I think “Dark Web” has a few scenes that could work... that said why not do Get Out? Or Paranormal Activity? They worked with Paramount last year for Sinister so that excuse doesn’t apply here.
That said my hype list is:
(1) Halloween 4 - So, while the Orlando version is going in one of the more cramped areas(Shrek Theater) this is going in Waterworld. And the sets look HUGE!!!! Like massive. This looks like it’ll blow Titans of Terror out of the water(which was a maze I thought was just ok, nothing special + it replaced my all time favorite horror movie). Plus John’s gone 3/3 on Halloween as a maze and they seem to generally be one of the better mazes of the year.
(2) Universal Classic Monsters - This is John’s ultimate hyped up property. I’m really curious to see how this does. Hopefully it’ll be pretty scary and the monsters will get about equal treatment. If this lives up to or beats out House of Horrors it’s an easy Top 3 of All Time for me.
(3) Trick ‘r Treat - This also looks to be a great house. 3 facades + the La Llarona Lake in the Mummy Queue is just insane to me. That little tent can fit all of that? I’m expecting this to be more pretty than scary, but I already know the School Bus Massacre might end up being my favorite scene this year.
(4) Poltergeist - John usually does the classics pretty well, but I’m a little nervous here since Poltergeist isn’t as direct to translate as something like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, or even The Shining. It has a lot of environments, but hopefully the scaring characters won’t be repetitive.
(5) Stranger Things - I know I know this is a controversial pick. I REALLY want to be excited for this, it’s one of my favorite IP’s ever. But I’m reallyyyyyy hoping John doesn’t pull an AHS Roanoke on this. There’s plenty of characters to use and I don’t want the Demogorgan to be this years Pig Man.
(6) The First Purge - Sets should be pretty but isn’t this the property that replaced The Thing? I see little potential for this. While TrT will likely be more pretty than scary, this doesn’t have nearly as many characters.
(7) The Horrors of Meh-house - This is the wrong area, plain and simple. As I mentioned above, if you’re gonna do Blumhouse why would you not do the properties that have pull? Blumhouse has a huge library and the fact ToD and Unfriended are the chosen just annoys me. I said the same thing about HDD for last year’s and I ended up loving the movie and thought it translated well. Hopefully this won’t be another AvED since that was really bad
Edit -
@DTH Poltergeist is supposedly strictly the original. At least in Orlando
