Ghostsarejerks Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 In the lead up to HHN 2016 I've decided to jump back in time a little and review the previous two years as well as introducing myself formally and giving you all a little background information. HHN 2014 Event Review 2014 was my first year attending Horror Nights even though my history with the event preceded it by about 7 years when I used to play all the interesting mini games on Orlando's website. I fondly remembering using my grandma's old dial up to explore the Carnival of Carnage, the twisted realms of Bloody Mary, and the Universal Palace theater. Seeing as I was a child, and a scaredy cat at that, I was unable to attend in person. My greatest wish every year was to fly from California to Orlando and experience their houses, but still I wouldn't attend a seasonal Halloween event until I visited Knott's Halloween Haunt in 2013. Finally with enough courage and an encyclopedic knowledge of the event's history, I decided to go with my boyfriend to Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. I've been stalking these forums under various usernames and read enough to know that Hollywood's event was crazy busy so I decided to buy tickets for the first Sunday of the event and do early entry. Arriving with tickets in hand, my boyfriend and I passed security and immediately headed to the herded off area next to Waterworld. My anticipation grew as daytime park guests were ushered out the main gates and the early entry guests were escorted to the backlot. Although there weren't any scareactors in the streets yet, a few Walkers were prowling for fresh meat on the way to the backlot. Tunnel Scarezone Themed loosely as a trip to Terminus, the tunnel leading to the backlot had a good number of walkers were scaring guests as we funneled through. Even though I wasn't particularly scared, the involvement of actors on the way to the backlot mazes definitely had me amped up for the start of the night. 8/10 Welcome to Terminus The backlot scarezone was pretty disquieting, with all the fog and gunshots and Walkers emerging from every darkened corner. I remember there was one survivor lady grilling up something tasty and as I was watching her threaten other guests I was snuck up on by another cannibal. Also, it's so incredible to emerge from under that arch and on the metropolitan sets where the tank was set up. 9/10 AVP: Alien vs. Predator There were zero lines by the time I reached the backlot so immediately I hit up what I heard was the most popular maze at the event. I walked straight through those soundstage doors and immediately was transported to a different world. The facade of the crashed Predator ship was an amazing sight, and snaking through the forest before I entered it was a great way to get multiple vantage points and appreciate the work that went into it. The whole beginning half of the maze was like a 70's horror movie, where the main villains didn't show up for a while and it's just a slow burn until their arrival. I appreciated the finer details of the ship, the broken facehugger tubes, and dropped my jaw when I saw the dead predator lying on the table. The next hallway where you're attacked by the Predator on one side and the Alien on the other had me ducking in terror because I was right in the middle, definitely made it feel like the maze was living up to the VS part in the name. Once we exited I was so enthralled by every little thing, including the Predator sniper lasers tracking people in the woods, the skinned Predator victims, the Alien infested household, and jumping up and down in delight at the giant Alien Queen (#slayqueen). I thought overall the maze had a very good balance of aspects from both film franchises, the costumes for the Predators were incredible and I never not once thought they were anything other than Predators, however, the Aliens were a little spotty, especially the animated figure that was eating the girl in the bedroom, but I did love the full blown costume in the Alien Queen's chamber. Sets: 10/10- the spaceship crashed in the forest, the xenomorph infected farmhouse, the Queen's lair blew me away, absolutely perfect. Scares: 7/10- the Predators were convincing and huge, the alien puppets could look a little cheesy. Personal Bias: I'm a huge fan of both movie franchises, so it was like a dream (nightmare?) to come face to face with these incredible creatures. Overall: 9/10 The Walking Dead: End of the Line It wasn't even 7:00 so I walked straight into this one. Ahhh, the Walking Dead, the franchise we all love to hate, but really, why? Because it's been overrepresented at the event? Sure, but the same could be said for any other number of franchises Universal has sucked dry (NOES, The Purge). Maybe it's because, welp, zombies are boring. And Walkers are just zombies by another name. But really, The Walking Dead was been a miracle for HHN, it's bolstered attendance steadily since the first installment in 2012 and kept people coming back which in turns means the creative team has more resources (money) to pour into the event, as well as attracting other name brands and IPs. With that being said, End of the Line was a pretty solid maze. I'd been watching the show up until the 3rd season, so the first half of the maze was pretty cool, but after that it was just a mishmash of scenes that I didn't recognize. The lack of familiarity didn't mean the second half was lackluster, it just didn't make as much of an impact. I gotta say that the Walkers at Hollywood's event are always ON FIRE. End of the Line was no exception. All in all a pretty energetic/confusing maze. Sets: 8/10, everything looked authentic and true to the show, if a little out of scale at portions. Scares: 8/10, the walkers bring their A game year after year and for that I commend you, wherever you are. Personal Bias: I don't mind the Walking Dead, sue me. Overall: 8/10 From Dusk Til Dawn I was a little let down when Universal announced this property only because I hold the original movie in high regard as a great genre film. That being said I went into this maze with little expectations and was still underwhelmed. The best part was the facade, with the Gecko brothers patrolling the queue and the Barker haranguing every one entering "The Twister" (how stupid that sexual content is censored but promoting graphic violence is okay????). I did the super secret password thing and got a business card for Santanico Pandemonium, which was neat-o. But the rest of the maze was pretty meh. Can't really remember much. There were some scantily clad ladies, and gnarly looking Buffy rejects, but individual scenes are lost on me. The actors were doing a consistent job, their spots were just poorly placed, with lots of open space and billowing curtains that telegraphed where the scares would be coming from. Sorry FDTD, probably my least favorite maze this year. Sets: 6/10, stone walls and hallways, boring, very little variation. At least it looked real Scares: 7.5/10, I think the biggest compliment you can give Hollywood's scareactors is their consistently great performances, vamps that were supposed to be sexy were sexy, the decrepit ones were sufficiently wicked Personal Bias: love the film, have no desire to watch the show Overall 7/10 Back through the tunnel, back to the lower lot, we decided to eat dinner at Jurassic Café and then ride the Mummy and Transformers. USH should really consider adding more coasters, because I'm so sick and tired of variations on a motion simulator. The Mummy is always such a rush of adrenaline, even if the theming is poorly conceived. Fun Fact: John Murdy designed the Hollywood version of Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride, and because of its success he was offered the job as creative director of Halloween Horror Nights. After our little break it was barely like 7:30 and the park was barely starting to fill up, so we decided to hit up my most anticipated maze of the year... An American Werewolf In London Boy oh boy, An American Werewolf In London: No Tagline. I was ecstatic when Universal announced this property, after watching the video of the amazing production put on by Orlando I knew that John Murdy would do this film justice. Walking up to the Slaughtered Lamb I was so hyped, once inside I asked the bar keep what "that star on the wall" was for and he responded by slamming his fist down on the counter and telling me to keep off the road. The wolf attack scene was very well done, and can we talk about how masterfully Universal handles their outdoor/forest scenes (most of the times anyways)? The villager with the rifle caught mostly everyone off guard because we were so focused on the wolf attack. The hospital scene was well represented by David and Jack, but man, the Nazi Wolf attack???? AMAZING. The bullets could be seen ricocheting around the room and then David had his throat sliced. Great reset timing as well as the scene played out twice in the short amount of time it took me to traverse the room. The two transformation sequences were also well handled and the actors playing David really sold his desperation and horror. It was also pretty cool to hear "Blue Moon." The subway scene with the train had me so amped for the first wolf then... nothing. I saw the wolf in the black hallway but it barely moved, even with the strobes going off it wasn't very intimidating. The theater attack was well done, but the extended alley sequence was probably the worst finale of the year, to be honest the jerky animated wolves reminded me of a Knott's maze. I think my main gripe was that after watching the Orlando wolves and how fluidly the moved and how realistic they were I was so let down to find out ours were more like stuffed animals on sticks. All in all a pretty great maze though, if they had created more realistic wolves and added detail to a couple of black hallways this could have very well been my maze of the year. This maze is all in retrospect though, the moment I exited, I ran back in line to do it again when I was actually there, so my opinion has changed pretty significantly. Sets: 7.5/10, a few awkward transitions, black hallways, otherwise they were very close to the film, it'd be 8/10 if they had painted the sign for the Slaughtered Lamb right. Scares: 8/10, the wolf scares didn't happen, but every human actor in this maze was ferocious! Love the Nazi Wolves, love dead Jack, love the barkeep, great job guys. Personal Bias: I love the film, and had extremely high hopes after seeing Orlando's amazing take on the property, but was ultimately let down Overall 8/10 Clowns 3D: Music by John Murdy's Adolescent Rock'n'Roll Fantasies Don't let the title fool you, I really did enjoy this maze. I think clowns are overrepresented at theme park haunts, they're too easy. But my boyfriend is part of that general population who's like, "GAHHH, NO GET THEM AWAY FROM ME!!!" I always wondered what a 3D maze was like and honestly it was fun. 3D mazes really feel like a Halloween throwback, they remind me of cheap seaside dark rides and homemade haunts. Should John Murdy be using them? Sure, why not, just don't do it for the sake of tradition. So, Clowns 3D: There Really Were No Better Titles. It was fun? It was fun. I liked the mirror maze portion, definitely reminded me of those like truck trailer haunted houses you can do at the fair. I also appreciated how the clowns were doing more than just acting a fool in some generic-ass circus setting. They were turning people into ice cream which was funny, but nonsensical. Rant: How on earth do you take human byproducts and turn them into frostry frozen treats??????? Like, adding cream and sugar to blood doesn't mean it's gonna taste like anything other than crap. What the hell kind of market is Sweet Licks competing in where he owns a small business selling his horrible ice cream. Hell, I'll take Dreyers frozen cardboard over Ronald McFuckup's shit pops. Are they selling this shit to other evil clowns? Do evil clowns even have any disposable income to spend on ice cream that's just gonna give them e-coli? I don't get it man. So, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Yeah, I liked the jail cell scene and the cooler. The guy playing Tiny targeted my boyfriend and followed him for TWO SCENES!!! My boyfriend was literally crying and it was just the funniest thing because he's a 27 year old man scared out of his mind. The clown car ending was lame and I realized that Murdy really went overkill on that particular gag this year (The Walker Horde, Train in AWIL, Clown Car, Vampire Army). The tie in with Slash was really non-existant, I didn't ever really notice the soundtrack, but good for Murdy for getting in the sheets with another rock star. Sets: 8/10, I like the pretty colors, okay? Scares: 7/10, all the actors did a good job alternating between playful and sinister Personal Bias: I think 3D mazes are good Halloween fun and clowns are a good fit for them Overall: 8/10 Terror Tram: Invaded by the Walking Dead This was my first year at the event, so the Terror Tram was sexy and fresh for me. Much to the detriment of the park, the Terror Tram is too open to be effectively scary, but it's a nice 30 minute diversion that throws a bunch of monsters at your face. I remember taking a picture with Norman Bates and thinking he was really cute (ménage-a-trois???), and skirting around the chainsaws. Walkers weren't as energetic down here as they were in the zones and maze though, probably because they have to cover more ground. Pretty fun I guess, now I'm pressured to bring my best performance to it this year. Look for me by the War of the Worlds, I'm gonna be a victim!!! Sets: 0/10, recylced sets from the Grinch, Psycho, and War of the Worlds never makes sense, but whatever, braiiiinnnnnnzzzzzz Scares: 3/10, I'm not scared by Walkers hobbling up and growling at me, but I appreciate the effort, those points are mainly for the chainsaw guys, love them. And Norman. Personal Bias: I'm gonna be a part of the Terror Tram this year, so watch out, because Koodles the Clown takes no prisoners >:) Overall: 6/10, a unique experience that leaves much to be desired The Purge Scarezone It was pretty fun watching the Purgers go after people, excited to see how much havoc they'll wreak park-wide?... 8/10 Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood Man, who knew a maze based off a shitty film that Universal wants to use to create a cinematic monster universe that hadn't even come out prior to the start of Horror Nights would be the scariest maze of the season? Ahh, how I doubted you Vlad. You see, a good movie does not equal a good maze. Case in point- Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood. I had no idea what to expect here, I watched the little maze preview when the house was announced but other than that I was clueless. The music in the queue was generic fantasy/adventure with dark undertones, the facade looked like they tore a section out of the House of Horrors and plopped it down next to Mel's Diner. Nothing at all to distinguish how utterly intense this attraction was. The moment you entered that cave you were attacked. Scary ass vampires were popping out of all kinds of nooks and crannies and they were OUT FOR BLOOD!!!! I remember one guy was getting attacked by bats and I thought: "How cool is that?!" and then I turned the corner and was almost knocked on my ass by Dracula himself, good job whoever that was. The burnt village was really well done, especially because of how cool it was to look up and see the towering facades in Parisian Courtyard and it made it feel like we were in the little caste's keep or whatever. Some toatsy villagers were emerging everywhere and scaring the hell out of me, what I thought was an obvious dummy was a real person. Great job there. Baba Yaga may have been cut from the final film but she was one decrepit-ass-bitch and scared me not once, but twice, and there was that great ping pong when she and Vlad got you from either side. The army camp was filled with hordes of vamps and they got me from every which way. The final scare with the portrait of Dracula was just the great final touch on this super spooky sundae. Sets: 8/10, the cave and village were great and really made you feel like you were in a dark European country. The army camp with the tents was minimalistic but well done nonetheless. Scares: 10/10, probably the most aggressive group of scareactors I've ever encountered. Personal Bias: This was the opposite of AWIL, I had zero expectations and was blown away Overall 9/10 FaceOff: In the Flesh Oh House of Horrors, how you will be missed. Universal's House of Horrors was my very first ever haunted attraction back when I first visited the park in 2008, I was such a chicken my mother had to literally drag me by the arm into the house as I was screaming "No! Mommy please I don't want to!" and my sister and best friend just laughed and laughed and laughed and I haven't lived it down to this day. I am also a big fan of FaceOff, a reality competition on the Syfy channel. FaceOff is a unique show because the people on it are extremely talented and experienced and always manage to create impressive creatures in impressively short amounts of time. I always thought it would be cool to bring the show's many horrific and strange creature designs to Universal and was delighted when the announcement came, but was a little let down to know they'd be in the House of Horrors. Never mind that though because my trip through FaceOff: In the Flesh is still my single favorite experience of any theme park attraction I've ever done. Why? I got to do it... alone. Solo, all by myself, just me myself and I thank you very much. The lack of a queue was a welcome sight and my bf wanted to take a breather, so by the time I approached the entrance I strolled right into it. The cast for this final overlay was just as great as the one in Dracula right next door which is to say they were awesome! The bug creatures, demons, fairy tale creatures, and clowns were all superb. Let me just take a sentence to acknowledge one actor in particular, the Tim Burton Ice Cream Man. Dude, you were awesome, the moment his strobes went off he came at me like a clown outta hell and chased me throughout the entire scene and put me directly in the path of the candy clown. Really made me freak out for real, incredible. The Asylum in Wonderland folks were doing a great job bringing the house down and I got scared by the second to last Axe Girlfriend. Even though the HoH, much like Terror Tram, was relatively unchanged year to year, it was always nice to have a bit of Horror Nights in the park all the time. You guys really went out on top. Sets: 1/10, Murdy got to add DayGlo paint to the HoH Scares: 10/10 Personal Bias: Nostalgia has been kind to FaceOff, will forever hold a special place in the brown stain on my underoos. Overall: 9/10 Dark Christmas This zone was that little 100 emoji. 10/10 Final Thoughts Welp, my first Horror Nights definitely lived up to the long-awaited hype. I really couldn't have picked a more fantastic year to begin, the diversity of properties, zones, and enthusiastic monsters really enveloped me and made me such a believer that I'm stepping into a role this year. Come back soon for a 2015 review. Crowds: A+, I think we waited 15 minutes for Clowns? Really enjoyable night honestly, no waits and I think we were out of the park done with everything by like 9:30 and we even sat through Despicable Me Crowd Handling: A, Universal's Crew Members are very knowledgeable and friendly, getting everybody where they need to be in an efficient manner. Overall: 9/10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsylumSB Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Very nice review...I hope it becomes an annual tradition. It's funny, I noticed that I never posted my 2014 review as well. The review is incomplete but will post it as my prep for this year. And, I agree....ghosts are jerks! Heh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Great review, loved the rant on the Clowns portion bahaha and the Face Off experience sounds great, it's what Haunt dreams (or... Horror Night Nightmares muahahaha) are made of. definitely put up your 2015 review, would love to read! There should be a scare actor location forum up soon where you can tell everyone your position and what you look like and such! And hopefully we have a scare code by than so you can identify us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foodstampsFTW Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 1 hour ago, DTH316 said: There should be a scare actor location forum up soon where you can tell everyone your position and what you look like and such! And hopefully we have a scare code by than so you can identify us! The key word here is should, like that thread and the meetup thread should've been created a long time ago, I think i might just make the meetup thread myself. But out to actually comment on the review, agree with a lot you said, but that clowns 3D score is way too high. This review actually compels me to finally write my 2015 review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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