FE1's Opening Weekend Review

[ForeverEvil1]

Halloween Horror Nights 27 Opening Weekend Review

 

In general, I have been going since 23, the Year Of Walking Dead...I think this may be my favorite year yet. This felt like the most balanced year I’ve been to, house wise.

Not saying it’s perfect, I’ll address my complaints throughout the review. 

 

No shows for this guy. I’d prefer to see the complete AOV show. B&T gets nothing from me as a comedy show at a horror event. I’ll see them both once. They just don’t pull me in. 

 

Let’s start with what truly makes a year for me, Houses. From worst to best.

 

HIVE

I give slack because this was Conjuring. Fine, I get it. I give the facade a bit of break as well, because I do like the artwork. I think Purge was more fun in 2015, but it’s all down to different theming so not a fair comparison. It edges out TCM as a little more scary, but could definitely go down below it, because scares are gonna be what makes this house.

Don’t get me wrong, the sets aren’t terrible by any means. They’re just...generic. Nothing pops out as particularly memorable, except the room with the upside down vamps. Scares however, there was a few I liked. Coffin scare, the one eating the girl (Wondering if that’s a Conjuring character by the way), the tall Nosferatu at the end.

Story’s simple. House is abandoned, taken by vampires instead of nature. You go underground after the house section. Not much of a finale. No post-house scare here either. At least it’s lengthy, which is something about every house except Dead Waters. 

Overall: 28 / 41 (Could go either way.)

 

The Shining

Hmmmm….great facade. Nice finale, fits the story. Sets look nice, scares ok. Something about the whole package….is just not hitting here for some reason.

The sets are nice, but don’t feel nice enough or really stand out. If I didn’t know the scenes, I feel as if I’d be a little confused. Feels like any haunted hotel IMO, and not The Overlook. 

Scares are hit or miss. Room 237 lady’s good, last hedge maze is good. Grady Twins scene is eh, as well as Gold Room. The major axe sequence is super meh IMO. Mirror maze is ok, more annoying than anything. Even the ones good...just feel like they have no impact. I just don’t know. Feels like a tour with interactive elements. The Exorcist felt like a journey. It’s a cool maze, but not...really...impressive.

Also, throw out that one random trippy room right after the hedge maze at the beginning. Seriously, what was that?

Overall: 24 / 41 (Will likely go down, probably should be lower, but I want this to not be Ghost Town.)

 

The Horrors Of Blumhouse

This maze got kicked like an abused dog Employee Preview. I don’t really see why exactly. Ok, I do see why. Purge & Sinister are short. Strobes never bothered me as much as others, but I get why they hurt the maze for others. 

But the cast does REAL good here. Better than HIVE. They are aggressive and fast. It moves very fast and that makes it feel like the scares keep coming and don’t stop. 

Sinister section was fun for the brief time, Purge was also neat if not obviously Ouija. Insidious is the bulk and I think it went well. Best scares from here, especially the creepy Key Demon. The finale sends people running. 

It won’t ever be in the Top 10 of all or anything, but I think it can be a top “middle” house. 

Overall: 22 / 41 (If the scares keep coming, it could inch a little higher. If they go, it goes lower.)

 

SAW - Games Of Jigsaw

Didn’t see the 2009 house obviously. I didn’t think this was too bad from that point of view.

I did like that they make a slight effort to include us in the story with the opening spiel at the beginning. Wish they had capitalized on putting us in traps more instead of making us watch stuff. I did think the traps themselves were well done, especially the Angel Trap. 

Scares were OK, the Ticking Room, Bathroom, and Final Room all did good, everything else was hit or miss. 

It’s super fun though for some reason, really long for Shrek, longer than Krampus it actually felt like. I have a guilty pleasure liking for SAW. I saw the last two films in theaters, I’ll probably see Jigsaw in theaters. 

I enjoy it the way it is.

Overall: 20 / 41 (Could go up with more aggression, will likely stay where it is.)

 

Dead Waters

Best facade of the event, so large. Has scares in it, has stuff under it. It’s awesome, truthfully impressive. The spiel from the Voodoo Queen before you turn the corner makes it even better. It has a great tone. 

The ship portion is fun with the Wharf zombos, the tilt effect, that trick up ramp that was really down actually got me good. Very scare strong. The trek through the marshes is fun, got good scares from the shack.

Finale goes by a little fast for me, so I may need to try and slow down a bit. Did like seeing the Queen again, and the post-house scare from the living voodoo doll was neat.

Main flaw here is it’s a short house, but I felt it made every room count. I felt there was a beginning, middle, and end. It’s basically the HHN version of a really good short story.

Overall: 14 / 41 (Could go up with a super bonkers good run, but its length will probably keep it where it is.)

 

The Fallen

2nd favorite facade of the event, very large in tone and point. I like this whole theme, though unfortunately it did get hindered by jumpy Universal. Definitely felt some empty spots throughout but not enough to damage the house that much for me. 

Demon designs were very neat, including some that honestly seemed like they pulled out of Hellraiser. They reused a Krampus elf or two in here as well. Some good scares, since I saw a few of the demons get quite close.

The flying scenes make this house though, as someone who didn’t see Gothic. Thought they were both done well, especially the demon that pops down and springs back up, which got me really good. 

Ends sorta abruptly though. That’s my one significant complaint. 

Overall: 11 / 41

 

Ash Vs. Evil Dead

Best IP-to-house translation I’ve seen, perhaps just outside the Halloween mazes or CITW. 80’s music, one-liners, gore and blood, this is Ash Vs. Evil Dead. The fact they gave this a venue allowing so much space and wide areas was great. 

It’s an adventure of a maze from beginning to end. The trailer, morgue, Brujo shack, I was giddy going through this. It really felt like they wanted to do this IP. Wish there was some more Baal representation, but it’s a minor thing. And yeah, the Bruces look off, but it felt more natural than the Hollywood masks.

And the post-house scene is great and makes up for a lack of a clear finale. Jacksonville, Florida. Hell yeah.

Overall: 10 / 41 (Could go either way. I admit it isn’t the most scare heavy especially with the Ash talking scenes.)

 

American Horror Story - Volume 2

I….might like this more than last year’s. Biggest thing: last year felt like a character showcase, including liked characters even if they didn’t provide a great scare exactly. This felt like a more scare-focused intense maze. 

Asylum is the bulk. Bloody Face is great, super grotesque. The Dr. Arden scene is cool. The rec room with the Santa mirror effect was nice and effective. The ending bits with the Raspers and Bloody Face with the mirrors was pretty damn intense and got people on the runs I’ve been on so far.

Coven had some very neat stuff for what seemed to be the less scare-packed of the seasons. The Superiors scare was a nice way to kick off. The zombie after the greenhouse hits pretty hard. Nice to have that baby powder smell return. LaLaurie was ok, though I’d say she looked not that accurate. Minotaur was good, Legba’s scare was neat, though I wish we got a scene in his hell domain. 

Roanoke goes by the fastest but gets a different character in every scene. Polks, Pigman, The Nurses, Scathhath, Butcher. I liked all the scenes and I do think it was the best flowing of the sections, starting with the more underground scenes and then taking us into the house. 

Overall, another very great AHS maze by Universal. Definitely feel like there is more care and faithfulness in the AHS mazes than any TWD. 

Overall: 7 / 41

 

Scarecrow - The Reaping

This maze, man. Facade isn’t the most grand, but I think the most ominous. The dead corn, slow turning windmill, old tunes playing. The maze hits right from the start and doesn't stop. The first two scenes are right out of Tomb, but I think done more effectively (The drop panel scare having an actor to help with it).

I would say they also go a little wider here than Tomb, which help in creating memorable scene. The broken house, the mini-cornfield, the crow horde. The finale is the most effective use of that mirror effect, it’s compounded by everything that came before it.

The scarecrows get more and more grotesque over the maze, until the beastly one right before the finale. Super cool characters here. My fears of this being very generic were not founded, thank goodness. 

Overall: 3 / 41 (Tied with Tomb, will need some more runs to determine if it stick as much as Tomb did.)

 

Scarezones

All in one section just to make this quicker. 

 

Altars of Horror has good actors who appear to be mostly into their characters (especially Grady Twins),. But they have no setting to work with. And for a “selfie zone”, some actors seem too desperate to not take photos or jump out of them as quick as they can. 

 

The Purge is a fine zone. Aggressive actors, less chainsaws here than last time which I like. The new shows are more interactive than 24, so they did good there. BOY, is there too much Purge though. For a year where there’s nothing about the franchise to advertise. 

 

INVASION is fun. Love the designs here. Had some fun interactions with these guys including them messing with me trying to take pictures of the UFO. Saw them all crowd around a baby in a stroller for a chunk of time and poke at it, which was hilarious. Not the scariest, but I like the tone here.

 

TrT has the best ambiance, glad to see the pumpkins back. Honestly those pumpkins are a better photo op than the AoH actors. Shockingly faithful to the movie, all the characters felt in tone, including the old man character (his name doesn't come to me right now) who called a bunch of girls ugly and told them to get away from his door. The puking kid’s also a cool addition.

 

Festival was ok, got some stuff here Sunday. Cool designs, hoping they can amp it up next weekend since they got flame towers on Sunday. Some cool scareactors here, including Bone and the stiltwomen. 

[clash]

why to 41

[ForeverEvil1]

2 hours ago, clash said:

why to 41

 

Whoops. Shoulda explained. 41 is all the different houses I've been in in 5 years (all minus TWD 2013). 

[miamicanes1356]

Post the list!

[ForeverEvil1]

1 hour ago, miamicanes1356 said:

Post the list!

 

Overall from worst to best:
Afterlife - Death’s Vengeance 3D 
Lunatics Playground 3D
RUN - Blood, Sweat, and Fears
AWIL 2015
Urban Legends - La Llorona 
HAVOC - Derailed 
Roanoke - Cannibal Colony 
Alien Vs Predator 
Resident Evil - Escape From Raccoon City 
Ghost Town - Curse Of Lightning Gulch
The Walking Dead (2016)
From Dusk Till Dawn 
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
HIVE
Giggles & Gore Inc. 
Asylum In Wonderland 3D
Evil Dead 
The Shining
Freddy Vs Jason
Horrors Of Blumhouse
TWD - Living & The Dead
Saw - Games Of Jigsaw
AWIL 2013 
Halloween 
Halloween - Hell Comes To Haddonfield
The Purge
Body Collectors - ReCollections
Dead Waters
Krampus
The Walking Dead - End Of The Line 
The Fallen
Ash Vs. Evil Dead
American Horror Story
Insidious
American Horror Story - Volume 2
Dollhouse Of The Damned 
Dracula Untold - Reign Of Blood 
The Exorcist
Tomb Of The Ancients / Scarecrow - The Reaping (Tied)
Cabin In The Woods 
Jack Presents - 25 Years Of Monsters & Mayhem

 

[clash]

Thats kinda cool

[happy bunny rabbit]

hey, thanks for doing what you do, I can tell you love the event and your list of all the houses you've been in ranked is genius, now allow me to shamelessly copy it .

Edited February 27, 2018 by fvcking cvnt