HHN Hollywood X Wishful Thinking

[Creeper06]

I highly doubt the Thing is going to be there for the reasons DTH mentioned. I'm sure people will want the maze to be based off the remake especially since the 80s version has already been done in Orlando. Besides, I'm sure it'll end up a complete flop like Wolman and My Soul to Take were.

I don't expect the new Thing to flop. There's a lot of love for the original and quite a lot of anticipation for the new one. Of course, only time will tell. However, as we've mentioned, it's already been proven that a Thing maze is entirely possible as it's already been successfully accomplished with a combination of animatornics and live actors in Orlando. Whether Hollywood would invest in it is another question entirely.

And I don't approve of calling Wolfman a "complete flop" and comparing it to My Soul to Take. Wolfman made $62 M in the US and $140 M worldwide. It wasn't huge but that's right on par with the NOES and F13 remakes domestically and far more than they made internationally. My Soul To Take hasn't even cracked $20M worldwide. That's a big difference. Sorry to get hung up on this stuff like grosses but, well, it's what I do for a living.

[Anu]

I don't expect the new Thing to flop. There's a lot of love for the original and quite a lot of anticipation for the new one. Of course, only time will tell. However, as we've mentioned, it's already been proven that a Thing maze is entirely possible as it's already been successfully accomplished with a combination of animatornics and live actors in Orlando. Whether Hollywood would invest in it is another question entirely.

And I don't approve of calling Wolfman a "complete flop" and comparing it to My Soul to Take. Wolfman made $62 M in the US and $140 M worldwide. It wasn't huge but that's right on par with the NOES and F13 remakes domestically and far more than they made internationally. My Soul To Take hasn't even cracked $20M worldwide. That's a big difference. Sorry to get hung up on this stuff like grosses but, well, it's what I do for a living.

Not even $20mil worldwide?? Crap, that's probably not even enough to pay off it's marketing campaign!

[DTH316]

I thought it was funny that all of the props were laid out in the HOH queue... like people would actually care.

[socalchainsaw]

I don't think Trick R Treat is popular enough to be a maze. It was a great movie and I would love to see it turned into a maze but it's just not popular enough.

We all know Murdy only does the really popular movies.

[Freak]

I don't think Trick R Treat is popular enough to be a maze. It was a great movie and I would love to see it turned into a maze but it's just not popular enough.

We all know Murdy only does the really popular movies.

This. I highly doubt we will even see a TrT maze until 2012, aster the sequel comes out a year before.

By the way, welcome back to the real HHN family Socal! What took you so long?

[socalchainsaw]

.

By the way, welcome back to the real HHN family Socal! What took you so long?

IDK

Edited November 4, 2010 by socalchainsaw

[horror lover]

I don't think Trick R Treat is popular enough to be a maze. It was a great movie and I would love to see it turned into a maze but it's just not popular enough.

We all know Murdy only does the really popular movies.

Suuureee He does......... remember kiddies, House of 1000 Corpses was one of the most popular, highest grossing horror flicks in recent years.........

[socalchainsaw]

House of 1,000 Corpses was actually released in theaters and made a LOT more than Trick R Treat.

[Anu]

Suuureee He does......... remember kiddies, House of 1000 Corpses was one of the most popular, highest grossing horror flicks in recent years.........

Be nice, now! :lol:

[DTH316]

Well before I would've said it had not a shot in hell but with the creator wanting it to be done, at least his name is now in the drawing hat.

[DTH316]

If I were to be 100% realistic and not doing a wishlist, I think the maze list next year will look something like this:

1) Scream (wish list and realism, GO ME!)

2) Rob Zombie's Halloween (Halloween part - wish list, Rob Zombie part - realism)

3) The Evil Dead

4) Hostel

5) Original maze

6) House of Horrors overlay

I could only truly guess 3... weird...

[Creeper06]

Suuureee He does......... remember kiddies, House of 1000 Corpses was one of the most popular, highest grossing horror flicks in recent years.........

LOL. True dat! House of 1000 Corpses was a bomb when it came out. Made $12M. It's developed something of a cult following but does not have the name recognition with the general public. Getting a maze based on it had EVERYTHING to do with with Murdy's relationship with Zombie and nothing to do with it's popularity.

Which mazes we get is completely based on Murdy's whims. It's his show. He can have a Trick 'R Treat maze and defend it by saying "It's been very successful on DVD and Blu-Ray and has developed a cult following. Plus it's a unique property that fits perfectly into HHN". Or he can pass on it and say "It was not a theatrical release and would be too obscure for most people to connect to". See? There's always a justification no matter what he wants to do. And, in the end, he's gonna do what he feels like.

DTH- that line-up actually seems pretty realistic and wouldn't be bad at all. I still have no interest in seeing a maze based on Zombie's Halloween but I am totally biased based on my white-hot hatred for those two abominations he called films.

[zombieman]

Until USH decides to hire some great talent behind the scenes (i.e. Michael Roddy), we're going to see more repeats and endless movie-based houses. Certainly nothing original. I'm convinced Murdy is incapable of an original thought, and lives in a fantasy world of old horror movies. Most of his incessant tweets this year were nothing but his knowledge of horror trivia. He's a walking Simpsons character - and not an amusing one at that.

In the meantime, Orlando will continue to create great houses based on original themes, and will continue to produce both quantity and quality.

And before I hear the same old lines of "USH is a movie studio!" and "USO has all the money!", consider the following: Because USO consistently produces a new event each and every year, they can command $75 a ticket, and up to $70 on top of that for a front of the line pass good for only one entry per house. USH has consistently DROPPED or maintained the price of their admission over the years, and practically gives away their season pass for HHN. The reason the event was so packed this year was not because it was a great event - it was because it was incredibly cheap! Until USH can command a higher ticket price, they will not generate the revenue to put on a better event. And let's not forget to consider how much money USH spends paying a movie studio for rights to use their intellectual property in a house (and it's a buttload of cash, by the way). Imagine if they had instead put those dollars into an original concept! Secondly, USO has put on their share of movie-based houses, but it's the original houses that the customers flock to and remember. They might have been decent houses, but customers hardly place Thing, Dead Silence, and Doomsday among the best that USO has offered. The recent Frankenstein and Dracula houses were outstanding, but were also based on original folklore rather than any movie. Go figure.

I sincerely don't understand people who want to see their favorite movies represented in a haunted house - especially when all they do is re-create scenes from the movie. Seriously, how much talent does that take? To me, it's like rappers who "recreate" a song by ripping a piece of a true classic. They are saying "I'm incapable of doing anything original, so I'll just go use that". Same thing with Murdy and HHN. I really loved the Evil Dead series, but I don't really need to see a guy pretending to be Bruce Campbell yelling "Hail to the King, Baby" at me.

As good as House of 1000 Corpses was this year, I'd so much rather get a chance to go through Zombiegeddon, Dogs of War, Orfanage, or Catacombs again, but you know what? No one will ever get the chance to do that, because Orlando will never repeat them. Those houses are done, and have been written into the history books. And that's what makes them so much better than us. HHN Hollywood may well bring back HOTC next year, and if they do, it will lose most of its luster.

I know I've repeated these complaints ad infinitum, but as I've said before - we all deserve better from John Murdy. You know he reads these comments, and is probably a member of this board. Unless we demand more, we're only going to get the same crap.

And for those of you reading this and disagreeing - I've been where you are. One day, you may be fortunate enough to go to HHN Orlando (or a dozen others I could suggest), and when you do, you'll expect far more from HHN Hollyood.

My personal feeling? If I was running the show, I'd want to create a house concept that was SO GOOD a movie producer would want to make a horror movie based on - not the other way around. FACT: The USO HHN character Jack Schmidt had such an extensive backstory that Universal toyed with the idea of a movie on more than one occasion.

EDIT: Just re-read the thread about Murdy liking the idea of a house based on Lunaticz or Freakz. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he came up with that himself. It is a good idea

(original=good.....generally. La Llorona=NOT good)

Edited November 4, 2010 by zombieman

[electro_killer]

Until USH decides to hire some great talent behind the scenes (i.e. Michael Roddy), we're going to see more repeats and endless movie-based houses. Certainly nothing original. I'm convinced Murdy is incapable of an original thought, and lives in a fantasy world of old horror movies. Most of his incessant tweets this year were nothing but his knowledge of horror trivia. He's a walking Simpsons character - and not an amusing one at that.

In the meantime, Orlando will continue to create great houses based on original themes, and will continue to produce both quantity and quality.

And before I hear the same old lines of "USH is a movie studio!" and "USO has all the money!", consider the following: Because USO consistently produces a new event each and every year, they can command $75 a ticket, and up to $70 on top of that for a front of the line pass good for only one entry per house. USH has consistently DROPPED or maintained the price of their admission over the years, and practically gives away their season pass for HHN. Until USH can command a higher ticket price, they will not generate the revenue to put on a better event. And let's not forget to consider how much money USH spends paying a movie studio for rights to use their product in a house. Imagine if they had instead put those dollars into an original concept! Secondly, USO has put on their share of movie-based houses, but it's the original houses that the customers flock to and remember. They might have been decent houses, but customers hardly place Thing, Dead Silence, and Doomsday among the best that USO has offered. The recent Frankenstein and Dracula houses were outstanding, but were also based on original folklore rather than any movie. Go figure.

I sincerely don't understand people who want to see their favorite movies represented in a haunted house - especially when all they do is re-create scenes from the movie. Seriously, how much talent does that take? To me, it's like rappers who "recreate" a song by ripping a piece of a true classic. They are saying "I'm incapable of doing anything original, so I'll just go use that". Same thing with Murdy and HHN. I really loved the Evil Dead series, but I don't really need to see a guy pretending to be Bruce Campbell yelling "Hail to the King, Baby" at me.

As good as House of 1000 Corpses was this year, I'd so much rather get a chance to go through Zombiegeddon, Dogs of War, Orfanage, or Catacombs again, but you know what? No one will ever get the chance to do that, because Orlando will never repeat them. Those houses are done, and have been written into the history books. And that's what makes them so much better than us. HHN Hollywood may well bring back HOTC next year, and if they do, it will lose most of its luster.

I know I've repeated these complaints ad infinitum, but as I've said before - we all deserve better from John Murdy. You know he reads these comments, and is probably a member of this board. Unless we demand more, we're only going to get the same crap.

And for those of you reading this and disagreeing - I've been where you are. One day, you may be fortunate enough to go to HHN Orlando (or a dozen others I could suggest), and when you do, you'll expect far more from HHN Hollyood.

My personal feeling? If I was running the show, I'd want to create a house concept that a movie producer would want to make a horror movie based on - not the other way around. FACT: The USO HHN character Jack Schmidt had such an extensive backstory that Universal toyed with the idea of a movie one more than one occasion.

EDIT: Just re-read the thread about Murdy liking the idea of a house based on Lunaticz or Freakz. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he came up with that himself. It is a good idea (original=good.....generally. La Llorona=NOT good)

Ditto.

[socalchainsaw]

People go to HHNH for movie based mazes if they just changed it up completely people wouldn't go as much. They'd go to Knotts because they're stupid.

[zombieman]

People go to HHNH for movie based mazes if they just changed it up completely people wouldn't go as much. They'd go to Knotts because they're stupid.

...adding mental punctuation to make sense of this post....

...working....

...if I've parsed this mess correctly, let me test your logic. I'll assume you're the stupid customer for this example.

You only go to HHNH because they do Movie based houses. In August of 2011, you read that HHNH will do 5 brand new houses with original (non movie) content. Four of them will be the best of the best from Orlando (their highest rated mazes ever). You - being stupid - decide that you will instead go to Knotts, who is doing two new houses (also non movie based). Had HHNH instead announced they would be doing 5 movie based houses (four of which were the same as prior years) you'd be creaming your pants.

That just makes all sorts of sense. You're a frickin' genius.

And I bet that if they decided to make Terror Tram not go through the Mummy Tunnel a SIXTH YEAR IN A ROW, they'd lose even more stupid customers to Knotts.

<facepalm>

Edited November 4, 2010 by zombieman

[socalchainsaw]

You missed my point completely, I'm talking about your average guest who doesn't give a crap about the specifics of the event. All they know about HHN is that it's the place that does the movie based

mazes. People like this only go to HHN for the movie mazes. My point is people would be disappointed if Universal just dropped the movie theme.

Another thing, I have a different opinion than you...there's no need to be a dick.

Edited November 4, 2010 by socalchainsaw

[LeeRay]

didnt exactly know where to put this soooooo....

im gonna put it here lol....

http://creepyla.com/blog/2010/10/29/a-pre-halloween-chat-with-trick-r-treat-director-michael-dougherty/

i think a few of you will find this interview very interesting.

[DTH316]

Socal's final statement - LMFAO

Leeray - I think that was posted somewhere, I'm not sure!

OH! The improvements for next year thread, I think, I don't know, I'm not sure, lol

[Freak]

I don't think I even want to go on the Facebook page anymore. I'm consistently getting very frustrated by all of the posts on there saying that they really, really want Saw and House of 1,000 Corpses to come back...and Halloween as well. If they keep repeating the same crap over and over and over again, (Especially if the old stuff overrides the new like this year), I'm just going to screw Knott's and HHNH and fly out to Orlando for the weekend every weekend just to go to their event! While I wouldn't be devastated if Michael Myers came back as long as he is the only character returning and his maze was all-new, I just wish our event was like 2009 all over again like most, if not all of us here.

My only concern is that if Scream and Halloween were to show up at the same event, they might feel repetitive from each other environment-wise. I mean, Scream takes places in some houses and so does Halloween. Just something that's been on my mind.

[DTH316]

Scream only needs only about 2 house locations. Other than that, it could take place in a variety of places.

Casey Becker's house

The school/Principal's office

Stu's house

Stab Premiere bathroom

Stab Premiere theater

Recording studio at the end of 2

Sound stage

Prop room

Dewey's trailer

The basement

And with enough imagination, all those things could work chronologically in an easy space to make it feel like we're not jumping across entire cities to different places.

If I were to do a Scream maze, I would design it something very similar to that.

Everything from the Stab Premiere and on are very relatable locations. I mean, a theater could technically be on a movie studio grounds for a premiere, along with a sound mixing/recording studio, sound stage, prop room, an advisor's trailer and some type of basement of sort (from that dude's mansion at the end of part 3). But I think an awesome finale would be Sidney's house set with dead mother in the sheet, and it's not technically in the same location in the movie but for the sake of maze coherency, the dead mother scratching at the window before with Ghostface then popping out.

And guys, we honestly don't need to worry about future years. This year proved to me, even with some familiar faces, the event can thrive and be amazing. It was it's best year. All the mazes were very strong; there wasn't one weak one. If you didn't like Saw, then shame on you. There were scares abundant in that maze. And the cast in Vampyre was extremely strong. And I don't need to explain why F13, NOES and HOTC were a success.

Sure 09 had all new and it was also an amazing event but it seemed like it was just missing something and I think it was variety. Saw scarezones, Saw maze, Saw Terror Tram - it was overkill even though it did all fit with the theme.

I think I was the biggest shit talker of this year on this board but now I know next year - HHN ain't the one to distrust. They give nothing short of a premium experience in every way imaginable. And if Orlando does put on a better event, then I don't care to ever see it. I live in California and I have no desire to spend hundreds of dollars to fly out there for a fuckin' theme park just so I can come back to where I live and go "I'm missing out on the good stuff" like a little crybaby. This is the best of what I got out here and they do a damn good job of it too. It's not denial and it's not avoiding the truth - it's being realistic with my situation and where I'm located and making a practical choice. I love Halloween events and theme parks as much as the next guy but there is no way in hell you'll get me to fly across the country to go visit one.

06 we started off great, even with one maze and an awesome Terror Tram (didn't attend but just coming from popular consensus).

07 the ante was upped and it became the basis for how our event is now. I came to the event alone to come see my favorite horror icons and before that day, I never really did things alone but that's besides the point. Would I do that for Knotts? Hell no, I had 0 reason to even though I was a huge fan of their stuff previously but it didn't have that novelty value of "these are my favorite horror villains!" (who are really a bunch of teenagers from Burbank in masks, but still).

08, even though it was a complete rehash of 07, improved on what they did the year prior. The Terror Tram was the most epic they ever did it and the maze that was lacking the most got a fixin' and the Bill and Ted was their funniest one. Even if you didn't like 08 for the fact it was a repeat, those are some undeniable facts right there - that it WAS improved on.

09, we got all new and yes, it was an amazing event and some of you, your favorite year.

This year, you got HOTC, a much more aggressive F13, a much more brooding NOES and Bill and Ted returning to old from.

Seriously, how can you doubt HHN Hollywood from their track record so far? Well I guess that's just me personally and I'll continue to be a happy person. You guys can mope all you want lol

Edited November 4, 2010 by DTH316

[Creeper06]

Wow. Things are getting passionate here. I have to agree with Zombieman (though I think I'm a bit more forgiving than he... just a bit). We do have to demand more from Murdy and HHN Hollywood. Every year I go to Orlando (I've been going to that event for 11 years now) and it just depresses me to come back here. I know Knott's gets away with constantly repeating themselves, so Universal thinks it can too. That's disappointing. Universal can raise their game and really take the haunt crown in SoCal. But as long as they keep repeating themselves and reusing the same tired themes, nothing will change.

As I've said before, I understand movie houeses. I really do. I think I enjoy them more than Zombieman but it does show a lack of creativity. I've said it before and I'll say it again: BALANCE. 3 movie houses and 2 originals. That's not so hard, is it?

[DTH316]

That would be ideal. They would run out of movies eventually, anyway. They should pace their selves lol

[Tmrw]

That would be ideal. They would run out of movies eventually, anyway. They should pace their selves lol

guesss whoss backk ;D

and DTH when that happens

THEN the real fun will begin >

but as for movie mazes

Scream we know murdy has his eyes on

as well as Hellraiser (in a tweet he shared with me he was talking to the studio about getting the rights)

Original maze <3

but im still stumped as to what we could possibly use for the next 3 (yes theres that possibility again)

[Freak]

And guys, we honestly don't need to worry about future years. This year proved to me, even with some familiar faces, the event can thrive and be amazing. It was it's best year. All the mazes were very strong; there wasn't one weak one. If you didn't like Saw, then shame on you. There were scares abundant in that maze. And the cast in Vampyre was extremely strong. And I don't need to explain why F13, NOES and HOTC were a success.

Sure 09 had all new and it was also an amazing event but it seemed like it was just missing something and I think it was variety. Saw scarezones, Saw maze, Saw Terror Tram - it was overkill even though it did all fit with the theme.

To some extent, I disagree with you. If you were inside Vampyre or Friday the 13th with me, you would see how easily scared I am. Heck, I occasionally get a good startle from a maze attendant after pushing some hanging things aside while going into the next room! When I went into the Saw maze, I was barely scared at all. At the very most, I only got a bit of a startle from the guy with the hammer before entering the room with the twisting crucifix in there. Everything else I totally saw coming and wasn't intimidated. What's sad is that I was scared more in the Vampyre maze since there were more Vampires in different spots so I wasn't expecting them there despite the several times I have been in HoH. Saw fell flat because the hiding places that were used last year I saw coming and the new hiding spots were incredibly obvious.

How would you like to stand in line for a maze and realize that you're going in the exact same maze that you saw last year? When I go to HHN, I go inside mazes for the unexpected factor. Yes there's HoH, but I see that as more of a time-filler to hang around longer for the chainsaw chaseout, yet I still get scared because of all the different scareactors they have in there and how there are more than the daytime version. When I go to the other mazes, I want the unexpected factor of not knowing what's in there. Bring back Michael Myer and have his maze based off the remake? He's already been done. Even if it is new and based off the remake, come on! It'll still have that "familiar" feeling that I don't want to see. I want to go on an all-new environment with a new antagonist(s) that I haven't seen before. That's what Universal should be all about. Because they are a working movie studio with high-qualiy production and their legacy of horror, Universal is held to much, much higher standard than Knott's. It disgusts me that HHNH thinks they can get away by copping out by repeating mazes and/or characters just simply because they have to listen to the GP by saying they want America's favorite fictional killers to come back.

I think I was the biggest s*** talker of this year on this board but now I know next year - HHN ain't the one to distrust. They give nothing short of a premium experience in every way imaginable. And if Orlando does put on a better event, then I don't care to ever see it. I live in California and I have no desire to spend hundreds of dollars to fly out there for a f***** theme park just so I can come back to where I live and go "I'm missing out on the good stuff" like a little crybaby. This is the best of what I got out here and they do a damn good job of it too. It's not denial and it's not avoiding the truth - it's being realistic with my situation and where I'm located and making a practical choice. I love Halloween events and theme parks as much as the next guy but there is no way in hell you'll get me to fly across the country to go visit one.

As you probably knew, I have had the privilege of being able to attend Orlando's event. If you actually went there, I would bet anything that you would think differently. While I do like being able to recognize seeing scenes from horror movies I just watched be turned into mazes, Orlando's originality and strong creative work has just blown me away and had me wondering why I don't just up and move to Orlando (I love LA too much). Their scare-tactics and themes have kicked the crap out of Hollywood pretty badly. "In order for this event to thrive, we need to provide our guests with horrific NEW characters and terrifying NEW ideas." -Mike Aiello (Creative director for HHNO) Sure Hollywood maybe thriving now, but if they keep up rehashing and rehashing and failing to deliver us all-new or at the very least mostly new unlike this year, the event will just eventually dwindle into another hiatus. Again, one could argue that Knott's is thriving despite its repeats, but like I pointed out earlier, Universal is held to a much higher standard than the world's first Halloween event.