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Hopefully they just announce that or Blumhouse so that the IT, Stranger Things, Conjuring, and other IP rumors that are still alive on Twitter, YouTube, and forums will die out. And I also agree with the earlier comment of Sinister being one of the longest portions. Considering we saw what looked like the church from the sequel, I wouldn't doubt they would try to include references from both movies in there.
I'm just surprised people still think The Conjuring is coming, even after it was leaked that the property was pulled from the event. Conjuring, IT, & Stranger Things are possibilities for 2018 since John usually wants sequels(S2 Stranger Things, Pt 2 for It coming next year) before he does a property, and Conjuring's legal problems will probably be done by then. If Conjuring did come this year I would've been happy but it would've been too many ghost mazes(Insidious, Conjuring, Shining, Roanoke).
I'm just surprised people still think The Conjuring is coming, even after it was leaked that the property was pulled from the event. Conjuring, IT, & Stranger Things are possibilities for 2018 since John usually wants sequels(S2 Stranger Things, Pt 2 for It coming next year) before he does a property, and Conjuring's legal problems will probably be done by then. If Conjuring did come this year I would've been happy but it would've been too many ghost mazes(Insidious, Conjuring, Shining, Roanoke).
I think we're just dealing with lots of people in denial. They keep comparing last year's lineup to this years and think Murdy is gonna throw us a huge curveball property. That and they are going deep into conspiracy theory mindsets with thinking there are elaborate red herrings being constructed. People forget that literally half of last year's six mazes were returning IPs, yet the execution is what made them fantastic, as I'm sure will be the case this years. I wouldn't be surprised if the mazes that people are the least excited for this year end up becoming fan favorites for 2017. And I do have a feeling next year we will be able to overcome the few setbacks this year had that were out of Murdy's control with obtaining properties and announcements.
I think we're just dealing with lots of people in denial. They keep comparing last year's lineup to this years and think Murdy is gonna throw us a huge curveball property. That and they are going deep into conspiracy theory mindsets with thinking there are elaborate red herrings being constructed. People forget that literally half of last year's six mazes were returning IPs, yet the execution is what made them fantastic, as I'm sure will be the case this years. I wouldn't be surprised if the mazes that people are the least excited for this year end up becoming fan favorites for 2017. And I do have a feeling next year we will be able to overcome the few setbacks this year had that were out of Murdy's control with obtaining properties and announcements.
I don't get why people aren't as happy for this years lineup, I personally find it better than last year's. Our curveball property this year is The Shining, which I could see concerns for(although it seems Chris & Murdy are doing a great job with scaling several rooms), but if Exorcist could be a great maze Shining should be able to be amazing too. The only maze I think has the most potential to bomb is Jigsaw, I'm really excited for it but if it's timing based it could end up bad.
I don't get why people aren't as happy for this years lineup, I personally find it better than last year's. Our curveball property this year is The Shining, which I could see concerns for(although it seems Chris & Murdy are doing a great job with scaling several rooms), but if Exorcist could be a great maze Shining should be able to be amazing too. The only maze I think has the most potential to bomb is Jigsaw, I'm really excited for it but if it's timing based it could end up bad.
I think another huge factor is the timing of the event. With the new IT movie coming out next month, as well as the upcoming Stranger Things season, a new movie in the Conjuring universe being out today, plus people wanting Trick or Treat and Hellraiser to come to the event after seeing the Titans of Terror last year, as well as a Michael Dougherty property being a maze, fans wanted to see them at the event this year, without realizing the process of obtaining the rights and how it would be more appropriate to wait another year to better plan them out.
I wonder if they're just waiting for a final approval of an Insidious 4 teaser trailer, and in that teaser, the facade in JP queue will be heavily featured.
Yeah I don't know what they're waiting for. If I can remember wasn't there supposed to be an announcement this week? This year's been pretty chaotic with announcements until recently. My guesses on announcements are:
Next Week: Saw Legacy/Jigsaw
Week After: Insidious
Following Week: Blumhouse & BTS Pictures will start coming
Yea... Murdy said there should be an announcement this week (which did not happen). Now he says we should expect one next week. I'll believe it when I see it. I feel like Insidious & Blumhouse can be a double announcement like Titans of Terror & Terror Tram were.
As for the "Behind the scenes" stuff... they have that section on there every year, but unlike the past... they don't really ever upload anything. Last year, the ONLY "BTS" video that was on there was the one for TWD attraction :ack:
It'd be nice if they'd do behind the scenes videos... honestly, with as many walk-throughs as Murdy does, there is no excuse for him not taking a quick video for each maze. Seeing even just a little bit would not ruin anything. In the past Orlando would even release concept art for the maze facade or certain scenes.
Just got done seeing Annabelle Creation and holy crap.. it should've and could've been a maze in itself. It's a lot scarier than the other Annabelle film and the doll actually does something in this film, if you haven't seen it do it(sorry for sounding like an ad it was just so much better than expected).
Yea... thats how they seem to be making the movies nowadays. They'll make a "meh" first movie that makes a ton of money, then they'll make a sequel/prequel & put all the effort into it resulting in a much better & scarier film. Conjuring vs Conjuring 2, Ouija vs Ouija 2, Annabelle vs Annabelle 2. Its a weird strategy that works.
Funny, I vastly prefer Conjuring to Conjuring II, although I love both.
Purge: Anarchy is the perfect example of what was said above though. Honestly, a Netflix series on an episode for each hour would be intense after watching. Then they dropped the bomb with Election Year.
I anticipate Shrek 4-D to go behind actual construction walls on Monday, which makes me wonder how the entrance scare zone will be handled this year. I could see them possibly leaving the New York Facades untouched for the time being, while only the main entrance to Shrek is blocked for the sake of the scare zone. Then after HHN ends, the New York facades will go behind walls.
Conjuring 2 had the scares... Conjuring didnt. It even got a yelp out of me (it was the Crooked Man hallway in the tent/fort scene... I expected it to happen & it STILL got me lol)
Well we're getting the Purge tv series!... and they didn't drop anything with Election Year. They chose to do an actual story rather than another film of cliche Purge gimmicks. I enjoyed it, plus I felt the movie had a very strong impact due to being released shortly after the Pulse incident. Florida being the winning vote for the senator who wanted to do away with the Purge. It made me feel. Then of course, right at the end it mentions rogue purgers which amused me since Hollywood had The Purge last year for HHN. I'm very curious to see where the 4th movie goes, I feel like it will be centered around the rogue purgers.
The 4th Purge movie is called Island; something about the origins of the 1st purge ever. The third movie was too preachy, and in all honesty, the purge and The Walking Dead have burned out faster than the Titans of Terror. At least with ToT they have years of being horror icons, whereas the other 2 seem to be more trendy horror, in that they're popular for a handful of years and slowly die out. I honestly hope this is the last year we have the Purge at HHN; though I honestly would not have been shocked if they would've done a permanent Purge maze instead of TWD.
See The Conjuring is a good horror film but it's not anything that I think is a A+ Horror Film or the Best Horror Film of the Century. Ultimately... I was never scared by the Conjuring. There is a Good 5 Seconds that I find unsettling (That's in the Final Act) but it just doesn't scare me. I have issues with the Film. Like at the beginning of the film and the Mother tells the Girls to not play around in the House and then the Next day she plays "Hide and Clap" with the Youngest Child. The False Jump Scare when the Mother plays with the Music Box also bugged me. And I found myself making comparisons to stuff in The Conjuring to stuff in Insidious (I don't know maybe it's just because Patrick Wilson is in both films). But overall the Film is good. The Final act is pretty great. And I felt I could connect with the Family (I could also connect with the Family in The Conjuring 2 as well) The Opening is also pretty great. Good stuff. (7/10)
Annabelle -
I have the same Opinon as most of you it's a pretty horrible film. Had potential but if you have seen the trailer, you have seen the Film. The Scares are predictable. I don't care about the Characters or the Story as both are trash. The Only Things I like is that the Opening is good and the Basement Scene felt like what should have been the Film. But I never felt as though there was anything at Stake. With The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, and now Annabelle Creation I felt like Characters were at Stake of dying and I was concerned for them, but in this film there are no stakes and we don't care about the Characters. Overall terrible stuff. (3/10) *Am I being too nice might bump it to a 2.5*
The Conjuring 2 -
Okay I can talk about the Film or Sequel I generally really love. The Conjuring 2. So... there's a lot to discuss about this film. The film starts with this pretty opening that I thought was well done and was great foreshadowing. The Characters and the Family were also great. While a lot more Jump Scares the Film knows how to use them. Ultimately the Scares are to more fun and better than the Scares in the Original. I don't know maybe it's because I saw this film on Opening Night with a Full Packed House. But it was a lot of fun. So the quote in the Conjuring that I need to bring up is "God brought us together for a reason". In the First Film we see this us God brought ED and Lorraine together to help people. In this film they take that add more to it. They go into why ED and Lorraine love each other. We are given more of a reason as to why we should care about this people. It's called Good Screenwriting. We are given a reason at the START OF THE FILM to constantly be on guard for the lives of our Characters. So there are stakes and the Film really sells that. Also the Film challenges the audience. There is a famous Hitchcock Quote saying "The Audience is gonna predict what happens next in your film but you have to challenge them and ask Do you!?" and The Conjuring 2 does this. The First Film while I think the 3rd act is the best part I think it's pretty predictable. This film has totally shifts in the Story (That I won't spoil) and turns and twists in the film that Challenge people who see the Film. The Demons are also fantastic. The Crooked Man was a nice addition to the Film and was very creepy. Valek was actually pretty stellar and Scary. The Final Act is absolutely tense and really lets Vera Farmiga show her acting abilities as she is incredible. The Ending wraps up pretty nicely and I just ate it up. So yeah I love this film. (10/10)
I also found it great that in the First Film ED is worried about Lorraine and how he is concerned for her safety and in the Conjuring 2 Lorraine is concerned for ED and for his safety.
Annabelle: Creation -
So it's already been said but it basically is everything I think the Original should have been. And it didn't need to be as good as it was but IT WAS. The Opening grabs and doesn't let go. We at the start immediately connect with the Characters. The Story is really strong and it's pretty great. Oh and the Scares... JESUS CHRIST. So this is probably what I consider to be the Scariest of the Films in the Universe. There are Jump Scares that land pretty hard and just some really... unsettling imagery accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack. The Visuals are just really haunting actually. The Characters are all great and the Story is actually pretty good as well. The Film like the Conjuring 2 likes to have fun with the Scares. There is a lot of Foreshadowing of the Scares in this film and it's pretty fantastic how they do. You expect them to be a Scare later on but you somehow forget and then "BOO!". The Film also has some pretty great Easter Eggs as well and a solid ending. Had like one issue with the Film but aside from that Fantastic stuff. (9/10)
(Also to Note: There is a Mid Credit Scene and After Credit Scene)
*PS if you Annabelle Creation you get a Clip from IT before the Movie starts and the Clip is actually pretty stellar
So my Ranking is
1. The Conjuring 2
2. Annabelle: Creation
3. The Conjuring
4. Annabelle
So yeah I love almost all of the films and they are good fun stuff. They are Scary films with really great Demons, Characters, and Storytelling. Hopefully next year we can see The Conjuring at HHN! (Also looking forward to the Nun!)
God.. don't ever compare The Purge with TWD... thats just insulting. If anything, The Purge is more similar to SAW. And thats interesting that it'll be a prequel rather than sequel. I feel like that'd be territory that'd be good for the tv series rather than another movie.
Wonder if we'll see Purge again next year when the new movie comes out. It'd honestly be very lazy & cheap if they did. Hopefully the inclusion of it in Blumhouse of Horrors will be the last time, although I feel like last year's "Gauntlet of Fear" maze was the proper send-off.
Finally someone agrees with me. I was not a fan at all of the first Conjuring. People were treating it like the Citizen Kane of the entire horror genre, when all I felt was a cheap horror story that had jump scares that were not only predictable, but tried to appear unique, and never done before. But the sequel was definitely better and had more character development that made me really appreciate the Warrens and want to see them succeed and survive. Though my unpopular opinion is that I enjoyed the first Annabelle more than the first Conjuring, but overall I prefer creature features, psychological thrillers and slasher flicks over paranormal films. Hopefully next year is our golden year to be successful with The Conjuring, as well as other talked about properties, but only time can tell.
I still one day hope to see a new version of The Amityville Horror set in the Conjuringverse.. (yes, I know, Conjuring 2 opening and all, but still, I'd love a new, modern take on the legend.. maybe it could be Amityville's ticket into HHN)
I'm surprised HBO or Netflix hasn't picked up the Conjuring universe and made into a series a la Tales from the Crypt. With so many relics collected in Ed and Lorraines basement, each episode would go into the backstory of that relic. That would be awesome, and HBO/Netflix can push the graphic content more than a pg-13 film could.
Then HHN would have another 3-year maze in its grab.
