” room where one of the frozen guys lurched at me. Other than that, I was mostly just enjoying the scenery. My group was ahead of me, and they said they got a few more scares than me, yet nothing spectacular. I felt as thought there were a lot of “static” moments, where their were actors, yet none of them made an effort to scare you. The finale usually is the grandest and scariest part, and honestly, this made probably had the worst “finale” of the night. No scares, no cool decor, the snake didn’t even come out at me when I walked past it. I think if Alice was to come back (not saying I want him to, but if he were), they need to focus on the scares. I think they were to invested in making really cool scenes that they ignored that scares are the most important part of a good maze. Still, that electrocuted guy scared the hell out of me, bravo on that!
Decor-9... This maze had some freakin’ awesome decor. I was stunned by the colors, scale, and awesomeness of the rooms I entered. My favorite room was the “Hell” room, because it actually felt like you just walked into an ice cave (apparently Hell is an ice cave... I always imagined it with fire and flames... Oh well)! I really loved their use of color in the maze, as all the greens and oranges really stuck out and made for a different experience from the rest of the mazes. The 3D was super effective in this maze and the best use of 3D I’ve seen in any maze. Having all the colors really helped the 3D I think and was a hundred percent improvement over the 3D technology used in House of 1000 Corpses.
Costumes/Actors-8... This is a two way street. The costumes in this maze easily get a nine or ten. Yet the actors are about a seven or an eight. I decided to meet halfway and give this category an eight. There were too many static actors (as I like to call them) that were in the maze, but did not scare. I appreciate every once and a while, but this maze used this tactic to much and focused less on actual scaring. On the other hand, the make up in this maze was amazing. The guys who looked like they were frozen actually looked like they were frozen. It was incredible!
Ambiance/Feel-6... Not much to say about this category. Didn’t have much of an ambiance. Overall, disappointed. Other than the names, I didn’t feel as though I was in “Hell”. The gates of Hell scene was underwhelming, but some scenes made up for it.
Overall-7... A good maze, but could of been so much more. More scares, more creepiness, and this maze could of been golden.
Silent Hill-
Facade-4... Thoroughly underwhelming. There was virtually nothing but a sign and a car. Could of been so much more, so much greater. The only good thing about this facade was the fact that I did feel like I was entering Silent Hill. Since I caught up on Silent Hill lore before I went, I also understood what the car meant. It felt really small too, very cramped. I think that was just because of the venue and where it entered, but they could of at least expanded the facade maybe through the line or something to make it grander.
Scares-5... Virtually no scares. Highly disappointed because this could of been so much greater. The Pyramid Heads all did the same thing (walk out, lurch at some people), and there was a limited set of character that were scaring you. I did get one really good scare right after the nurse scene, as a normal looking nurse came flying out of nowhere and got me pretty good. Other than that, I didn’t get any scares. A lot of places that could of had some awesome scares, but their was nothing.
Decor-5... Felt like I was walking through the same room over and over again. The only room that felt different was the bathroom scene, which was disgusting and awesome. Other than that, I could tell they didn’t spend a lot of time trying to make this maze look great. I did like how you had to walk through the nurses in the nurse room. I think a lot of creativity would of helped this maze significantly, and would of helped the scares too. The maze didn’t speak creepy and isolated to me like the games, it more felt bland and repetitive. I realize it was a hard project to take on, but, compared to some of the other mazes, could of been much better.
Costumes/Actors-6... It’s really hard to judge the costumes, as most of them were exactly the same. I think I saw about four different costumes the whole maze. Even though those costumes looked nice, I think some variety would of done this maze wonders. The actors were a little underwhelming too. All Pyramid head did was reach out for me, and the nurses were very good standing very still until the moved, which didn’t fit the movements of the nurses I saw in the games or movie at all. I would forgive this, but since the nurses are such an iconic thing, it’s hard to forgive.
Ambiance/Feel-6... Lack of good decor really bogged this category down. I did think it was creepy when I first entered the maze, and walking down the alley way of shops and also through the nurses was very creepy, but after those scenes it felt less and less creepy and more and more repetitive. They did try to keep the ambiance “the same” the whole maze, so good job on that note. Could of been so much scarier, and I feel like the whole maze should of been “darker” too. Some scenes would of been better with silence and echoes rather than music, too.
Overall-6... I was excited for this maze, and ultimately it let me down. You could tell they didn’t put full time into this maze, which is disappointing, as it could of been great.
TCM-
Facade-8... Seeing houses and knowing I have to go into them always scares me to death. Seeing the Texas Chainsaw Massacre a long time ago, I was amazed how similar the house looked to the actual house! Hearing the screams and chainsaws inside was really spooky and made me really excited to go inside.
Scares-10... Hands down one of the scariest, if not the scariest, maze of the night. I liked how they didn’t depend on chainsaws the whole time to scare you, and Leatherface wasn’t the scariest part of the maze (even though he was scary). The dining room scene is one of the scariest and most iconic scenes in a maze that I can think of. Every turn something scared you in this maze, and my adrenaline was pumping the whole time that I was actually sweating. Every scare was scary, and they utilized all hiding places and scares effectively. They had a mix of varied scares too, which I really noticed and ultimately loved. The man in the wheel chair coming out of one of the rooms (I can’t remember which one) scared the hell out of my group, who rarely gets scared. Great job!
Decor-9... Literally felt like I just walked into Leatherface’s house. Everything felt decorated and nothing felt “bare”. I got to give it to the dining room scene again: it was decorated fantastically and the pure chaos of it made it one of the best rooms I can think of (of the night). There was plenty of grotesque “meat” rooms which made me squeal with joy (isn’t that demented). The victims all looked great and I cannot get over how great the decor was throughout the maze. Not much else I can say rather than: Awesome!
Costumes/Actors-10... Convincing, intense, and aggressive are some of the few terms I can use to describe the actors. The actors in this house should give themselves a pat on the back for giving realistic, scary, and ultimately awesome performances. The people who talked yelled some great lines out and the Leatherfaces were all scary and very “on-cue”. The costumes were a little bland and maybe repetitive, but the makeup throughout the maze made up for that. The victims especially looked great and I loved all the blood and gore everywhere without using to much of it (i.e. Saw). Awesome job!
Ambiance/Feel-10... The whole maze was intense, and the claustrophobic feel of being in the house with Leatherface lurking around made it the scariest ambiance of the night. The minute I walked into the house I knew I was in for a treat, as the lighting, sound, and feel of the maze was all right, which takes a lot of work from production teams. Everything added together made for one intense house.
Overall-9... My second favorite house of the night. Almost any other year it would be my favorite. I liked how they took an IP house and made it right: followed the movie, but also threw in their own scary twist. I enjoyed and was very scared by this house, and I hope they DON’T make another Texas Chainsaw Massacre so they don’t ruin the icon, since this maze sets such high standard for TCM and all movie-based houses.
The Walking Dead-
Facade-10... Scares in the facade? Impossible until now. Best facade in the history of facades. The guy coming around the truck scared me as I wasn’t expecting it at all! That actor was also very aggressive and followed me all the way into the house! Awesome! And all the dead bodies laying around was a great way to show the scariness and carnage that was about to follow. I did not enjoy the fact that they had to show previews for season 3 above the house, but once you got to the actual facade, all was forgiven as you were about to enter the best house of the night.
Scares-10... This maze was the scariest by far. I think one part of it was that we hit it last and even though there was a 120 minute wait, since we had VIP passes, he let my group of 4 go in alone, no one in front of us, no one behind. I cannot thank that line manager enough. Since I was scared of the bat by the actor in the facade, I knew this maze was going to be scary. The scares were super aggressive and actors constantly followed me, chased me, and popped out at me from nowhere. This maze also gets my “Scream” award of the night, as it is the only maze in the history of HHN (which I’ve been attending since the beginning) that has actually made me scream instead of being startled or jump. I actually screamed. So that automatically shows how scary this maze was. Walking through the barn was intense as I had to duck under hands as a group of three zombies chased me out. One person in my group got so scared they accidentally smacked their head on the wall. Great finale for a maze of awesome scares.
Decor-10... The decor was very detailed, and their was always something going on. And the tank! It actually looked like a full sized tank! Awesome! I liked their use of all the iconic scenes from the show (as my brother told me, because I’ve never seen the show), and even though I haven’t scene the show, I definitely knew what was going on because of the great decor. The forest room was gigantic and I was terrified walking through because of the scale of it. Great job!
Costumes/Actors-10... I cannot praise the actors high enough in this maze. Everyone was aggressive, convincing, and very, very scary. I’ve never seen actors so aggressive, and I loved it. They constantly followed me out of the room, chased me, and continually scared me without being annoying. The makeup, even though I didn’t get to look at it closely, was detailed and was varied, which was nice, since virtually everybody was a zombie, and I could see how it could easily be repetitive (which it wasn’t). This is how a maze should be, people.
Ambiance/Feel-10... The feeling was appropriate all the time. Creepy when it needed to be, scary when it needed to be, intense, et cetera. I like how the whole maze had a tone that you needed to escape Atlanta and such, which made me feel completely immersed in the maze. Being alone with only my group made for the best experience of the night, too.
Overall-10... Easily best maze of the night, if not one of the best of all HHNH. Great job guys. I hope if they bring one maze back, its this awesome maze.
Terror Tram:
Scares-7... The Terror Tram was, on a first note, far superior to any Terror Tram of recent memory. I remember the Chucky Terror Tram two years ago... Makes me shutter even thinking about it. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised by the Terror Tram this year. The theme “The Walking Dead” was apparent throughout the maze, and I liked how some of the scare actors were survivors and police officers rather than just zombies throughout the maze. The scares I did have would be a ten; the actors were aggressive, convincing, and did evoke terror throughout the tram. I took off two points because their were dead spots throughout the tram. There were areas (like going up the hill) where their wasn’t a scare in sight, just noises and distant screams of others up ahead. Luckily, for the most part, the decor saved these otherwise “dead” zones and helped the Terror Tram be scary throughout.
Decor-7... It’s hard to judge decor on the Terror Tram because the decor on the walk is mostly the same each year, as the buildings are permanent. The layovers the walking dead had though were detailed, gruesome, and made you feel as though your just stepped into the zombie apocalypse. I especially enjoyed the butcher scene, and my favorite (other than the plane crash site, which is always awesome) was the cage scene, where “Survivors” would yell to run while zombies clawed at the rickety cages. The Walking dead had a natural advantage being on the Terror Tram as well, because since most of the show takes place in a forest. Well, what do you know? You’re walking in a forest-y area on the backlot. This saved some of the more barren scenes from feeling completely empty.
Costumes/Actors-7... First off, the costumes and makeup were great. Its hard to see fine details of the make-up in the dark, but by looking at the people, I could easily tell which were zombies and which ones were humans (survivors). The best part of the Terror Tram was the actors. They were all super aggressive, and all did some great improv with the crowd. My only complaint were the guys with chainsaws. Yes, I know chainsaws are loud and scary, but I hate chainsaws. Simply put, they are annoying. My other complaint is the lacking of actors. I don’t know if the actors just didn’t pop out when I walked through, but there seemed to be an absence of a lot of scare actors, especially through the plain wreckage scene. I thought they’d use the dead bodies as a ploy to mix real actors with fakes, but through the whole scene, I got one scare, and I was by and police officer by a car. Otherwise, the costumes and actors were great.
Ambiance/Feel-10... The ambiance of the “Walking Dead” was very easy to achieve, as the whole backlot intertwines a forest, so the creepy, outdoors, dark feeling is all ready attained. The screams and roars of zombies made me very jittery and gave a great, eerie feeling. Not much else I can say, other than that the “feeling” of the maze was fantastically creepy.
Overall-8... Overall, the Terror Tram was a big success this year. The atmosphere was creepy, the actors were great, and the scares were perfect for the backlot adventure.
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I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the scare zones, but here are my thoughts on them anyways.
Witches-
Scariness-6... Was scary when the actors were scaring, but since the scare zone was so short, it lacked the scariness that it could of had. Better than Toyz though.
Set Pieces/Costumes-6... Not much decor other than fog and a few wheel-barrels and the like. The costumes were really cool though, and I liked the really tall actor.
Actors-8... I liked the scare tactics that they showed, but they got a little repetitive.
Overall-7... A good scare zone, but could of been so much better with more actors, more set pieces, and a larger space.
Toyz-
Scariness-3... Didn’t get a single scare. Watching the actors, they mostly just walked up to people and didn’t even scare them. Very confused by this.
Set Pieces/Costumes-8... Major props on the costumes. They looked fantastic. Didn’t really notice any significant set pieces though.
Actors-5... Weren’t scaring anybody really (especially not me), and I didn’t even see the famous bunny with a chainsaw. Disappointed.
Overall-5... Could of been totally amazing, but lack of actors and bad scaring tactics made this scare zone a dud.
Klownz-
Scariness-10... Always scary, which gives to the actors. Always aggressive, and the scale of the scare zone makes it scary as well.
Set Pieces/Costumes-9... The entrance is huge! And the clown costumes are creepy as hell.
Actors-10... Best actors in any scare zone. Always aggressive, and weave through the crowds with ease and scare everybody along the way.
Overall-9... Best scare zone of the night easily, but time for these clowns to retire. Good job though.
Silent Hill-
Scariness-3... Virtually no scares. In fact, I barely saw any actors, only heard the siren go on and on and on which got really annoying.
Set Pieces/Costumes-2... Can’t judge much because I only saw a nurse, who looked average.
Actors-3... The nurse I saw was taking a picture, then lunged at someone, then walked around normally. This was not good, at all.
Overall-3... Borderline 2 or 3. Worse scare zone of the night. Didn’t get any scares even though I lingered around it for 30 minutes waiting for my group to do Jurassic Park. Something needs to change, like maybe two scare zones in the lower lot.
Overall, I really enjoyed HHN 2012. I had a great time. My only complaints are quality in some mazes, adding more scariness, and the scare zones especially. Overall, though, a great event.
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Does anyone know what time you have to be at the park for the RIP/VIP tours?? It doesn't say on the ticket. I'm trying to plan for dinner and such... Major conundrum.
)
(Also, Ash remembers his friends in the first movie to come back from being a Deadite)
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2015 Event Discussion
in Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2015
Posted · Edited by Brianb14
I haven't been on this site in forever, and although I didn't get to attend USH this year (first time I haven't gone in at least 4-5 years!), I did get to go to Halloween Horror Nights Singapore. For anyone curious about HHN 'round the world, they're very different events. While Hollywood is overall a scarier event with more to see and do, Singapore's theming, attention to detail and decor kills USH. I couldn't believe how detailed the sets and costumes/make-up were! And the event was at the pinnacle of creativity. It was a great experience, and it was fun to see how it compared to Hollywood. For anyone interested, I posted a review of USS in its forum page under reviews. Hope I'll be able to be back at Hollywood next year! Enjoyed everyone's reviews of the Hollywood event this year; living vicariously through y'all! I am disappointed to hear that the event (to some) wasn't that great this year...