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Halloween Horror Nights 24: Reviews & Photos

I'll break down my thoughts on the whole IP thing::

WD: Get people into the event (huge fanbase)
FDTD: Get people who are in the event to watch the show after the event
Dracula: Get people in the event to watch the movie when it comes out after the event
AvP: Because they can
Halloween: Passion project
Original Content: To shut up the fans so they wont riot
 
Well here's another question, have they digged themselves into a hole with the IPs? Could they return to purely original content without the general public (started going in the 2012-14 era)complaining there aren't IPs?
 
Well here's another question, have they digged themselves into a hole with the IPs? Could they return to purely original content without the general public (started going in the 2012-14 era)complaining there aren't IPs?

Yes. 20 and 21 were still largely successful from crowds after IP heavy years of 17 and 19. Granted they reached another stratosphere with TWD, but I think the crowds will come regardless now.
 
Yes. 20 and 21 were still largely successful from crowds after IP heavy years of 17 and 19. Granted they reached another stratosphere with TWD, but I think the crowds will come regardless now.

I have a feeling HHN 25 will have some returning content/icons

In all reality the Icons were the "IPs" back in the day for the event...now the IPs are the icons..
You have to admit...HHN's audience is growing..
 
That's what I'm scared of, this year is setting the records and it's all due to the IPs, so why take away crappy IPs if it brings people in? I'm starting to doubt the return of icons or anything that big for 25, just the same format (4-5 IPs with 3-4 originals). I think the biggest thing they could do at this point is to have the most houses in one year, that's all I'm expecting and in all honesty that's probably what we are getting
 
That's what I'm scared of, this year is setting the records and it's all due to the IPs, so why take away crappy IPs if it brings people in? I'm starting to doubt the return of icons or anything that big for 25, just the same format (4-5 IPs with 3-4 originals). I think the biggest thing they could do at this point is to have the most houses in one year, that's all I'm expecting and in all honesty that's probably what we are getting

While I see what youre saying, it also is a lot cheaper to develop original content than license IP's, meaning there IS a benefit to straying away from the heavy-IP usage. At this point, TWD and other IP's have introduced a huge amount of people to the event, people who obviously love it if they keep coming back. I dont imagine many people saying "hey, remember that fun Halloween Horror Nights thing last year? I would go again but theres no Walking Dead so it probably wont be as fun". The Walking Dead was a great way to attract new fans but I dont think HHN will be dependent on it forever. Maybe they'll gently ease out of heavy IP-usage rather than go strictly back to original stuff right away, but either way, it's in Universal's best interest (as well as ours) to start going back to original stuff...so long as they can retain the same attendance.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if they had special advertisements on the Latino channels down there, especially the channel that FDTD appears on. Anyone here watch those channels?

nothing about dusk in the spanish channels, nothing at all. They just keep promoting AVP halloween and walking dead.

Even in the news, they were showing the predator costumes when the event started, Dracula got a mention but Dusk didn't even get talked about, and this was the spanish news show.
no one gave a hoot about it.
 
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While I see what youre saying, it also is a lot cheaper to develop original content than license IP's, meaning there IS a benefit to straying away from the heavy-IP usage. At this point, TWD and other IP's have introduced a huge amount of people to the event, people who obviously love it if they keep coming back. I dont imagine many people saying "hey, remember that fun Halloween Horror Nights thing last year? I would go again but theres no Walking Dead so it probably wont be as fun". The Walking Dead was a great way to attract new fans but I dont think HHN will be dependent on it forever. Maybe they'll gently ease out of heavy IP-usage rather than go strictly back to original stuff right away, but either way, it's in Universal's best interest (as well as ours) to start going back to original stuff...so long as they can retain the same attendance.

I can see what your saying but I really don't know at this point. Whatever marketing says goes and if Hollywood is getting their sweet new IPs then so will Florida. People will return but the ones that are incredibly close minded and didn't even know about Roanoke or dollhouse will probably leave confused. This is the horror nights they know and love now, people are looking to experience the film. It also doesn't help IPs bring attention to tons of mainstream press. It's an odd situation and I really don't know how it'll end up next year. 25 could just be another number to them
 
At some point it becomes a diminishing rewards deal. If you already have a ton of people showing up for one of the big popular IP houses (I feel there have been 1 house since 2011 and 2 houses more recently in this category) at some point you actually end up costing yourself money in the end. This year we have AvP and Halloween, arguably some of the biggest Horror movies around, would it really draw a lot more people if we had Friday the 13th, Nightmare, etc. They would most likely be getting roughly the same number of people in the park (especially if they max capacity). They would then burn the IP for a year where it could be used later or cause Walking Dead syndrome. It really does make sense for them to do experimental/promotional type houses with those. It brings extra money that likely would not have been spent on seeing the movie or show. I feel like last year if they hadn't had CitW and Evil Dead we would not have gotten the huge success that was AWiL.

yeah this makes sense. I guess it would be either a promotional IP or an original house and people will go to the original house more so I guess they will continue to do that.

I just hope they pick better IPs even if they just want to promote them.
 
I just hope they pick better IPs even if they just want to promote them.

Halloween is a genre classic--in many ways it invented modern horror films.

The original Alien is a sci-fi classic, probably the greatest sci-fi horror movie ever made. Predator is at least iconic. The AvP movies themselves were less memorable, but it least this gave Creative the right to use the characters.

Last season TWD was the #1 show on TV. It has transcended the horror genre, like Star Wars transcended sci-fi. In terms of the zeitgeist, it's like Harry Potter for grown-ups at the moment.

FDTD is lesser known, but it's based on an arguable cult classic and is at its heart a fun idea for a house (which is no doubt why Roddy ripped it off for Demon Cantina a decade ago).

This is a dream IP line-up. Honestly you can't expect most years to have this many solid properties.
 
These properties are far from solid lol. I can argue the IPs for 22 and 23 kick this years ass no competition. They might have not executed them as well as this year but by name recognition and environments there isn't a competition. I will say the houses this year are better than those years (minus FDTD and DU) but still I can't relate to any of these properties besides Halloween. Here's to better and better executed IPs in the upcoming years
 
The big 3 IPs (TWD, Halloween, AVP) are a pretty big deal. I think bigger than last year though last year's IP had more depth since Cabin in the Woods, Resident Evil and Evil Dead are more relevant than FDTD and Dracula Untold. Not to mention 24 has a big IP as a scare zone only in the Purge.
 
Was going to do a “midterm” review, but as usual in October, time got away from me. So this is my final report card, but I’ve tried to indicate a little of who moved up and down during the month. Note that everything below my #1 pick comes close to being “average.” Nothing but #1 cracking my top 25 ever, but nothing in by bottom 10 ever, either. With a “just ok” B&T and ScareZones, I think “average” sums up HHN 24 quite well.

[LEAGUE OF ITS OWN ]

1) HALLOWEEN. The façade. The projections. The garage scene. That 70s kitchen. The cat picture. The outdoor scenes. The resurrected Michael Myers after the exit. Everything just note perfect.

All the detail of the movie, a solid cast really working for scares. Instant classic, top 5 house of every time. As long as we keep getting houses like this and AWiL, I’ll keep giving Universal my money and putting up with the crowds.

[ABOVE AVERAGE]

2) FROM DUSK TIL DAWN. Controversial choice I know, but really worked for me. Loved the Barker, innovative boo holes, great effect with the snake temple. Sure the orcs in the middle are odd, but love the final bar scene. Solid cast who love to scare. One of the more underrated houses of the past decade.

3) AvP. Loved the alien puppets—rest of the house was just alright for me, with an adequate but not exceptional cast, surprisingly light on scares. Really messed a chest bursting scene and the Nostromo. If this was a generic theme would probably be #2, but the disappointment that we finally get an Alien house and it’s not one of the top houses of all time probably colors my opinion.

[AVERAGE]

4) Dollhouse. Very, very creepy atmosphere. One of the most visually interesting houses ever—and perfect use of smells to induce a mood. Initially was my #2; however, other than the killer teddy bears kind of a lackluster cast, and after multiple runs, the lack of a thematic through-line becomes glaring. It really is just a random collection of rooms, each inspired by a different sort of doll.

5) Giggles & Gore. Some clever jokes, and a gung-ho cast, but can’t get past the fact it feels like the generic industrial Disaster queue house we’ve seen so many times before. Falls apart in the end—I guess the budget ran out, complete lack of atmosphere the last couple rooms.

6) Roanoke. Wanted to love this house, but repetitive sets, and the much hyped finale is just video fire and a couple stilt walkers. I will say probably the most improved cast over the course of the event, but nothing all that memorable.

[BELOW AVERAGE]

7) TWD. Level of detail is amazing, they truly managed to recreate Season 3 room by room. That said, walkers aren’t that scary, and get repetitive very quickly. The length of the house only exacerbates their sameness. Prison set recycled from last year, which adds to the sense there is nothing new here. And the finale through the chain link maze is just cheesy.

8) Dracula Untold. Let me stress—not the worst house ever. The castle façade is impressive, the arrow effect was innovative, and the human statues were effective. That said, everything else was a muddled mess, much like the movie it shares a name (and little else) with. Ultimately forgettable—not good or bad enough to be memorable.
 
Went last night and had a blast. Did every house once with Express and never waited more than 5 minutes. Didn't get to see B&T unfortunately, though I will next year. Spoilers below

Houses

8. Giggles and Gore Inc.:
Coming from someone who hates clowns, this house did nothing for me. I was one behind on a lot of scares, but the scares I did get didn't scare me. The sets weren't anything special either. This was the weak link of the year IMO, but fortunately it gets much better with the next house. Grade: 5.5/10

7. Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood:
Surprisingly my two best scares of the night came from here. The Dracula that comes out with a head had me crouching and the very last one had me running to the exit. The sets are nice and there's some cool effects like a soldier being pulled back by Dracula, but the house made no sense at all. This house is interchangeable with 6. 7/10

6. Roanoke Cannibal Colony:
The sets in this house are great and are by far the best part of the house. I got hit most of the scares and it wasn't scary at all. The scareactors are definitely into their roles and aggressive though, so I'll give them that. Oh, and MEAT!!!! 7/10

5. From Dusk Till Dawn:
I got hit by a lot of there scares, and boy did they scare me. The best scare in the house was one vampire that I expected to go back into their boo hole but stood there and jumped out at me. The finale was awesome and the best part of the house. However, the sets did get repetitive and there are parts where the rooms are too bare. 7.5/10

4. Alien vs. Predator:
This was a good house, but it wasn't as great as I hoped it would have been. While the Xenomorph puppets look great, the first and second one had too much strobes and way too much fog blasting to clearly see what it was doing respectively. The Predators are aggressive and I got scared by the last one when I thought he was gone. The sets are awesome, especially the egg room. The lack of scares is what's keeping it from being a great house, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. 8/10

3. Dollhouse of the Damned:
I didn't expect much going in, but boy was I wrong. I loved this house! Very creepy and some good scares. The ballerina room was where I got the most scares; even when I saw the last one coming I still got a jump. The sombrero puppet got a great scare out of me, as did Raggedy Ann and the big baby. By the way, everyone was saying that there was a poop smell in the crib room, but I could barely smell it. 9/10

2. Halloween:
Loved this house, it could have been my favorite if I got hit by a few more scares. It felt like you were right in the movie. The scares I got hit by were some of the best of the night. The mannequin room, the closet, and the second trick or treater were the best scares for me. The finale with Loomis was awesome and the highlight of the house. 10/10

1. The Walking Dead: End of the Line:
I'm going to get a lot of flack for this, but this was my favorite house hands down. It had the perfect mix of sets and scares. The forest room was terrifying and the Termites got a good scare when they opened gunfire. I loved how Mary reached out to my face and said "I want to eat you!". There were plenty of other good scares in the prison too. The sets were great, especially Big Spot. I wouldn't mind TWD returning next year if the house is on the level of this one. 10/10

The scarezones weren't anything special, though I did get scared by a Purger.
 
I was thinking yesterday, how grand Masquerade could have been had they set that in NY. Purge is just a loud adrenaline rush, it is action rather than horror ...
 
I was thinking yesterday, how grand Masquerade could have been had they set that in NY. Purge is just a loud adrenaline rush, it is action rather than horror ...

Even Hollywood would have been a good choice...a bunch more of those lanterns and things would have been cool...personally I feel Face Off could have fit in Production Central from Shrek to Monster's Cafe...
 
Nah I think purge is where it should be. The city is the perfect atmosphere for something like the purge and with the zone's large scope of the whole auction process and stage, it's just a perfect match. Just needed more damn scare actors
 
Here are my final thoughts and rankins of the houses and events.

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1. Halloween
Start to finish awesome. So many scares. Favorite parts are the kitchen and closet scenes. IDK how they could have made it better. Up there with some of the best. And I hope this use of a really tight, confined, and winding house layout is put to good use next year.

2. AVP
The puppets were really cool and with the right timing it can have some really good scares. One that really got me good was the guy with the face hugger coming out the window and then the predator coming out right after. My only problem with the house was that there were some dead spots that could have used an extra alien or predator.

3. Walking Dead
This house was good and very consistent. With all the actors in there you were bound to get a scare from somewhere. My favorite scene was the lightning storm forest.

4. Giggles and Gore
This house could either be good or bad depending on timing and cast. I noticed one cast was better than the other. The one with the bigger chainsaw guy was the superior squad. I wish the discarded were more scary. My favorite clown was the one with the tophat. I also like that they regularly switch scare locations to keep it fresh. Ive seen said clown in the last room, and in two different locations by the meat grinder.

5. Dollhouse
I loved this house. The reason its lower is that I never got that many scares except from the ballerinas. They were so good and that was my favorite room. I like disturbing houses that make you feel uneasy so I hope they have more houses like this going foreward.

6. Roanoake
Cool sets, but it had its problems. Half the actors seemed like they were there just to populate the house and not scare. I think the house picks up in the second half starting when the girl with the sicle and the guy overhead come at you.

7. Dracula
Started off bad but then got better. at worst it was a nice looking house with no scares, and on a good run though it had a few good ones to dish out. Very timing dependent and I feel sometimes the actors waited way too long to reset and come back out. One time though I believe i missed seeing half the actors, weather it be bad timing or cast change.

8. FDTD
Like Dracula some impressive sets but very timing dependent and not too heavy on the scares. I felt the first half of the house was lacking but picked up once you get into the catacombs. One time was just bad luck on my part because there were two maintenance crews in there with a ton of lights fixing one of the stripper areas and the pool table completely ruining both of those scenes.

I felt none of the houses were flat out bad but the top 5 being really good and the bottom 3 being ok to mediocre.

I liked all the scarezones but I never seem to get any scares in them. I feel like masquerade could have benefited from being in a more serious location and a few more objects for the actors to hide behind.

Bill and Ted was great as well.

Overall a very solid year for me and I am looking forward to next year already.
 
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