Fallow Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 (edited) Hey all - you might remember my very lengthy, (sadly) mostly negative review from last year. Rest assured you all will be receiving a similarly long (but not necessarily as negative) review this year, but I can't in good faith write one after experiencing the event for one weekend. This event has proven to be fairly fluid, and many things can change from week to week, so my full review won't be going up until after I've experienced my third weekend (October 8th and 9th, to be precise). I can tell you're all waiting with great anticipation... In the meantime, I would like to offer my thoughts on the houses and zones and some suggestions for improvement! This only applies to opening weekend and these grades could change. Winter's Night -Sets here are absolutely beautiful. Stunning is the perfect word for it. -Has the best facade of the year, easily -Love all of the little jokes slipped into the gravestones, and some fun (and wise) re-using of props (the coffin from original Screamhouse was a treat!) -Some serious depth in the details to be found here. A very cool mirror trick in the coffin scene that you can totally miss if you don't know where to look -Cool temperature is lovely, as is the snow -Costumes are well-designed and a nice variety. What the Legendary Truth has should've been. Love the Weeping Angel (wish there were more of them), the zombies look great, and the ghosts look spectacular. Nice Canyon of Dark Soul-adapted costumes at the end! -Some really solid scares throughout this maze. The "miniature scare" provided me with possibly the best scare I've ever received at HHN, it's brilliant -The penultimate scene, with all of the crypts and hallways, is effective for repeat viewing... very hard to remember where the spirits are hiding due to the # of potential spots -Happy to see some light gore used (referring to the coffin scene with the corpses), it's very unsettling -Also glad to see the house actually reflects the backstory's plot, I saw our Hawthorn several times -Finale is very good Suggestions for Improvement: Not many. Place one more actor in the Finale scene, preferably in the center of the pathway (nothing more unsettling than that). I noticed one cast seems to know how to use the Miniature Scare to full advantage, one cast doesn't. Please make sure both casts know how to utilize this brilliant scare! Facade: A+ Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: A- Opening Weekend Grade: A Nightingales -This house increasingly got better each time I did it -I keep hearing about a bunk victim, but I have yet to see him - would be nice if we did, sounds like a good distraction -I like how some nurses are only partially transformed: makes it very clear that these Nightingales are true shapeshifters. Also allows for some variety in the scare actresses; the Nightingales themselves look great, and the soldiers (love the gas masks) look spot-on! -Return of show scenes = <3! I'm referring to the soldier facing you who is pulled back and mauled by a Nightingale as well as the machine gunner at the end. -Facade isn't quite as epic as I expecting (tank's really right on top of you as you walk in), but the creepy half-Nightingale makes up for it -Finale is good if you catch the machine gunning show scene. Could use one additional scare actor -Bungee Nightingale knows how to do her stuff! -Gore aplenty, and it's brilliantly used. It's immediately clear how lethal these creatures are. -Great use of guns for scares/distractions. Audio everywhere else needs to be cranked up a notch, this house should be as loud as THING -Roofs effectively used for the tent scenes - trench decorations effectively hide the fact that roofs aren't in the rest of the house (they wouldn't make sense anyway) -Tons of scares here. Again, they got much better each time I went through. The e-prompts/noises they make are great and they're very very aggressive. Suggestions for Improvement: Get another Nightingale at the tail end of the finale, if you miss the machine gunner ending it kind of just ends. I hope the Bungee continues to interact with the machine gunner when he isn't performing his show scene, because that was brilliant. Crank up the audio several notches to hit THING levels, we're in a warzone here. Facade: B+ Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: A- Opening Weekend Grade: A The THING -Audio design in this house is brilliant. Best audio in the event this year, it's LOUD and AGGRESSIVE. Great creature effects. Not sure I heard The Thing theme though, maybe I just missed it -Creature design is excellent, but I feel like it's almost a little repetitive. I saw the "trunk-face" creature at least 2 or 3 times (he's the first THING you see), the "crab-woman" THING (you see her in like the 2nd or 3rd scene and again in the finale), and then the by-far creepiest "split-face" THING (he shows up in the animatronic THING room and the bungee guy). Don't get me wrong, these costumes are spectacular, but I just feel like there could've been more variety... then again, they're probably basing the creatures off the film, and there's only so many to use -Animatronics/puppetry work is wonderful. I counted two giant puppets (transition from 1st to 2nd scene and then in the finale) as well as the enormous ceiling animatronic (you know what I'm talking about) and the table animatronic. All 4 of these big creatures are wonderfully unique and grotesque. -Again, the gore is plentiful, and I love it - accents each scene when used -I like that the actors do look fairly close to the character seen in the trailer for the film. I spotted our female lead and the black dude who first encounters THE THING - nice casting -Some rooms feel a little empty... shortage of actors? -Facade is great but suffers a little from it being very apparent that there's a giant soundstage behind it. Black curtains would've been nice here. Snow, however, is a nice treat and unexpected -Finale... I like the transition to the spaceship, and the set design here is simplistic but cool, I just am not experiencing the scares everyone else is getting. There's the puppet that gets you, then an outpost worker on the opposite side with an air-blower ("flame-thrower?"), then a crab-woman thing at an awkward angle (I've always had to crane my neck to see her). Am I missing something? Is there another character that I've missed on all my runs? -Great sets, if I haven't mentioned that yet. This looks fairly screen-accurate. The ice room with the THING animatronic is brilliant. -Some good scares here, but possibly the most inconsistent of the houses I've done. Not a horrible thing, just means I've had some great runs and some just-okay runs -I look forward to continuing to experience this house... can't get enough of the great design seen here. Suggestions for Improvement: I'd like to say try and get more variety in the costumes, but it's a little late for that one. Try to keep this house well-staffed since it tends to be the emptiest house from what I've seen... I'm hearing there's a missing character in the finale on one cast, so let's try and get that spot filled more often? Keep up the maintenance work on those puppets and animatronics, as they really do make the house. Facade: A- Sets: A Atmosphere: A Costumes: A- Scares: B Finale: B Opening Weekend Grade: A- H.R. Bloodngutz -Comedy houses have been very inconsistent with me, but I will say that the queue video for this house is possibly one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. To the actor (who I understand plays one of the Beatlejuices and often is in the Horror Make-Up Show), brilliant portrayal. To the writers: well-done, please take some of your talents over to Bill & Ted. This video will make any waits in this house much more bearable -Love the cheesiness of the facade and the little wink-wink touches (Carey Ohio, Station 21, etc.) -Let's just go through each room separately since they're very different Halloween: Great set, the Bloodngutz are great comedic actors. What does that red button do? Valentines Day: Love the sets & details. Costumes are just okay, and the scares aren't great since your hiding spots are poor/no e-prompts Independence Day: Possibly my least favorite scene in any HHN house. Man, I feel bad for you two actors in here. The set is decent, but your costumes are dreadful. On 9/24 you didn't even have your poppers, giving you almost no capacity to scare. Where'd your poppers go? Easter: I'm not sure I really "get" the the Peeps guy (is he being eaten?) but it made me laugh nonetheless. Feaster Bunny is priceless, Hay guy has a nice scare. Some fun details (the skull-eggs are brilliant and I hope they stay working) -St. Patrick's Day: Scariest room in the house, easily. They've got a great set-up with a wonderfully lit and decorated room (golden skeletons = awesome!) Your costumes are also very freaky. My favorite room if you couldn't tell -President's Day: Probably my 2nd favorite room. Lincoln and Washington's costumes are all kinds of awesome, the set is great, and the "bomb" (though it needs to go off more often, or be guest-activated) is a real treat. Good scares here. -Arbor Day: Brilliant in its zaniness. They got lucky by casting a pair of wonderfully demented girls who really sell the room, and the Tree is awesome when an Ops person isn't screaming at you to catch up to the person 3 feet in front of you. -Thanksgiving: Awesome awesome awesome. The scent makes the room 10x better, Pocahontas can get some really nice scares, and the Pilgrim is good too... however on 9/24 he didn't have his gun. Please tell me that's coming back? It had the "pop" sound effect that makes up half his scare. -Christmas: This room honestly should've been better. The set is wonderful, but 3 Elves (who mind you have a hilarious costume) who look exactly alike was a mistake... a crazy Rudolph or killer Frosty should've been the "final" scare. No e-prompts in the main room here makes the scares okay at best. The mirror trick at the end doesn't work as well it should due to the proximity of exterior light and scuffs on the mirror. Why wasn't a real chainsaw used? The toy one hardly makes any sound, it's weak. Finale suffers. -Okay... so... in summary there, the costuming is inconsistent (ahem Valentines & Independence) but the rest is brilliant. Scares are great in all but a couple rooms, and thankfully the black humor is omnipresent. -Oh... and the GORE! Man was it everywhere! I seriously thought that the dead network executive showing up dead/mutilated in every single scene was an absolutely brilliant and hilarious touch. Thanksgiving and President's Day take the cake for my favorite network executive corpses! Suggestions for Improvement: Valentines Day guys need e-prompts of some kind... maybe a curtain for the second guy (make it a "make-out" booth?), his position is obvious. Give the Independence Day guys their poppers back, same with the Pilgrim and his gun. Make the "bomb" guest-activated or reduce the timer, it's too funny an effect to be missed by so many. If at all possible, use a different costume or a real chainsaw for the final mirror scare? Ops in this house: please tone it down a little, you guys were the most aggressive and overbearing of the ops I encountered this weekend. It was almost impossible to enjoy this house (to the point where ops were actually blocking the scare actors). There was actually a group ahead of me verbally complaining about the ops as we exited the house, and I echo their displeasure. Facade: B+ Sets: A Costumes: A- Atmosphere: A Scares: B Finale: C Opening Weekend Grade: B+ Saws'n'Steam -Wow, this house is probably the best house I've ever seen in the Jaws queue (disclaimer: I'm one of the apparent few who loved The Orfanage) -Facade is this year's HAVOC facade... surprisingly expansive and brilliant! The working smokestacks and cool posters are great -I can't describe how much I love the first show scene effect with the locked arm. This is the type of theatrics and atmosphere I expect from HHN. Just, wonderful. Story firmly established from this point on. -The gore in this house actually made me very uncomfortable (which is good for this type of event). The leg room... just... wow, that's honestly worse than the spine rip in my opinion. -Scare actors in here are on the ball in here. I got some spectacular scares in here on all 3 of my trips. I have to say though, the double teamers toward the end of the house (I believe right before the waterfall room) who blocked the door every single run are awesome! Give these guys a prize! -I love the air-blowers in here. Waterfall man is great as well. -Spinning walls of blades? A meat grinder? Water-squeezing meat packers? Flesh Aquariums!? The sets and details of this house never ceased to amaze me! -I seriously can't get over how much they were able to get out of this house/concept/location. This sets the benchmark for future JAWS houses -Are there mirrors in this house to make it seem bigger? I recall looking down boo holes and seeing another hallway with a scare actor and guests walking through. Are these mirrors or is it literally a little hallway to another hall of the house? Either way, it's great design and makes the place feel massive while still remaining individually claustrophobic -Finale, sadly, is weak. I wish it could've sort of ended with the water fall room, but the boilers are lame. Scare actors in here are big and are trying, but they don't get good e-prompts or any threatening devices (no chainsaws!?) Which reminds me... I only counted 2 fakesaws and the chainsaw at the end. Blasphemy! We need more chainsaws! (Finale is okay if you get the chainsaw at the very end, though.) Suggestions for Improvement: MORE CHAINSAWS! Seriously, give the guys in the boiler room at the end fakesaws at least. There simply aren't enough saws in here. Other than that, just maintain the awesome mechanical effects in this maze working, and keep it staffed. I only saw the guy being swallowed up by the meat grinder once in my 3 runs. Facade: A Sets: A Costumes: A- Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: B- Opening Weekend Grade: A (average should technically be A-, but rest of the house overcomes the finale) Nevermore: Madness of Poe -I'll come out and say that this is probably my current #1 (though Winter's Night & In-Between are nipping at its heels). -The facade, while not nearly as expansive as say HAVOC's, is no less brilliant. It's subtle in its effectiveness. Very foreboding. The script projected onto the side of the tent is very cool and adds to the effect as well. The perfect facade for this house, I'd argue. -I know some people are turned off by the fact that Poe appears in some of the stories... I disagree. The story is very well told. Poe, already distraught, greet us at the beginning of the house. He becomes increasingly more distraught and insane as we progress, succumbing to the horrors of his falling apart life and of course the devil's nectar. By the end, the Madness has consumed him and he's gone completely delirious - and his stories have all blended together to take us into insanity with him. It's poetic and I dig it. -I'll just say the costumes and sets throughout the entire house are spectacular and prove that the tents can be just as impressive as the soundstages. Mind blown by some of these, seriously. -Telltale Heart is unfortunately probably the least impressive space. You stay off to the side of it, and it isn't well-lit, so few people get to really appreciate the trippiness of the room. The scare is also very predictable. -Luckily everything picks up from there. The Raven, I think, made a bold move in having all 3 Ravens be "real" and not statues... I think it works. For first-timers, they're expecting only one to be real, so it allows them to be shocked when all 3 attack. For returning victims, it keeps the Ravens on their toes to use their environment (the silky hanging material) to their advantage to keep geting scares. They were great every time I went through. -Pit and Pendulum is awesome... the sets are crazy. I didn't expect an actual working pendulum! -Masque of Red Death is now among my favorite scenes in my time at HHN... the first trip through this scene was terrifying, and return visits don't dissappoint. The movement through the several rooms is a great nod to the story, but it's the masquerade that takes the cake. The Red Death above takes away your focus, allowing the seemingly fake dancers to spring upon you. I seriously can never remember which dancers are real and which aren't (a great haunt design strategy), which keeps this room very fresh. The Red Death also seems to be able to pick up on return visitors watching for the dancers, allowing him to surprise you when you turn away from them. Throughout the weekend I think two dancing podiums were broken and one was missing a dancer altogether... I hope this gets fixed. -Fall of the House of Usher or Poe's house? I'm not clear on which this is. Poe appears above in the scene (an epic and very impressive moment), but a corpse-like woman emerges twice here. I figured this was the Lady Usher from the story, but now I'm hearing it's Poe's deceased wife which contributes to his madness. Either way, the scene is suitably epic. -Black Cat... ahhhh love it. Good use of having two booholes directly next to each other... You aren't sure where to look, so either Poe or the Axed Wife could nail you. -Finale Room... wonderful. That Poe is just brilliant, he was screaming Nevermore at us and gliding around the room. The strobes are great, I love the set design and how bits and pieces from all of his stories attack you (and of course, the Raven at the end, who always gets us!) Suggestions for Improvement: There really aren't many, this house is incredible already. Fix the stationary dancers in the Masque of Red Death and add the missing one to really complete the scene. If they can manage it, they should add a second actor to the Telltale Heart scene (in the dark corner far away from the guest), or at least light it up a little more so guests can appreciate the mind-f*ck that it is. I'd even recommend making one of the Ravens a mannequin if it meant getting another actor in here, it needs it. Facade: A Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A+ Scares: A Finale: A Opening Weekend Grade: A The In-Between -Biggest surprise of the event for me! This house rocks! -Facade is a little too simple (ala Chucky) but the little touches like Issue #21 and the 3D effects bump it up a few notches. -Really though, the casts and costuming makes this house. The sets are deceptively simple. -The plot here is clever and well-executed... The story is told with a beginning, middle, and end. Great use of the tunnel as our transition -3D effect is very fun in certain scenes, didn't notice much of a difference in others. I lost my glasses midway once but still enjoyed the rest of the house -The zig-zag hallway (straight path with openings in the walls for blending-in actors to pop out), the laser room, and what I like to call the Pixie Stix room are my favorites. Trippy as balls. As a friendly guest behind us put it, this is why I stopped doing acid! -The costumes here, as I mentioned before, make this house. The colors and 3D are brilliant... especially all of the WINGED demons. They know how to do their stuff and create scares even when we see them coming a mile away. -Some of the sets are very simple (mostly the first couple) but rely on their black walls and darkness... it's very hard to see the booholes... -I believe after the first "head" scene there's a boohole without an actor in it... just a stationary head. While it does get scares... um, lame? Can we get an actual actor in here please? -Everyone keeps talking about the scene where it looks like there's no floor... a little help here? I seriously kept thinking it'd be obvious so I didn't look for it. Is it the Pixie Stix scene? -Finale is fun (love how we're back in the dorm, but tripped out)... when the actors do come out, they get some great scares. -Also love how it's so easy to get lost in some of the rooms in this house. Creates a serious tension! Suggestions for Improvement: Get an actual actor in that timed boohole. Stationary head is lame. Other than that... I guess the finale scare actors should come out more often? Oh, I know - take up the intensity a notch, add a timed strobe effect. That'd be cool. Facade: B+ Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: B+ Opening Weekend Grade: A The Forsaken -Facade is AWESOME! Interesting choice to have it midway through, but I think it works. It's very different to have a massive room filled with actors. I also love the "storm" effect projected onto the Parade Building at night... -Right from the start the atmosphere is incredible. The water effects are awesome, awesome, awesome. -Costumes here are great. Could've used a couple more Spaniards, but I guess it's pretty clear from the abundant gore () that the Forsaken won the fight. -I know some people (including a few of the actors) don't like the glowing eyes... after experiencing the house, I disagree. They're creepy as f*ck and simply mean you have to work a little harder for your scares... which most of you do. Goddamnit, they're seriously so creepy. -There's some very brilliant scenes to be found here. I love the Cathedral in particular, the projection effect is unsettling and the Forsaken get some good scares. This is a very well-populated maze. The sideways room? Just, wow! Never would've expected this but I'm so glad it's there... really allows for some cool scares since your focus is on keeping your balance. Also ties in very nicely to everyone's favorite Take a Chance game! -Sets in general are a big win... very expansive, tons of details. Again, I love the Cathedral, but also the bed scene early on before you hit the big facade. -As I mentioned before, the gore here really sells the story and makes it clear how much of a threat The Forsaken are to you. Love it. -Finale here is very cool... it doesn't necessarily feel like a finale since it's technically a hallway, but the talent of the scare actors here make it a great finale IMO. The bungee actor w/ fog is a crazy effect (and it wouldn't work without those EYES!), and the two Forsaken in the booholes are here are some of the best actors of the event this year, no lie. Every single one of my runs they'd get us multiple times. Suggestions for Improvement: Don't tone down the eyes! If ANYTHING, make the e-prompts activate them, but even then I think it's unnecessary. You guys are finding your groove on how to use the eyes to your advantage. Take the challenge, you can do it! Make sure the house is well-staffed... in 90% of the rooms everything's A-OK, but I've noticed sometimes in the courtyard they're down a Forsaken or two. This scene works most effectively when it's crawling with the damn things. Facade: A Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: A- Opening Weekend Grade: A Phew! Now onto the zones... 7 -Probably the best zone I've ever experienced at HHN, even though I've seen better set-ups -Naturally, it's because of the actors. Most brilliant scare zone casts I've ever seen - both are incredible. -Sets that are here are cool. Each Sin has a nice individualized set -I wish the zone were extended a little further - space out the stages some - I don't think it'd hurt the zone at all. -Costumes here are awesome. The Vanities, Lusts, and Envies are my favorite! -The transformation is subtle but cool. I could honestly only really tell the difference between the First and Third stages, but no matter. The use of Beautiful People - the choral version for the First Stage and the aggressive Manson version for the Third - is a ridiculously cool move. The music really sells the zone, perfect choice. -This is probably the biggest cast I've ever seen for a zone... there's 21 of you, I think? 7 ladies, 2 men for each lady, 21... Hmm. Nice coincidence there with the year! -Chainsaws in particular are a shout-out. They demonstrate why we need a chainsaw zone every year... I wish we had an unadvertised Drill Team somewhere. They loved to chase us and scream in our faces. Bravo. Suggestions for Improvement: Well, they can't extend it at this point, so there's really nothing to suggest, it's perfect for the set-up. I would suggest more chainsaws around the park elsewhere, but that's an argument for another time... Sets: B+ Costumes: A Atmosphere: A+ Size: B- Scares: A+ Overall: A+ (not an average, it just deserves that grade) Grown Evil -Easily the loveliest sets/atmosphere of the event -The costumes, too, are grand and deserve special praise. I'm glad to see The Raven costume is used here -Sadly, the scares aren't very plentiful. The actors here simply aren't aggressive at all - atmospheric, yes, maybe a bit creepy from afar, but they rarely seem to go for scares. Most of them stand off to the side, which means if you go through the center of the path (read: most people), you're not going to get a scare -No stilts really hurts this zone. Lots of rain this weekend so I saw it with and without stilts... stilts bring a balance to the zone and make sense given the winged nature of our beasts. -I did get a couple scares in the daytime opening weekend, but that was sadly it. THe casts here need to pump up the aggressiveness 200%, this has the potential to be an incredible zone -Props to those with the wings, though - you all know how to use your wings effectively. It's a nice meld of cool/creepy -Scare zone to watch. Right now it's just a creepy walk-through: it could (and should) be terrifying. Suggestions for improvement: Like I said, scare actors, you have all the tools you need... be AGGRESSIVE. You've got some of the scariest costumes in the event, use them to your advantage. Get in people's faces, be everywhere at once, make unsettling noises. You can do it! Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A+ Size: B+ Scares: C- Opening Weekend Grade: B Canyon of Dark Souls -Another big surprise, as far as scare zones go -The length is pretty meh, but some of the actors are still scaring outside of the "canyon" which helps -The set-up for the stilts is ridiculously clever, seriously. I never would've thought of what they pulled off. Even with the stilts grounded (as they often were because of the rain), they found great hiding spots behind the curtains. -The set may be simple, but I really think it works. It creates such contrast with the glows of actors' skulls... I really dig the costumes here. -OMG, the music here is awesome! I'm pissed it doesn't appear to be on iTunes... -The casts are second only to 7 in aggressiveness. There's a lot of chemistry in the cast here that allows for some wonderful double-teaming. The actors are also very dedicated to getting the maximum scare of you, as evidenced by many following me outside the zone! -On my early runs through this zone, there was only a moderate amount of fog. Later, the zone was absolutely choked with fog to the point of blindness.... this may be sacrilege, but I honestly preferred it with the moderate fog. Either way is scary, though. Suggestions for Improvement: Don't completely engulf the zone in fog. Keeping having an actor or two outside the Canyon on either end, helps extend the zone immensely. Sets: A- (simply due to the cleverness of the stilt inclusion) Costumes: A- Atmosphere: A Size: B Scares: A+ Opening Weekend Grade: A Acid Assault -This zone is great! I just wish I got to spend more time in here. Most of the time I was in this area they were rained out. Enough runs to post my thoughts though. -The sets here are very cool... eons ahead of the shitty Apocalypse in 09. Floor stickers are a cool touch. -The building projections... my jaw dropped at how cool these are. I don't mind that they happen frequently, they're just so cool to look at and make great distractions. -The "acid rain" near Twister was a nice surprise! -Costumes are good, if a little generic. I prefer the bloody heads, though the crazy lady with the shopping cart was a lot of fun! -The casts here are good, just not as amazing as 7 or Canyon. They have great potential though. It's probably harder for them since they have much more territory to cover -Which reminds me, this zone is huge! The cast is big, too, thankfully. Just glad to see a big zone amidst the plethora of tiny ones this year -I got a solid amount of scares in here. This is a more open area so it can be harder, I realize... the casts are good about using the projections as their distraction. They also have a tendency to follow you, a practice I can't get enough of Suggestions for Improvement: Just keep pumping up the level of aggressiveness. I can tell I'll like this zone the more I visit it. Sets: A Costumes: B Atmosphere: A Size: A+ Scares: B+ Opening Weekend Grade: A- Your Luck Has Run Out -While this zone is okay... man, it could've been so much better. And as an advocate for icons, I really wanted to love this zone. -The Pretty Lucks are very well cast, but man, they just look bored to tears up there. In every picture they look like they're about to fall asleep. I know it isn't a particularly fun job to stand and look pretty, but a little enthusiasm would be appreciated -Man, the Demon Lucks masks are HORRID. I seriously do not understand what happened. Was a prosthetic application impossible? If anything, something other than awful plastic mask? It's almost embarrassing how bad those masks are. -The e-prompts here were unexpected and are pretty nice at startling you. The Demon Lucks are fairly good at getting some scares. -Fog is really heavy... to the point of where you can't even see what little sets there are here. -This doesn't feel related to chance or luck or gambling at all. There's those cards, but... meh, where's the roulette wheel? -Where's the atmosphere? This zone is silent besides its "YAAA!" e-prompts. Why isn't "Luck Be a Lady" playing? That alone would help this zone a lot, IMO. -Sometimes the minions are here, sometimes they're not. When they aren't, there's literally SIX ACTORS IN HERE. Acid has at least 15, Grown has at least 10-12, Seven has 21. And our "main attraction" gets 6 at times? Unacceptable. Minions need to be here all the time or the zone becomes a complete fail. -I do like how in the day time, where scares are almost impossible, the Lucks allow for photo ops. Seems to be a good balance - photos by day, scares by night. Suggestions for Improvement: This zone needs a lot of help. Short term solution is to get Luck Be a Lady playing. The Pretty Lucks need to be far more sinister and enthusiastic. Smile! I'd give the one nearest to Mummy a mic, too - there needs to be some narration here. At least give us recorded narration, if anything... The roulette wheel also needs to be included. I'd have built a stage like Saws'n'Steam with a bloodied mannequin hooked up to it at the New York Entrance, with a Lady Luck beckoning you in and spinning the wheel. Befuddles me why this wasn't included. Oh, and for god's sakes replace the Demon Luck masks. They're an absolute embarrassment. Sets: B- Costumes: C- Atmosphere: C- Size: B Scares: B Opening Weekend Grade: C+ Nightmaze -Meh... is how I'd describe this zone. -It's pretty much exactly what I expected, which wasn't much. -The audio design is pretty cool... reminds me of Asylum in Wonderland. In general, that's how this zone should've been designed - with white and black whacky designs, instead of all black. The all blackness screams laziness. -The walls weren't moving much. Scares were scattered and inconsistent. The big guy is pretty freaky, though. -Costumes are as weak as I would've expected. -Meh. Suggestions for Improvement: Not much can be done to save this zone unless the casts get better at moving their walls consistently and effectively. They can get scares by blending into the walls, but the zone comes off as a failed idea. I'm glad they're trying to try new things, but more thought should've been put into this one. Maybe some heavy strobes could help this zone? Sets: D Costumes: C Atmosphere: B Size: B Scares: C+ Opening Weekend Grade: C Well, this turned out to be much longer than I anticipated. Ah well - I hope you all enjoyed reading. I'll be updating throughout the month each time I visit with updated observations and grades. As you'll notice, I enjoyed this year much more than last year, but there are still some very large fundamental problems with HHN at the moment. But that'll come in my big ol giant critical review later! Edited October 3, 2011 by Fallow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chataro Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 I agree with you completly on Nightmaze and Your Luck has Run Out. The main problem that I had, and see in the future, is that by design alone, this scarezone becomes its own conga line. I focused more on NOT running into the person in front of me or the person coming the other way instead of really getting the feel of this scarezone. Your Luck has Run Out just didn't do a thing for me. I felt like all the Scareactors were doing were just screaming every 5 seconds with really no thought of the actual scare. I did love all the other scarezones though and think this is the strongest I've seen in a long time. Thanks for the great review/thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinemaOfTheDead Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 I asked one of the H.R's and he said its "his sound effects" and he pressed it himself and it sounded goofy sound effects. The Pilgrim had his gun on saturday and shot it once when i was near the indian and when i got close he had no gun. So i think it needs to reload or recharged every time and perhaps the same problem too in Independence. And yes the guy with the peeps is being eaten by the peeps if you saw the costume a bit more which i did till i ran from the feaster bunny. Loved to read your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallow Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Okay folks, I attended this weekend on the 30th and 1st and have some new observations/thoughts to share. Winter's Night -I can never get over how pretty this house is. Noticed that there actually some roofs where appropriate (aka whenever you're "inside" a structure) - great to see criticisms from last year's review being addressed! -I've seen some temporary actors in the "Distant Cemetery" scene... can someone please instruct them how to use the scene to their advantage? Sometimes the actor/tress hides below the wall and nails it, sometimes they stand in front of the wall reaching their hand out. Meh! -The Brides (Lady Hawthorn?) in the Distant Cemetery scene are epic in their scares. -Noticed the cool UV light effects in the Gravedigger's Shack... reminds me a lot of Legendary Truth, but very subtle! -Any idea on why the finale specters hoods don't work as intended? I took the UTH tour and they explained what was supposed to happen... Nightingales -As I noted last week, this house has great consistency and tends to improve with repetition. -Noticed the horse corpse this weekend - wow! Gross but adds to the theme amazingly! -I love how in the mirrored corpse room the Nightingale plays the scene differently based on the cast. One cast has the Nightingale go atmospheric, crawling around amongst the corpses (to quote an impressed friend, "like a child surrounded by Christmas gifts") and gnawing on them, while the other waits right past the shit-in-your-face transition... nailing you before you have time to examine the scene. This is great variety since it keeps me on my toes - I really don't know what'll happen on any given run. -The show scenes seem to have halted... I've never seen the soldier being dragged back/mauled since my first run, and often the post is empty. What's going on here? -Bunk bed victim, however, was present and getting good scares! -I rarely see the machine gunner scene play out, either. The bungee girl is whirling around and the gunner is shooting her with proficiency and believability, but where's the other Nightingale off to the left? The THING -I can't lie and say I'm not just a tinge disappointed in this house. It's still a very good house, but I expected more from such a property... the audio design is wonderful but the costumes are too repetitive, and the resets lasting too long. -So yeah, how about them resets. I never see half of the characters in this maze due to them, especially in the kitchen scene. First giant puppet in the transition to the second scene needs to be on a shorter timer. -No idea why everyone thinks the finale is so great... It's okay, the alien that attacks is very cool-looking, but the "flame-thrower" is ignorable and unscary. -I do get some solid scares in here, but not as much as I should. H.R. Bloodngutz -Very glad I got to meet Shoe and have some fun with him in our opening scene -Solid scares all around here... particularly love Arbor Day, St. Patrick's Day, President's Day, and Thanksgiving. However, on all but a few runs the Feaster Bunny has been missing (his post is empty). What's going on? I really want a good scare from him -Independence Day got their poppers back but their scene still blows -Pilgrim has his gun back, too - I think everyone's right, the gun has to recharge so in between fires he'll come out without it -Elves scene is still anti-climactic. The mirror effect simply doesn't work, the chainsaw's weak audio is pitiful. Saws'n'Steam -This maze has held up, it's a lot of fun! Great scares -Noticed the sparking guy in the air-blower room, though he seems to be missing more often than not -There really seems to be a big issue in casting this year... too many empty spots day to day... -The waterfall scene has improved in my eyes, actors in here are much more effective in their scares (Luke, you got my party on Saturday) -Lighting seems better in the finale, but it's still a tad ho-hum -I love the intensity of the metal-banging room. Have they increased the frequency of it banging? It's great -What's the deal with the meat grinder, in like the second or third room? At opening someone will be in it and it's an awesome effect, but by the end of the night it's unoccupied and the actor is just standing next to it. -Chainsaw audio needs to be amplified big time, you can tell it's fake Poe -Not a lot to say... I still love this house even though I don't get scared as much. The coffin guy in Pendulum seems to be missing more often than not -Noticed the Virginia scrim effect... very creepy! -In-Between -Had an AMAZING run on Saturday -How many guys are in the laser room? I thought there was only one, but I was shocked (and forced to scream) when a second one confronted me on the left! -Saw the the "no floor" effect... very cool -In the multi-colored zigzag hallway there was a guy above you in the netting! Is he new? I've never seen him before, it was awesome! -Actors seem to be coming out more frequently in the final scenes, much better -Actors in the opening demon rooms (with the heads) are doing better, but their scene is hard to scare in -Winged actors rock rock rock, you scare CONSTANTLY. Quality AND Quantity -Actors in the pixie stix room, as much as I love the look of the room, kind of get a bum job... their position is fairly obvious and the pixie stix in the way makes it hard for them to get in your face I appreciate the effort though! -Noticed the fog effect for the first time in the board game. Love it, very eerie! Forsaken -This house seemed very well staffed for once. Lots of great scares, I was overwhelmed by actors at some points -Finale is still epic -Love the variation of the actors in the courtyard... finding lots of cool places to blend in -First scene animatronic seems to be broken... Haven't seen him do much in a long while 7 -This zone <3 -Both casts are so much fun. The transformation is very cool, it impresses the newcomers -The way to get destroyed in this zone is to have a member of the opposite sex and link arms. Seriously, we had a decent run (maybe one or two scare attempts) going on our own, but once I went through again with a sex buddy (c;) we got no less than ten scares, including a chainsaw chase-out by the very talented black actor. Lusts, Prides, and Envies deserve some special praise Grown Evil -Better... but still doesn't seem as aggressive as it should be -The stilts are awesome though, they have incredible agility... can move so fast -I think I may have met Pumpkin in here... that was fun! -There are some assholes who try to tug on the wings... seriously? -Love the pair of secluded benches in the center of the zone... very nice to relax there and people-watch Canyon of Dark Souls -I got another Nightmare shoutout from a stilt... MrBungle?? -The lighting makes some very cool surprise scares from the stilts. I got some very cool scares. Acid Assault -Chainsaws are a good addition, IMO -I haven't seen the wheelchair actor before, but he was awesome! Your Luck Has Run Out -Much, much, much better -Minions are on their game and milk the scares -Demon Lucks are getting better about scares -Pretty Lucks still need to look more devilish/HAPPIER, but they are getting more enthusiastic. Lots of pointing and gesturing -Set pieces much easier to see, very cool details -Roulette wheel projection is far more visible now, nice detail -The Wheel is here, which is awesome... but it's placed poorly. Creates a bottleneck of people trying to get photo ops and people trying to enter/exit the zone. -Luck Be a Lady needs to be played WAY louder -I'd raise this zone's grade to a B+ now Nightmaze -Better... but still no dice. -Saw a lot more scaring going on which is awesome... caught a few myself -The walls change every once in a while, but I haven't been "boxed in" yet -There's clearly a lot more energy now which I really appreciate. I'll keep making trips through, I believe in all of you! -Oh, those spinning disc costumes are AWESOME. -I'd raise this zone's grade to a B- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimlovesfl Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 We could not get enough air to blow the veils up as intended, and we absolutely could not see a thing with them down, plus it required that we be belted to the set, so the idea was scrapped for a variety of reasons. We still get damn good scares with the lights on the masks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallow Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 We could not get enough air to blow the veils up as intended, and we absolutely could not see a thing with them down, plus it required that we be belted to the set, so the idea was scrapped for a variety of reasons. We still get damn good scares with the lights on the masks. Oh, I know you guys still get scares - I've been jumped in there before, and the last one on your right has made it seem like (s)he wasn't going to go for me by remaining still, but then when I glanced back was right up in my face, chasing me out of the house! I might've you seen you in here at some point, btw - a specter tends to point at my Nightmare shirt after going for the scare in that last scene. I guess the UTH guide just needs to be informed that the effect was scrapped! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 (edited) . Edited October 6, 2011 by Luke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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