figment1988, Pal Mickey and Duffy's Excellent HHN 21 Review

[figment1988]

Now for this review, i wanted to wait until the end of the event to avoid any spoilers from being leaked, but with HHN being over, i feel that now is the time to do the review. This review is a compilation of days that i attended HHN this year, but i technically wasn't alone on 90% of the days, since i had my Pal Mickeys (each version attended a random night), as well as Duffy the Disney Bear who made his debut as a scareactor target this year. So with that said, here's my review of both the scarezones, houses, and the Bill and Ted show.

[scarezones]

7

I've always regarded the hollywood blvd district to be a great scarezone area (a good example is the 20 years of fear gauntlet from last year). This scarezone did not cease to amaze me. Now even before HHN started, the puzzle was easy to solve knowing that it was to be based on the 7 deadly sins, and the mini-stages represented them quite well. The scareactors were very spot on (especially Cast A) in the fright department. And the use of The Beautiful People made it more intense in suspense (particularly the cover version). I had a whole lot of fun, but unfortunately, Duffy always got the brunt of the scares (especially from Vanity's goons).

Score 10/10

Acid Assault

This scarezone was very impressive on visuality (especially how they made the buildings look like they were in a state of decay). And the scareactors were quite good, especially when they were given chainsaws later on in the event's duration. the only gripe is that there was more space they could've used.

9/10

Grown Evil

This scarezone was ok, the only deal was that the costumes for some of the scareactors reminded me of Stitch mixed with a gremlin, but the fog made up for it.

9/10

Canyon of Dark Souls

Nothing much to write about here. just a small portion of World Expo which has grim reapers on stilts. while the idea was just "meh", at least the use of the scarezone was good due to it's possibility of the reapers being camoflauged

8/10

Nightmaze

This scarezone reminded me of various games including puzzle games such as Dr. Mario and Columns (because of the way the area is rotated to give a different experience each time one enters), as well as the base portions of Contra. The use of darkness made this scarezone an experience to be ready for, which gave guests an opportunity to choose their path and see if they make it through.

9/10

Your Luck has Run Out

This scarezone was ok, but there wasn't many scares as the event wore on, but during opening night, the use of "cattle prods" made the houses quite intimidating, but there wasn't many spots for Lady Luck (her evil versions) to pop out of without being easily spotted

7/10

[Houses]

Winter's Night

This house was ok, but not too many good scares. At least the atmosphere was quite cold.

7/10

The Thing

I was quite disappointed with this house since it was too much of a rehash of 2007's The Thing: Assimilation, since most of the scenes were re-used. At least the loud gunshot sounds made it all the more good, but not enough.

5/10

The Forsaken

This house was absolutely great. The scareactors were spot on with their roles (including one of the Cast A Scareactors who targeted Pal Mickey and said that he would "kill him" in spanish). The only problem was that for some of the scareactors, the green eyes, made them easily spottable.

9/10

The In-Between

This house was very well executed, and the Chroma-Depth 3D made it more immersing (so much so, that i would get two 3D glasses - one for myself, and another pair for Duffy). the effects were also reminiscent of Jack's Funhouse in 2007 and the Disorientorium from 2005 (particularly the "disco" laser room).

10/10

Nevermore

While i've only read some of Edgar Allan Poe's works, this house also showed some of his other famous works (Telltale Heart, and Masque of the Red Death), The one thing which made it more enthralling was how the scareactors were spot on with the stories they were inside of.

10/10

Saws and Steam

This house was ok. the scares were good, and the use of water for some areas made it all the more cryptic and added more depth to the story of the scarezone from last year. The use of Nine Inch Nails made it better.

9/10

HR Bloodengutz's Holidays of Horror

Now what would happen if there was a slasher movie for some popular holidays? Well, this would be the end result. The scareactors were spot on, and it was also fun. As far as i'm concerned, the thanksgiving scene was practically the closest thing to really seeing a slasher based on Thanksgiving (which was one of my memorable faux trailers from Grindhouse). Duffy was often targeted in that scene (particularly by the native american girl with the knife).

10/10

Nightingales

This house reminded me of many war related things such as the early Call of Duty games which revolved around WW1 and WW2. The scareactors (particularly the ones playing the banshees) were very spot on and their scare tactics reminded me of how good Body Collectors 2 was back in 2008.

10/10

[shows]

The one show i watched was the Bill and Ted show. Now i'm going to be short and sweet about this. It was funny. and Papa Smurf's case of the munchies (funyuns, twizzlers, and funyuns) even inspired me to bring funyuns and twizzlers for my work's halloween potluck (with successful results, especially after i explained where i got the idea from). The one gripe i have is that even though charlie sheen was poked fun of, he should've been a main supporting character, but aside from that, it was funny.

9/10

[JDW]

Good review... looks lke you enjoyed it.

Curious though, what in The Thing did you feel was rehashed? All the costumes and props were directly from the new movie. Aside from maybe a chair or table, I didn't see anything that resembled the first house at all.

[figment1988]

Good review... looks lke you enjoyed it.

Curious though, what in The Thing did you feel was rehashed? All the costumes and props were directly from the new movie. Aside from maybe a chair or table, I didn't see anything that resembled the first house at all.

i don't know, i guess the atmosphere felt almost like in assimilation. and if i remember well, i think the area with the pool table felt kind of familiar for some reason.