9/11/21 Trip Review
6 PM - 2 AM
As always, this is a very detailed review. By its nature, spoilers are abound. This is for people who have already gone and want a refresher, for people who will never be able to go and want perspective outside of just watching walkthroughs, and for people who don't mind spoilers and want to just get more excited.
PROLOGUE
Wow, it’s been 2 years since leaving Horror Nights and it felt good to be back. At the end of the season, I always say goodbye to the event, but who would’ve thought it would’ve been this long of a “see you again soon.” I mourned HHN in 2020 pretty heavily, as it’s easily my most favorite time of the year, so finally returning felt great. The only downside was the lackluster announcements of mazes returning that sounded like a “mediocre best of” years previously passed. Did the mazes feel like that too? Or did they kick everything into full throttle to make this a return we’ll never forget? Let’s find out…
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EARLY ENTRY
We lined up around 4:50PM and got a pretty good close spot. If you can get there a bit earlier, I’d definitely recommend it so you can be just that much closer as it does make a big difference. Gates open at 5:30 and we ofcourse headed down. However, I noticed something that makes an even bigger difference — if you have an AP, an all day ticket, or 2PM entry, you can get much further ahead in those lines. While I don’t think it’s necessary, it will make you finish the event maybe 2 hours ahead of everyone else in regular early entry because they can get up top to Haunting of Hill House before 7, while rest of the regular early entry people are just about finishing either TCM or Exorcist at this point. Anyway, moving forward… I sure missed the Starway and heading down those escalators.
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THE EXORCIST
Advertised Wait: 30 minutes
Time in Line: 5:48pm
In the Maze: 6:48pm
Actual Wait: 60 minutes
The line was already long with people who were already in the parks earlier, so again, if you can swing that price of ticket, I’d recommend doing it as it backed up our line an extra 30 minutes. The vibe in the outside line is very standard, so no music to the set the mood or anything here (MAYBE the theme music was playing, I can't remember, so if it was, it was kinda low), which is kinda disappointing. It’s not until you’re in the soundstage, you’re hit with a barrage of the loudest soundtrack blaring through the speakers that you will barely be able to talk to your neighbor. I mean, it’s a cool soundtrack, but it doesn’t really set that eerie of a tone, so I’m not fond of it.
As we entered the maze, it was very clear that this was going to be the same exact thing. And as a few other reviewers noted before, just somehow it felt like a lesser version. The maze seemed less “busy” with effects. I also felt like the cast just wasn’t as into it. I’d also say the layout isn’t as claustrophobic — like they just had a little extra space this time and it kinda ruined what made it so good in 2016. Even if I was told it was the same exact specs, I wouldn’t believe it. But like what other reviewers said, this does not utilize the sound stage space well.
I did get some good startles to begin my night though. My first run through, the ending was lackluster, with not a single person there. I came back at closing at 2AM and had a slightly better run through with people filled in those space, and also major shout out to the chair in the first room that scared the hell out of me by moving towards me which I did not see the first time or expect. I think it was a nice re-introduction to HHN and I’d prefer doing this first to get over with instead of hitting TCM with massive light bleed from the sun. I will say, I don’t think I saw the new “desert” ending that was mentioned before. It was the same statue scare, no? And then just a bunch of dark hallways after? With that said, it’s a fun maze, but it’s seen much better days. I think if the cast can really bring it over the course of the season, it could move up higher in ranking, but for now, it’s like a —
‘C’-
(Same old maze, so I won’t break it down point by point.)
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THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
Advertised Wait: 60 minutes
Time in Line: 6:54pm
In the Maze: 7:45pm
Actual Wait: 51 minutes
This is another one I don’t feel like breaking down with points, because it feels very similar to things we’ve seen in the past. People saying this is on par with the 2012 version are sorely mistaken, I’m not sure what maze they saw of that version, but I’d say it was much better. Is this one of the better mazes of the night in the context of this year’s event? Sure, but I’d still even pick Blood Brothers or the 1/3 segment in Titans of Terror over this.
It was fun, I can say that much, and I also dug the Hitchhiker out front. I got a pretty good jolt from someone slamming on the glass window right next to me somewhere in the beginning of the maze. I thought this was all a lesser version of things we saw before, with some rooms having an odd way of taking you through the scenes. Like the dinner table scene just didn’t feel as claustrophobic as it could’ve been. The Franklin death seemed oddly placed and may have made sense on paper, but seeing it in person makes me feel like it needed to be thought out again so that Leatherface can ultimately be a bit closer to you.
The night felt like it was picking up as the cast seemed more into their roles (as oppose to The Exorcist), so that was a good sign at least. But it still wasn’t on par of some of the “just okay” mazes of HHN past. Was this going to be a trend throughout the night? This one was fun, but knowing how terrifying TCM can be, especially when compared to the 07/08 iteration in the same venue all those years ago, this was just “fine.” For the context of this year’s event though, I’ll give it a —
‘C’
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HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE
Advertised Wait: 75 minutes
Time in Line: 8:08pm
In the Maze: 9:25pm
Actual Wait: 77 minutes
I really enjoyed the walk through Harry Potter Land and down this road to get to this place, especially that really big projection on one of the walls. Some music over here would’ve helped spruce up the vibe, since Hogwarts has the projection and music, but after that it becomes kinda stale of a view. Also, the walkway is pretty narrow compared to the old walk through Toxxxic Tunnel, so be prepared to feel like the wait starts over in this area. Once arriving to the Curious George lot, there was a massive sea of people hitting both mazes, so I knew already we were going to skip Pandora (for now). Got in line for Haunting while enjoying a Butterbeer. This makes me want to bring up the line layouts for the mazes this year — who the heck designed them? They seem so oddly configured.
Anyway, the facade isn’t as laughable as I thought it’d be, with the lights hitting and music playing. It just feels massively cheap, like something a carnival or something would do. Entering the maze, things started off slow. I don’t think there were any scare attempts for the first 1/3. After that, business picked up. Scares were pretty decent and set design was gorgeous. I also dug the makeup design and effects, like disappearing hallways as you’re standing in them. Best part hands down is a dinner table sequence where the walls disappear and there’s suddenly a dozen people surrounding you. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the Neck Bent Lady — I don’t know, she looked okay to me. It was dark, so I didn’t really see how they accomplished it, and just enjoyed it for what it was. I haven’t finished the show, only about 4 episodes in, so I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but this still felt like a nice step up of the usual “haunted house” genre of mazes. Is it as good or intense as the Insidious mazes? Not by a long shot, but the spookiness of it worked on me and this became the first maze of the night I genuinely enjoyed.
FACADE — 2. They at least gave it some light, but a real facade would’ve been way more foreboding.
SET DESIGN - 9. Gorgeous once you’re inside.
SOUND DESIGN - 9. The sound is where the storytelling really could’ve come alive, but at least it provided a nice spooky soundtrack that set the scene.
SCAREACTOR DESIGN - 9. I thought everyone looked great! But that’s just me. Wish they would’ve went with a scareactor in the basement scene though, but I still liked the scare, so it evened out.
CAST PERFORMANCE - 8. They were fairly into their roles, just not aggressive. I can see them picking up hardcore over the season.
ATMOSPHERE/TONE/IMMERSION - 10. Nice spooky vibes and it started to feel like Halloween.
LENGTH - 10. This was a great length for a maze! It kept going and going.
SCARES - 8. First third, nothing. Second third, great and some of the best scares of the night. Final third, we missed whatever was supposed to be happening within the finale black walls, but oh well.
STORY - 8. Even with knowing the foundations of the show, I still couldn’t really follow what was going on 100%. I’ll eventually finish, but yeah, “generic haunted house” it was what it seemed like for me just with a twist of something very specific. It’s an interesting specific, so at least there’s that.
PERSONAL BIAS POINTS - 10. I was feeling a bit “meh” on the mazes so far, and things finally picked up, so I’ll give it that it gave me a boost of hope this point in the night.
83 out of 100. ‘B’-