HHN 2011: Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare

[Creeper06]

just like the people who dont like this idea are respecting the opions of the people who like this idea please do the same for the ones who dont like it any futher "Quit Bitching" statements will be deleted from this point on.

This was my point when I was saying that there's no need to lash out at each other. Thanks for the back-up, buddy!

And yes, Murdy breaks his "rules" (which will forever have quotes around it from now on ) whenever it works for him. Which can be rather frustrating. He uses them as a shield to defend himself about not doing a certain maze or property but conveniently forgets about them if it means pal-ing around with a celebrity.

[DTH316]

New PR:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/08/rock-legend-alice-cooper-to-create-halloween-maze-.html

[According to Universal Studios Hollywood, Cooper's maze will include "guillotine decapitations, electric chairs, a sadistic insane asylum, predatory snakes and giant Black Widow spiders that have helped make his imagery timeless and indelible."]

Hehehe c'mon, you're making me GIGGLE. This isn't for Disneyland, right? Right? Ergh. Don't let me down, Murdy!

[00nightcrawler]

Can't say I saw this coming, but I will give it a fair shake. I know virtually nothing about Alice Cooper and never really cared to find out. Still dont have much interest, but this should still be better than most everything at knotts (not that I don't enjoy knotts, but the quality really isnt even comparable anymore). And I agree with grindhouse that this isn't really original persay, they are taking much of it from Cooper's stage shows from what I understand. I also fully support DTH or anyone else in bitching about this all they want. Just because the maze could be good doesn't mean you shouldn't expect it to be bad if its not your thing. Assuming a maze will be great before the event is just as naive and uninformed as assuming it will be terrible. But I bitched quite a bit last year so maybe I'm just biased.

Also I'm pretty sure this will be located in the jp queue, so I'm excited about that alone. New maze locations excite me, personally.

As for "the rules", it does seem Murdy is breaking them just for the sake of having recognizable names at the event (zombie, roth, cooper). Clearly this is not the best way to get the highest quality mazes, but there is nothing we can do about this from a fan standpoint. If murdy wants to value celebrity over quality horror movies, then thats just the way things are going to be unless attendance drops significantly (which is very unlikely)

Edited August 3, 2011 by 00nightcrawler

[Trevler]

Oh man, I love the sadistic insane asylum ride at Disneyland. Thats my favorite! Also, I never, ever miss the Beheading Show they do in front of the castle.

What are you smoking, DTH?

[DireBrian]

I was A.C. neutral until I was in Vegas one weekend and saw that he was in concert at Texas Station. I thought "why not?" and got tickets. I hadn't ever heard much of his stuff before (pretty much all I knew was that he did the song "Poison" and another for a Jason movie).

The concert blew me away. By the end I was hooked, and on the way back to my hotel I stopped by a 24 hour store and bought a few CDs. Since then, I've been to a few of his concerts and got to meet him backstage.

Right there with ya. I ended up winning the "first concert" contest when I told Murdy I went to see "The Misfits" because I was a die hard fan and they were opening up for Cooper, who my dad liked.

Misfits, (or Misfits cover band, I should say featuring Jerry Only) ended up blowing ass, rather disappointed. However, Cooper rocked the shit up. I only knew "Only women bleed" but it was an epic show, the theatrics were insane and the guys a fucking show man.

PS - how about that Muppet room that's going to be in the maze?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71hVIGjvuVY

Now, that's some scary shit. haha!

[zombieman]

Oh man, I love the sadistic insane asylum ride at Disneyland. Thats my favorite! Also, I never, ever miss the Beheading Show they do in front of the castle.

What are you smoking, DTH?

I dunno, Trevler. Many would argue that It's a Small World is the epitome of a sadistic insane asylum ride. Anyone disagree??

[DireBrian]

I dunno, Trevler. Many would argue that It's a Small World is the epitome of a sadistic insane asylum ride. Anyone disagree??

Oh man, I love the sadistic insane asylum ride at Disneyland. Thats my favorite! Also, I never, ever miss the Beheading Show they do in front of the castle.

What are you smoking, DTH?

I love the beheading. Last time I missed Mickey Mouse though and had to watch them decapitate Goofy. Hmph!!!

[zombieman]

[According to Universal Studios Hollywood, Cooper's maze will include "guillotine decapitations, electric chairs, a sadistic insane asylum, predatory snakes and giant Black Widow spiders that have helped make his imagery timeless and indelible."]

Um....this is not exactly what I was envisioning. At least the snakes and black widow part. That sounds like a helping of extra cheese. I'm hoping that this is L.A. Times standard-issue-print-the-opposite-of-reality.

It kinda sounds like they may be headed down the Psychopath route from Orlando 2006. What do you think, Creeper?

[DTH316]

No zombieman, Alice Cooper says those exact words in the youtube video. It is uber cheesy. Well not those exact words... but he still mentions it in a way as if it's something that would actually entice you to come see it when honestly, that sounds like it's trying to lure in brave 7 year olds from the 70s.

And by Disneyland, I mean it seems they're focusing on "spooky" not scary like this is the Haunted Mansion or Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy or something.

Or maybe even one of the events they do in Paris and the other place in Asia somewhere where they actually have mazes that are more "ghouls" and "goblins" instead of something HOLY SHIT, scary.

I also want to point out that the maze is called Alice Cooper: Welcome to my Nightmare, so it's not really Alice Cooper's, as someone said, this is all John's creation with Alice's blessing and music.

So with the brand being titled as simply just ALICE COOPER, I will NOT be surprised if while going through the maze, everyone is dressed as Alice Cooper and attacking you.

Edited August 3, 2011 by DTH316

[Mr. Cleaver]

This announcement alone is almost enough to convince me to hit HHNH rather than Orlando this year.

I, for one, am a HUGE Cooper fan. So I start off with an unfair opinion about this. Even if any random decent house had a Cooper soundtrack, I'd love it. Now, when I think of this house being 'cheesy,' I love it all the more. Let's face it, it's ALICE FREAKING COOPER. It's gonna be cheesy. He's a fun guy who has alot of fun. I would expect nothing less than cheesy. He's from the 70's; 70's horror = cheese (generaly). I'm also thinking that, now that HHNH has expanded to six mazes, it's time to face the music (ha): we're gonna have a humor/cheese house. Knotts, Howl-O-Scream, HHNO... all have cheese houses. It's Hollywood's turn now.

Anyways... um... where the hell am I going with this? Right right. I look forward to it. I trust Murdy (to an extent) and have faith in his deviant creations. I'm still about worried about a connection to the Undertaker house fiasco, but I think Murdy has too much personal stock in this house to let it suck that much (I hope).

[Freak]

What I know is...what's the facade going to be and look like?

[Grindhousehero13]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71hVIGjvuVY

Now, that's some scary shit. haha!

If There a Muppet Room Im sooooooo In!!!!!!!!!! lmao

What I know is...what's the facade going to be and look like?

IDl why but I have a feeling its gonna be a gaint carny like cardboard cut of his face and we walk into his mouth into "HIS HEAD"........

[DTH316]

^ I expect nothing less than to walk into his mouth...... - _ -

Anyway, another THRILLING update on FIRST TO SPECULATE: The Welcome to My Nightmare Edition

This maze's winner...

ZOMBIEMAN

The morning immediately after the release of the codename via Twitter, zombieman immediately had this to say:

Oooh! A maze designed by Alice Cooper? We all know how much Murdy loves The Coop!

.... I honestly have no freakin' idea how you IMMEDIATELY connected the dots considering the codename announcement was at 4 PM on May 21st and at 10 AM the next morning, you said THAT.

... is there something you're not telling us, Zombieman?

You know everything, don't you?! TELL US! TELL US NOW!

There was not much further speculation after that since we all laughed it off like the ridiculous idea it was and continued on with our speculation.

So HNN had it here, FIRST, ONCE AGAIN.

This was an entire month and a half before the supposed FB leak in July.

So that makes this website, what, 3-3?

Excuse me while I go gloat...

But seriously... I'm proud as HELL for our speculation team which consists like... 7 - 10 of us.

Congratu-fuck-alations, Zombieman... oracle of Horror Night Nightmares...

Edited August 3, 2011 by DTH316

[Creeper06]

Yep... definitely sounding like Hollywood is getting it's first real tongue-in-cheek maze (though HOTC was sort of in that vein as well).

The fascade of Alice's face sounds pretty likely as does Zombieman's spec that it'll be a trip through AC's head ala Psychopath (which I loved, btw, but I'm a HUGE Psycho fan).

[HorrorNights93]

Ok this is my thought. I'm glad to have an original maze but out of all the other movies to choose from why this? I'm just mad that we got this over scream. I mean scream is still a possibility but you would think its common scense to do scream as a maze. It makes me wonder what other celebs john decided to be buddies with. Eli roth, alice cooper, and rob zombie who else?

could of said it better myself. The fact were getting something original is EXCITING but why they chose this over better properties bewilders me. I wouldnt give up on Scream yet we still have Soap Opera and TT up for options.

just like the people who dont like this idea are respecting the opions of the people who like this idea please do the same for the ones who dont like it any futher "Quit Bitching" statements will be deleted from this point on.

DTH makes a good point yet again the more of the anger is that this was picked over other things and Murdy's rules have been broken by himself, Fact: yes I not a fan of Alice Cooper, I am a fan of Rob Zombie and other modern horror rock bands of today and I respect Alice Cooper for what he has done but Im not a fan of Alice Cooper and I dont like this concept that my opion but iI am a fan of Murdy's work and HHN so for the Millionth time I will give this maze a chance Im just saying its a big slap in the face when Evil Dead TrT and Scream has been shot down for this idea.

thanks grindhouse. This whole PR shows me really things murdy says arent what they seem. He broke some rules and to me its mind boggling why they chose this over better properties. " Jeepers Creepers not enough recognition ,Trt cant get the rights , Scream not enough enivorments but hey A.C has them all ? LOL idk how to respond to this.

I know there are people that say it wont be a original maze because he has movies, cds etc. whatever it may be but for someone like me who knows absolutely NOTHING about this guy and to all respect to his fans, care nothing to look into him, it will be original to me because I WONT know what to expect from my standpoint. And judging by this choice alot of people wont. Im glad its something NEW,unexpected and original but for the most its my least anticipated maze. HELL YEA im going to give it a chance and go through it but i like to set my standards low for this one so when they finally prove me wrong....hopefully it will exceed my expectations ALOT. People say hes a really cheesy guy so idk what to expect. A whole maze with scareactors dressed as him dont seem to appealing but im sure it WONT be done that way. One thing that stood out to me in the video was the "asylum" part. We had a kick ass maze in 2006 of that and if they transfer some content from that maze in there it be pretty cool. i would like to know what venue this is going in i asked murdy but he never replied. im guessing its the JP venue because trivia=HoH,soap opera=Shrek and bunny gibons=T2 venue.

[Dick]

I can't believe people are disappointed by this. It sounds brilliant. Extremely jealous that it's not coming to Orlando. This is WAY cooler than a house themed to Scream!

[DTH316]

Fact: You don't know for sure if it'd be better than a Scream maze!

Opinion: "WTMN SOUNDS cooler than a Scream maze." Probably what you should've said

[Freak]

I can't believe people are disappointed by this. It sounds brilliant. Extremely jealous that it's not coming to Orlando. This is WAY cooler than a house themed to Scream!

I agree! Hollywood is finally getting a legit original maze and this is a HUGE step in the right direction! I still want a Scream maze since I'm fan of the series, but I think this will be really cool.

[Grindhousehero13]

I agree! Hollywood is finally getting a legit original maze and this is a HUGE step in the right direction! I still want a Scream maze since I'm fan of the series, but I think this will be really cool.

Its NOT a original maze, its based off of Alice Cooper's Albums, TV show, and Movie and Alice Cooper himself, unless it turns out Alice Cooper isnt real and is just Murdy's Imaginary friend then this is not an original maze its different from what were used but it is not an original concept!

[DTH316]

I agree with Grindhouse. At first, I saw it as basically original but the more I thought about it, it's just like all the other mazes except instead of being based on a movie property, it's a music property.

Like Hostel and Hostel 2, think Welcome to My Nightmare and Welcome 2 My Nightmare.

Also including the artwork from the albums, booklets, music videos and the films.

So instead of having a visual to look at to create a maze set, Murdy has audio along with those other small visuals that'll fully encompass the maze.

So in essence, it's not original - - at all. It's just most people haven't seen them or heard the music, so they'll experience it as if it was new (original).

Just think of it like going through the maze for The Thing - - you haven't seen the movie yet to know what you're about to experience but the material is out there if you wanted to have a good idea (trailers for the movie, waiting until October 14th or watching the original).

[Trevler]

There is a different amount of 'originality' when you make a maze inspired by music compared to one thats more or less a set for set and shot for shot copy of visual media like a movie. Think of it as inspired by Alice Cooper, not a copy of an Alice Cooper movie, and you'll see what people who call this one 'Original' are getting at.

[Creeper06]

There is a different amount of 'originality' when you make a maze inspired by music compared to one thats more or less a set for set and shot for shot copy of visual media like a movie. Think of it as inspired by Alice Cooper, not a copy of an Alice Cooper movie, and you'll see what people who call this one 'Original' are getting at.

You are correct, Trev, that there is much more opportunity for originality with a theme like this. I certainly hope you're right.

But will they take advantage of that freedom? That's the questions and I think why some of us are concerned.

[DTH316]

I disagree! It's like calling Lord of the Rings original when it's based off a book.

Peter Jackson created it all from his vision BUT he had book art, pictures, maps and even a 80s cartoon to be inspired off of.

At the end of the day, it can take liberties all it wants but - - there's a source material, end of story

Words off a page or lyrics from a song, there isn't much difference.

I'm sure it will entail "originality" but I wouldn't label it "original" as all the mazes have some form of originality as well (e.g. 80% of the kills in Kill, Jason, Kill).

Better yet, a greater example would be music videos.

The creators are assigned the task to create images and visuals based on the music & lyrics within the song that best represents the video.

It's not an original piece as they had something else be the building blocks to form it.

If they created the video first and then placed the music on top of it (without influence from watching the video), that'd suffice the original creation agreement.

The way I see it, this will be like walking through a 3 minute and 30 second music video.

Edited August 4, 2011 by DTH316

[Trevler]

You pretty much didn't refute a thing I said. I didn't say it was 100 percent original. I said it was more original then making copies of movie sets. And turning a song into a haunted house is not the same thing as turning a book into a movie.

[jymmymack]

I think it's a step towards big-budget originality. Murdy has said that this is from his mind, what he's always imagined while listening to Cooper. So yes, it is based on something else, therefor not original. But it is a step towards embracing originality more. If Murdy can put together a kick-ass maze out of this (the stuff from his brain) then I can see him pushing his bosses toward letting him come up with more original content. And they'd better start paying attention, because horror franchises are going to become few and far between. Check out this list of things done: NOES, F13, Halloween, TCM, Chucky, The Thing, Saw, Hostel, MBV, HoTC, and (possibly) Scream. Now, there may be a few franchises that can carry this thing for a couple of years (assuming they can get the rights), Evil Dead, TrT, etc, they will eventually run out of BIG names. Sure, new horror pops up every year, but anything big enough to carry the event? Not really. They need to move toward making the event itself the big name, like HHNO. Original icons and such. Alice Cooper may not be original, but it may give Murdy the opportunity to prove he has the cojones to pull off big budget unfamiliar fare.