HHN2018 Opening Night Review

[HHNManics]

Alright I have gotten enough sleep from what was a night where I almost passed out about like 7 times. And so I finally feel ready to give my thoughts and opinions on what I think about Halloween Horror Nights 2018. I'll start with the order I went in.

Stranger Things (3 times):
Despite at the very beginning not looking forward to this maze it grew on me overtime went on and now it's here. The maze has so many little effects and neat touches that sometimes you don't pick up on. It's really a beautiful maze and the costumedesign is all great. I really love what they did with the Upside Down as that was a great scene. And the maze just looks andfeels great. Unfortunately it does spendonly 1 scene in the Upside Down which I wish we spent more and the Scares really suffer in this maze like bad. But otherwise it's a fantastic maze.

Scares: D-

Sets: A+

Costume Design: A-

Overall: A-

The First Purge (2 Times): 
I remember the day seeing this film which was the day of the maze announcement and asking myself how they were gonna do it. I was really hoping to like this maze and enjoy it. As I saw more and more from EP and Media Articles I was worried and then I went in. Jesus christ. The Scares in this maze are completely awful which is weird for the Purge because usually the Purge actors in the past are more energetic. Not here. The Facade is justawful easily the worst facade of the year. The Set Design is very trashy and just looks terrible and the Black walls don't help either. Speaking of Black walls 50%of this maze is that. More Black walls than any of the Mazes this year. The Costume design is actually pretty great aside from Skeletor which looks absolutely terrible. The Maze doesn't also make use of the Film's great opportunities (Eye Contacts - Only 2 Scenes with them and on Mannequins, Loud Sounds or something for the Exploding Teddy Bears instead of having a Random Character from the film pop out from the left side, Strobes for the Apartment finale like the film). The onlygood scenes are the Mannequin Scene and Rave Party Scene which again the Rave Party Scene looks nothing like the film! It's just a mess and a really awful maze.

Scares: F

Sets: D-

Costume Design: B+

Overall: D+

The Horrors of Blumhouse Chapter 2 (2 Times):
Another maze I wasn't looking forward to from the start but I was very much hoping it would be better than Last year's. Which it totally is. Blumhouse 2 like @foodstampsFTW said on Twitter has no business being as great as it is. So thefacade is really cool (even though it's the same as last year) and I like how they made a Poster for the 3rd Section that'sOriginal ("The Girl") which actually looked so real it threw people off and theyactually thought it was a actual film. Truth or Dare is really good. The Lifelike poster for it is great and the section is just really fun and detailed. It's mostly in theMexican Mission and it's just really fun and I got the best scare of the night here(The guy who cuts his throat open). The Smile Masks look a little funky though. But still very good. Unfriended is shockingly the best section of the maze. It's really fun and detailed and just overall great. Thescares are really good here too. The only problem is that it's insanely short however. Still the best part of the maze.Then the maze falls flat with the 3rd section (Which I was looking the mostforward to) "The Girl". The Girl herself has this really weird looking mask that looks insanely cheesy. And it's a lot of black walls at the end of the maze and for this section. The Maze itself is a million times better than last year Blumhouse and is a fun great maze but the 3rd Section is pretty bad.

Scares: A

Sets: B+

Costume Design: B

Overall: B+

Poltergeist (1 Time):
I was very nervous on the upcoming days to EP for this maze because I just thought they would pull a Exorcist 2016 and have a bunch of Black walls. I was wrong. The Facade is absolutely gorgeous at night. The Set Design to this maze is gorgeous. I know there are more than a couple black walls (Mainly after the Skin Peel Scene is a long black hallway) but the maze itself is just beautiful and looks like the film. The Costume Design is also really fantastic. The Effects in this maze are astounding.They find a unique way to do all the scenes in the film. The Clown Scene is really well executed and identical to the film. The Maze's strongest suit is Scares.This is actually the Scariest maze this year. There are so many great scares inthis maze especially the Coffin scene which has like 6 different Scare actors there. And the giant skulls which look fantastic and are very scary. I was extremely happy with this maze and it's one of the best mazes this year!

Scares: A+

Sets: A+

Costume Design: A+

Overall: A+

Trick 'r Treat (4 Times):
I was very nervous as well when I heard this maze was going into Mummy Queue and was worried it would be a bunch of recycled crap. But it's not. The maze facade is probably my Favorite this year as it's absolutely gorgeously beautiful. The maze has just really beautiful Sets and some fantastic Costume Design. I thought the Scares would be weak but the Scares here are incredibly strong. It's a really fun maze to go through and I love the mini transitions with the Yellow text. My favorite would have to be the "The Schoolbus Massacre" Scene as it's justgorgeous and huge. The maze has some really huge sets actually and looksbeautiful. A lot of well executed scenes. I just loved this maze so much and thought it was my 2nd favorite maze this year.

Scares: A+

Sets: A+

Costume: A+

Overall: A+

Terror Tram - Hollywood Harry's Dreadtime Storiez (1 Time):
It's fun. It's a lot of recycled stuff but I find to be a massive improvement over lastyear and I just found it to be insanely fun actually for some weird reason. It had this really cool Cheesiness vibe to it and it really just stuck with me. It's okay but it's a lot of fun.

Overall: C+

Halloween 4 The Return of Michael Myers (2 Times): I was expecting to feel Michael Myers Fatigue going through this maze but I ended up not feeling that. The facade is really great. The maze itself is really amazing actually which shocked me. The maze doesn't really tell the story of the film all too much and it doesn't really have much of a ending but aside from that Amazing maze. The Costume Design is great, it's the same old same old (But I loved how they did BandagedMichael a lot at the start). The Sets are really great as well. Although a lot of reused sets (Fences covering Black walls, White Curtains) it doesn't bug me because the maze has fun it's not like Purge. The Scares are fantastic however. It's a really intense maze that gets your heart going. The Electrician death scene is probably my Favorite scene in this maze. I also loved the Silver Shamrock section which is really fun. It's just a really amazing, intense, and fun maze that I loved goingthrough. I would rank it in between the Incredible 2016 Version and the Alright 2015 Version.

Scares: A+

Sets: B+

Costume Design: A-

Overall: A-

Universal Monsters Music By Slash (2 Times):
Holy Christ. This maze is pretty unbelievable and should be the #1 Rated Maze this year if not I won't be that happy. It's just really unbelievable. My friend actually came out Crying of happiness when we finished it. I adore this maze.The Facade with all the Blacklight is absolutely gorgeous. The Scares are phenomenal. Really great scares in here. The Sets are the most beautiful Hollywood has ever done. It's just a unbelievably beautiful maze. The Costume Design is also phenomenal. The Music is stellar too as well. The Maze has scenes that like are the greatest ever. Invisible Man Scene, "We Belong Dead/It's Alive" Scene,Mummy/Reinfield Scene, Dracula Scene, Beginning Frankenstein/Wolfman Scene,Vault Scene, and it just keeps going. The maze is my favorite this year and I thinkby the time the event is over it might just be the best Maze they have ever done.

Scares: A+

Sets: A+

Costume Design: A+

Overall: A+

Scare Zones: 
1. Holidayz in Hell: Really fantastic Zone. Insanely fun and detailed. Probably my favorite Zone from HHN and best Gaunlet. (A+)
2. Monster Masquerade: It's a fantastic continuation of UCM and has great music and some great costumes/sets/lighting. (A+)
3. Trick 'r Treat: A really great return to form for the Opening Scaremony Zone. It is very small however but it's insanely gorgeous and just fun to walk through (A-)
4. Hell's Harvest: Hell's Harvest is really fun actually. The Costumes are all great and the Sets are really great as well. Love the Bonesy Brothers. (B+)
5. Toxxic Tunnel: Lmao. (F)

Jabbawockeez: Don't really care enough.

1. UCM
2. TrT
3. Polt
4. Stranger Things 
5. Halloween 4
6. HoB 2
7. First Purge

Overall:
This is actually a really great year (Aside from Toxxic Tunnel and First Purge). It'sreally fun and while they is black walls there is plenty of great effects andgorgeous sets to make up for it. It's not as good as 2016 but a Massive improvement from 2017 and probably my 2nd Favorite Year of since I have been attending. But overall Solid Year. (B+)