Gambit's HHN 25 Review

[Gambit]

Let me just start by saying that this year is one of the best years in a while and the anniversary year that HHN 20 should have been! So I've been to HHN 25 3 times now and have done each house 2-3 times so I've formed a pretty good opinion on each of them, however, I'm sure my opinions will change slightly by the end of the event as they usually do. I'll review each house in the order of how they appear on the map and rate each one on a scale of 1-10. Now onto my review of...

Let's start with the Houses.

Jack Presents 25 Years of Monsters & Mayhem - (10 / 10)

This house. THIS HOUSE. It's like a HHN fans wet dream brought to life. From the moment you step in and see the entrance with the sideshow posters for the icons (including Cindy and Eddie) spinning around to Jack's final room, there's only one phrase I can think of and that's CHAOS REIGNS! I won't tell you what's inside because Universal has already done that but I will say there were a few surprises.

 

American Werewolf in London - (6 / 10)

It pains me to say it but this house just doesn't do it for me. In 2013 it was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen at HHN but I did this house 9 times in 2013 as well as the UTH Tour so I found the house very boring. I knew where every scare was before I even entered the room with the expetion of the new wolf puppet of course. I'm sure people who didn't do it before or only did it once or twice will love it but not me. If it wasn't for having an extra house this year I'd probably be upset by AWIL but it is what it is and no one is forcing me to do it so I can just spend my time in another house.

 

Freddy vs Jason - (8 / 10)

Don't get me wrong, this is a great house and will be near the top of everyone's list but there were a few problems that I can't overlook. SPOILERS AHEAD. First of, what the hell is up with those Freddy masks. They literally stop at the actors nose leaving the bottom half of their face exposed. I suppose it makes it easier to mouth dialogue or something but whenever they step into the light it's painfully obvious it's a mask. Secondly, can we just not with that second video screen. The first one is fine as all it;s doing is adding to the ambiance but the second screen with the 2 fighting is terrible. It's blurry, it's cheesy and they didn't even try to hide the fact that it was a screen. And finally the finale, I'm assuming whoever jumps out at the end is supposed to be the winner because I don't understand the whole Freddy hanging on stings thing they're trying to do. BUT other then that the house is actually really good and has many great scares.

 

Body Collectors: Recollections - (10 / 10)

Two words to describe this house, GORGEOUS and TERRIFYING! The scenes are great, the sets are fantastic, the cast is really into their roles and who doesn't love a good Body Collector spine ripping?  There's not much else I can say about it really but don't miss this one!

 

Run: Blood, Sweat & Fears - (6 / 10)

For the record I've always had a tendency to dislike the houses in the Disaster queue, I'm just not a fan of the location at all. This year, however, my opinion has changed because Run is truly a fun house! I LOVE the story and the cultural aspect of the rooms and how the way the Reapers kill reflects their country on origin but overall the house just isn't scary for me and the finale could have been SO much better by just making a bit longer and adding some more turns to it.

 

Insidious - (10 / 10)

Scariest house this year for me and it gets me every time I go through it. The facade is beautiful as you may have seen and it truly feels as if you entered the Insidious movies. I also have to mention that the scene where you enter the Further has greatly improved since opening night with the addition of a certain effect in the walls.  SCARY, SCARY, SCARY!

 

The Purge - (4 / 10)

I have to give the cast credit here, they're are doing the best with what they got which is a pretty terrible house. It ridiculously obvious that this house was supposed to be Scream. The first few rooms it's like they didn't even try to hide it and the last few rooms feel like they just tried to hide it behind as much black paint and curtains as possible and then blind you with strobes for no reason and their biggest solution was just put graffiti over EVERYTHING. I can't blame Universal for this one but it is a shame and nowhere near the standards set but the other houses.

 

The Walking Dead: The Living and The Dead - (2 / 10)

I HATED this house and it seems the creative team is just phoning it in with TWD now. Now season 5 of TWD is slow and doesn't have many memorable scenes so already they were at a disadvantage before they even began. Then you add to that the fact that the fans are sick of it, the creative team only does it because they have too and the fact that zombie (much like vampire a few years back) are falling out of favor with the general public and you've got a 'meh' house. Now Universal tried to fix it by adding a few more Walkers in the second week but it doesn't really make a difference. And that "walkers in water" scene they hyped up so much is laughable. Think two walkers in two black kiddie pools that aren't even hidden and you've got a pretty good idea of what it looks like. Such a shame compared to last year's Walking Dead house which was truly great and made you actually feel as if you were outnumbered by hoards of zombies.

 

Asylum in Wonderland 3D - (7 / 10)

I don't know why but I really like this house. There's NO way it's ever going to be in my top 3 houses this year but it's no where near as bad as The Walking Dead. The In-Between is still the best 3D house by far but I'd put this as the second best 3D house. I think it's just good old fashioned fun with some fun effects and it's also the ONLY time the tunnel has made me dizzy which is saying something. Great cast and fun trippy sets.

 

Scarezones

I won't spend to much time on the scraezones so here's a quick review.

Scary Tales: ScreamPunk - (5 / 10)

I's OK. Some of the characters are great and very steampunk and some I wouldn't even consider to be steampunk. Add that to one piece of set decoration and a bad location and you get a OK zone.

 

Psychoscareapy: Unleashed - (8 / 10)

I love the premise and the cast is REALLY into their roles! I would even think most of the inmates are actually legit crazy because they're that good. I also love the little mini shows/scenes going on throughout the night.

 

All Night Die-In: Double Feature - (9 / 10)

Seeing all the classic monsters walking around the streets in grey-scale is just something I've wanted to see for years.

 

Evil's Roots - (8 / 10)

By far the prettiest scarezone this year. Although it is considered an original scarezone it's as much a tribute to past years as the others are with tons of past characters walking around among the new ones.

 

Icons: HHN - (8 / 20)

Having the icons back is great but the area could use a few more actors walking the streets.

 

As for the shows, they're both great so see them both!

 

Overall this year is fantastic and what I wish 2010 was. Also the merchandise this year is insane!

Edited September 25, 2015 by Gambit