Creeper's Review of HHN XX

[Creeper06]

Hey all!

So I've been back in CA for over a week now. I guess it's about time that I buckle down and write out my review of Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights XX: Twenty Years of Fear!

I'm going to go over the houses and scarezones individually and make some other comments about the event. What I will spare you is are the mudane details like what I ate and when I went to the restroom

We'll start with the shows:

Brian Brushwood- I didn't see it. I go to HHN to experience the houses and scraezones and I will always choose hitting a house a second (or third) time over seenig a show.

Grade: N/A

Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure 2010- Ummmm.... wow. Now every year, it seems like there's a vocal group of people crying "BIll and Ted sucked this year! It was nowhere as good as last year!" until the next year. Then they just start up again "last year was so much better". So it's hard to take certain reviews seriously when it seems hindsight can make a show better than it was. This year, everyone said how bad it was and I rolled my eyes because I've heard that song and dance before. Then I saw it. Everyone was right. In 11 years of attending the event, this was without a doubt the WORST Bill & Ted show I've ever seen. I've heard some people say that it was because there weren't a lot of "good pop culture characters" to use this year. I call BS on that. Hollywood's version is lightyears better than this and they use virtually the same characters. Except the villain out here was Sue Sylvester from Glee (which makes perfect sense) instead of Dr. Evil... again! Really?!?!? Dr. Evil again?!?!?! Someone is OUT of ideas. The show had no good jokes, no spark, no energy. After seeing it, I wished I had skipped it all together. Don't bother. You're not missing anything. Seriously.

Grade: D

Now for the Scarezones, in order of my least favorite to most favorite:

Escueleto Muerte- a visually impressive and totally original scarezone. Not at all what I expected when I originally heard about it. I thought it was going to be more a party zone and it had a much more subdued and eerie tone than that, which was good. The blacklights were nice and the costumes were very cool and unique. It just wasn't scary. At all. Plus- how does this fit into the overall theme of the event? Oh yeah. It doesn't.

Grade: C

Zombie Gras- It's a fun scarezone and slightly scarier than Escueleto Muerte. I love the contrast of the upbeat party music with the grisly zombies wandering around. Some good lighting here too and I enjoy that they linked the storyline to a house. But it was a very, very small SZ. And still, you can't ignore that Universal just found a way to reuse old props and costumes from Mardi Gras in the Spring. That's just cheap.

Grade: C

Saws 'N Steam- everyone rated this higher and I totally understand why. Sting Alley is a great location for a SZ and it almost feels like a mini-house. It's cramped, foggy, and hard to find your way around. All very good things. The stages with the "mini shows" were also a nice touch to bring the zone to life. I have no real complaints about this SZ at all. I just didn't rate it higher because I liked some of the others slightly more.

Grade: B

The Coven- This SZ seemed to be underappreciated, which is too bad. Last year we got to see HHN show us a fresh take on vampires (Dracula), Frankenstein (Creation of the Damned), and werewolves (Wolfman). This year, it was nice to see them do the same with witches, an old Halloween standby. I thought there was a good variety of theming, a nice contrast to the witches (beautiful vs. hags), and some really effective atmosphere. I rated it pretty high because it also boasts some classic Halloween imagery which, for me anyway, is ALWAYS welcome.

Grade: B

Fear Revealed- Ok, I'm starting with a tangent, at the risk of pissing some people off: Yes, this SZ is a photo op. But, guess what? I like photo ops!!! So do thousands and thousands of other guests who pay a lot of $$$ to come to HHN. I know there are HHN purists and plenty of scareactors who hate them because it "ruins the illusion" of the SZ and keeps the SA's from scaring guests. But I have a harsh truth for y'all: 90% of the time, SZ's aren't scary. They're great for mood and atmosphere but, they're out in the open. You can see the monsters. There they are. I've been to HHN four times this year (twice on each coast) and guess how many scares I've had in a SZ? Exactly one. And that was because I was changing the batteries in my camera. The people who get scared In SZ's? Teenage girls and wimps. The rest of us? It's a great place to soak in the atmosphere of HHN and take some cool pictures. So accept it, enjoy it, and take full advantage of it! Where else can you get pictures with ALL these awesome icons, each with a heavily themed backdrop? It's freaking awesome! And finally we get to enjoy Fear himself in all his glory (in fact, it's the only place... but that's another tangent I'll get into later). Plus, I love the XX gateway with the flames. Totally badass. A great zone.

Grade: A

HHN: Twenty Years of Fear- Another SZ that is mostly a photo op, which is cool. But here, we have a greater variety of characters (Wolfman, Frankenstein's monster, Crypt Keeper, Alice, Mary Shaw!!!!) and some amazing props and nods to HHN's past. I could have spent hours in here alone. So many great characters. So much to look at. Awesome theming. It perfectly blends in with Fear Revealed. And there are some great opportunities for very cool pictures (yeah, I said it).

Grade: A+

Now for the houses! Also from my least favorite to my most favorite!

Catacombs: Black Death Rising- Wow. So many of you all called this the "house of the year" and I don't get it. As I was walking in with a friend who had already been through, he turns to me and says "You really sure you want to see the Spy vs. Spy house?" I said "huh?" and he goes "oh, you'll see!" and he was right. I loved the sets and thought they were really well done (except the random rooms where it became a museum and had information plaques... that was weird). But the costumes? I dug the skeletons but about 80% of the SA's were plague doctors. So #1- there was not enough variety in the monsters. #2- the plague doctors are laughable. I know they're "historically accurate" but that doesn't mean they're not silly looking. It's hard to get scared when I'm just having flashbacks if reading MAD magazine as a 12 year old. So disappointing.

Grade: C- (MAD magazine = not scary)

Havoc: Dogs of War- I kept comparing this house to Intersteller Terror from 2008: great sets, great theming, good performances... just not "Halloween-y" (is that a word? I'm making it one) at all. The theme is totally random and out of nowhere. I just couldn't get into it. The scareactors were awesome. Probably the most committed in any house this year so I give them total props! And it was a decent enough house, I guess. Really loud (tto loud?) and some good scares in here. It's just, when I think of Halloween, I don't think of crazy bald soldiers. Meh.

Grade: C (intense but what the hell does this have to do with Halloween?)

ZombieGeddon- I was totally prepared to hate this house from the concept alone. I don't like "humor" houses. I don't get them. If I wanted monsters cracking jokes at me, I'd go to Halloween Comedy Nights. I hated Leave it to Cleaver last year and expected this to be right in line with that. In fact, I almost skipped it completely. I am happy to admit I was wrong because it was a really enjoyable house. Yes, the queue and first two or three rooms had that very tongue-in-cheek feel of Cleaver, but it doesn't last long. As soon as things get serious, there are some great scares in there. Especially, the "plastic room" or was it a freezer? Anyway- that room was amazing with a zombie in each corner. And I loved the look of the zombies too. I remember Deadtropolis where the zombies just had painted faces and they just looked human. Here they used more detailed make-up and some prosthetics to make the zombies look more real and, more importantly, scary. One thing- I read on these boards that the reason the zombies are loose is because the Zombie Gras float crashed into the house? I love this idea! Only problem was that someone had to tell me that that's what supposedly happened. It wasn't at all clear from walking through. Too bad. Not my favorite house, but well done nonetheless.

Grade: B- (first half, eh... second half, cool)

PsychoScareapy: Echoes of Shadybrook- Another house I wasn't particularly psyched for because it felt like a retread. I mean, come on! This is the 4th PsychoScareapy house we've had in 7 years! I just feel like A&D have gone to this well one too many times. But the house itself was still very good. I liked the approach of coming back to Shadybrook after it had been abandoned. Excellent sets and facade (as we've come to expect in a SS house) and I love the RED BUTTON! Very cool little secret for us fans. I also loved the projected cameo by the bald lunatic from the marketing campaign from 04. Another awesome easter egg. The hands on the bars hallway was easily the highlight for me. Overall, a very good house. Just loses a little excitement since it's been done before (3 times before).

Grade: B (good but they should have this one down by now)

The Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes- Hooray... Cindy gets a house! Boo... It's in the Jaws queue!!! I don't think the Jaws location is as bad as others make it seem. I really liked Saw there last year. And this year, they also did a very good job of maximizing the use for the space here. Really great theming, really great sets, and really great effects. I loved the floating child outside the window. I think Cindy was used just right at the beginning and the end. And I always got special attention from her when I called her by name It was true that, during the day, the light came through the house and ruined some of the experience. The only downside? Wasn't scary. Little kids in masks yelling 'trick or treat!' just don't scare me. I think it's cute more than anything. But everything else about the house still puts it higher on my list. Lots of fun.

Grade: B (Cindy gets a great house but her friends ain't scary)

Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate- easily the most ambitious and unique maze of the year (if not ever). A&D set out to create a "truly haunted" experience, using every trick at their disposal, and you have to admire that. So many neat effects and scares here: the floor, the poltergeist, the chair, the bronze statues, the scrims. The facade and rooms were all extremely impressive too. As others have mentioned, you really have to do this house mutiple times because there's so much in here that you could miss. Timing is crucial, but it's worth it to see everything they threw into this experience. I also loved the cameo by The Storyteller. My only gripe? Those masks. They were a little cheesy. I wish they had just used glow-in-the-dark paint on the SA's actual faces. It would have been far creepier. But aside from that, this is one of THE houses of the year and you have to go a couple times if at all possible.

Grade: A- (would have been a solid A without those masks)

Hades: The Gates of Ruin- Another very ambitious house. This one has a completely new theme, very unique, fresh approaches to classic monsters, and probably the most scares of any houses this year. I've never heard of or seen a haunted house based in Greek mythology before and that's what makes this such a cool concept. The execution almost completely pays off this concept. The facade is fantastic and the theming is very well done. There's a huge variety of creatures inside (minotaur, medusa, cyclops, soldiers, witches, etc.) so it's never boring. There are some good effects used effectively (the minotaur mirror effect springs to mind) and scares come rapidly and consistently. It's like A&D took the best elements of a lot of houses and combined them all into one super house. But, not to beat a dead horse, where the heck was Hades in the finale? No one has apparently seen him. Just an empty throne. It seems like a glaring oversight in an otherwise spectacular house.

Grade: A- (come on... Hades couldn't show up to his own party?)

Horror Nights: The Hallow'd Past- I know the SS houses are always considered the premiere ones every year and then the Parade Building house comes in fourth. Not this year! Hallow'd Past may not have been the scariest house (Hades), the most innovative (Legendary Truth), or the loudest (Havoc) but, for this longtime fan, it gets the prize for being the most purely enjoyable haunted house at Halloween Horror Nights XX. The warehouse intro and finale were PERFECT and so filled with amazing props, posters, and costumes that I wish they'd leave it open as a museum during the day. Then you get the treat of going back in time and visiting some scenes from many houses of HHN past (Scary Tales 3, Body Collectors, Dead Exposure, Frightanic). There were some who wished that this house would have gone back further to include older houses, and I can see that. I would have liked to have seen a nod to The Dungeon of Terror (the very first maze at HHN) but, if you look at the houses selected, each one has a very unique tone that keeps them completely separate from the others, which is really why I think they were selected. Then the finale in the warehouse with all of our favorite icons (excpet Bloody Mary... we miss you!) scaring us out? Perfect. This house was PURE fun and my favorite of the year!

Grade: A

Now to address our icon:

FEAR- I've discussed this a little on another thread so I apologize to anyone who's rereading it, but I really ending up liking Fear as a character. When I first saw him, I was a little disappointed but I grew to like his look a lot. He's very big and imposing and a suitable icon for the event. I just feel like Universal missed the boat on using him. I totally understand what they were going for: let's keep him hidden and just hint at him so people will have to come to the event to finally see him! I get that. The only problem is that it backfired. They kept him so much in the shadows that your casual attendees didn't know who he was, nor did they care. For example, I went with my family from Chicago. I follow the event online (obviously) and they do not. As we were walking through Fear Revealed I said "It's Fear!!!!" and they looked at me and said "who?" I had to explain that he was this year's icon. They looked at their guidemap and saw a lantern and just kind of shrugged. It was in no way clear that this was Fear's year! Even the archway video at the entrance focused on the 5 icons. Fear barely gets a cameo. So, unless you're one of us hardcore fans, Fear just did not connect with the general public. They needed to not be afraid to use him in the commercials, the advertising, the videos, the guidemap, etc. In 2002, there was NO doubt that that year was all about the Caretaker. He was everywhere! The slogan was "Are you ready to meet The Caretaker". This year, as it was, Fear had no exposure and therefore, no impact. Then, at the event itself, he had no presence either. The only place you could see him was in Fear Revealed. In theory, you could actually do the whole event and never walk past that SZ. What about projecting him around the park? Or having him show up in each house (like Bloody Mary in 2008)? Just anything to increase his exposure. It's really a shame because I liked the character. I just think they dropped the ball when it came to using him.

OVERALL- Overall, I think that HHN XX was a solid but not a spectacular year. It was interesting because there were no houses that I thought were really awful (ala Leave it to Cleaver and The Spawning last year) but there were also none that totally rocked my world (like the EPIC triad of Wolfman, Dracula, and Frankenstein- also last year). As always, it was a great event and a lot of fun but it definitely felt more like 'business as usual' than something truly mind-blowing or new for the 20th anniversary. I had a great time but I would put this year somewhere in the lower middle compared to all the years I've been going. Final grade for everything? B

So, sorry this has gotten so long! I just love me some HHN and am happy to share my thoughts. Thanks to anyone who hung in there this long to read all this I welcome your comments and discussion!