Halloween Horror Nights 24: Reviews & Photos

[Milla4Prez66]

It's crazy that HHN is already over again. It seemed like yesterday I was geeking out ready for it to open. It was a pretty good year and a leap from the past two years. We got an all time classic house in Halloween along with some solid memorable ones and finally got scare zones back. I'm so pumped for next year already, especially with Jack coming back.

 

[grizzlybarely]

My rankings. Explanations may come later.

8. Dracula Untold - Reign of Blood
7. From Dusk Till Dawn
6. The Walking Dead: End of the Line
5. AVP: Alien vs. Predator
4. Roanoke - Cannibal Colony
3. Giggles & Gore Inc.
2. Dollhouse of the Damned
1. Halloween

4. The Purge - Anarchy
3. Bayou of Blood
2. Face Off - In The Flesh
1. Mask-erade: Unstitched

 

[shiekra38]

My rankings. Explanations may come later.

8. Dracula Untold - Reign of Blood
7. From Dusk Till Dawn
6. The Walking Dead: End of the Line
5. AVP: Alien vs. Predator
4. Roanoke - Cannibal Colony
3. Giggles & Gore Inc.
2. Dollhouse of the Damned
1. Halloween

4. The Purge - Anarchy
3. Bayou of Blood
2. Face Off - In The Flesh
1. Mask-erade: Unstitched

Controversial

This need explanation immediately

 

[grizzlybarely]

I'll post my explanations in a few hours, but which part is controversial? Roanoke being high?

 

[kingcooger]

I'll post my explanations in a few hours, but which part is controversial? Roanoke being high?

Roanoke high, AvP below both Roanoke and Giggles, and your whole scarezone list.

 

[Cole]

lol roanoke is my number one, blast from beginning to end with a fun setting and unique scenes. Bite me

 

[kingcooger]

lol roanoke is my number one, blast from beginning to end with a fun setting and unique scenes. Bite me

He asked why his list was controversial and I was just giving him the reasons.
I loved Roanoke too, it just seems like a lot of people are placing it low and AvP tends to be at the top or near the top of a lot of lists. Also, everyone loves The Purge scarezone, but personally it was my number two behind Maskerade.

 

[ralphoutloud]

Pretty bored so decided to toss in my final house rankings from both coasts, including my review from a couple pages back.

Houses
1. Halloween - If you've been through this house you know what it is. Impressive for a tent and simple scares. The sound cues make the house. I'll remember this house for a while, wish it was a bit longer though.

2. The Walking Dead: Orlando - Seems like they finally got the concept that zombies aren't scary unless there are a lot of them. Some rooms in this house you were getting hit from both sides simultaneously. The cast brought it all times I went through. I hope TWD doesn't return, this was a good way to send it off.

3. Alien vs. Predator: Hollywood - This is what AVP should be. Intensity and a lot of VERSUS scenes. At times the battle was inescapable surrounded by an Alien to your right and a Predator to your left at least twice. The finale with the Queen was massive and just awesome.

4. An American Werewolf in London - Not as good as Orlando's, that's for sure, but nevertheless one of Hollywood's best efforts ever. Their wolves were a lot less violent and active, but what they lacked in intensity they made up for in size. Holy sh!t these wolves were gigantic compared to the rabid pups in Orlando. Rest of the house was soundstage quality as Insidious was before it in the same location.

5. Alien vs. Predator: Orlando - Cool house, not many scares aside from a couple jumps when the Aliens would get closer than expected. Wish the predators were more in your face because they are MASSIVE. Lots of missed opportunities but the set was nice. House should've been called Alien feat. Predator.

6. Giggles & Gore - Fun house, short, cool characters though. Just a lot of fun, only wish it was longer. Nothing too memorable.

7. Dracula Untold: Hollywood - You could tell this house faced budget cuts but it was so INTENSE. Literally pitch black and empty at points which nearly ruin the house, the cast made up for it by being in your face at EVERY corner. What it lacked in sets, it made up for with by being perhaps the scariest house on both coasts for me.

8. Dracula Untold: Orlando- I felt this house was good, I enjoyed the sets and I thought the cast was on point the one time I went through the house. I realize many had poor run throughs, but I thought it had a good combo of sets and jump scares. Not as scary as Hollywood but twice as pretty.

9. From Dusk Til Dawn: Hollywood - Way better than the Orlando counterpart, you had a sense of what the story was. More themed rooms and a good amount of scares. The actors in front of the house playing the Gecko brothers were spot on as well as the Danny Trejo character.

10. Dollhouse of the Damned - Dolls don't really creep me out or anything...it was an okay house, the crib room was the best part but this house is severely overrated IMO.

11. Clowns 3D: Music By Slash - I don't think Hollywood gets how to do 3D houses. Black Sabbath last year was fun but suffered from the same thing this one did. It was TOO bright. I feel like 3D houses should be disorienting and full of strobes and unique lighting. This was just like walking through a house lit by UV lights. Points for the smells, length and Sweet Licks tho.

12. The Walking Dead: Hollywood - It was kind of sad to go through this house having gone through Orlando's first. Last year, Hollywood had an amazing Walking Dead house that made Orlando's look silly. A lot of recycled sets here, great makeup as always but it seemed to suffer from a lack of actors, something Orlando finally got this year. Orlando's Walking Dead effort made this house look like trash.

13. From Dusk Til Dawn: Orlando - The facade, and two bar scenes were the only redeeming quality of this house. It wasn't sexy, really scary or cohesive. It was okay.

14. Roanoke - This house might be one of the worst I've ever been in. Repetitive sets, repetitive actors, "meat", and the surprise at the end was really lame. Nothing memorable at all.

15. FaceOff - I lied about Roanoke, this was probably the worst house I've ever been through. The masks were fantastic but blaring EDM and sets from House of Horrors threw it completely off. No idea what was going on and I couldn't wait to get out of this house, and not because I was being scared.


Terror Tram: Invaded by the Walking Dead
7/10. It was better than last year with a lot more actors but for the most part the same. It was fun and of course a unique Halloween experience, but I'm really hoping for a new theme next year.

Scarezones
Not doing a ranking for these. Just know Orlando has forgotten what a scarezone is. Hollywood's Terminus mini-scare zone before you get to the backlot houses was better than every zone in Orlando by a mile. Dark Christmas was awesome. Mask-A-Raid was okay but had a good atmosphere, repetitive characters, similar to Orlando's Maskerade. Skullz was what it was. The lower lot is quite packed and it's hard to put a full fledged zone in such a congested area but the stilt characters were on as usual. Hollywood's Purge was way more intense and involved than Orlando's lackadaisical effort with a much smaller budget.

I didn't see Bill & Ted or RHPS. And of course Jurassic Park: In The Dark is perhaps the most fun HHN ride experience there is.

All in all, both pretty good events. Orlando had the two best houses of the year, but Hollywood's houses were more on the same level across the board (save for FaceOff). If you get a chance to do both events, it's quite the experience to compare!

 

[JungleSkip]

Houses:

1) Halloween/AvP - Neither was an all time classic, and both had issues that kept me from really loving either. AvP had the terrific effects and the feeling of never being safe, Halloween had the perfect representation of the movie...but neither were close to being scary, and AvP had the worst "ending" I've ever seen.

2) Giggles and Gore - It was either this or Dollhouse, but I thought Giggles was a tad more coherent and overall more fun.

3) Dollhouse - Great, creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately it didn't have the scares to back it up.

4) From Dusk Till Dawn - Yea, yea. Say what you will but I had a great cast each time I went through, the barker was hilarious, etc.

5) Walking Dead - Great sets but a long, boring slog with 0 scare factor.

6) Roanoke - Great concept, laughable execution. MEAT.

Didn't go through Dracula.

Streets:

1) Mask - interesting visuals, fun music, and the babes.

2) All the rest. Zones may have been "back", but they were still as dull as dishwater.

Overall, this year was fine, but honestly the least amount of scares since I started going in 2011. There's still no one who brings the details like Universal, but the scares desperately need to improve for the 25th

 

[Octobers Fade]

My rankings. Explanations may come later.

8. Dracula Untold - Reign of Blood
7. From Dusk Till Dawn
6. The Walking Dead: End of the Line
5. AVP: Alien vs. Predator
4. Roanoke - Cannibal Colony
3. Giggles & Gore Inc.
2. Dollhouse of the Damned
1. Halloween

4. The Purge - Anarchy
3. Bayou of Blood
2. Face Off - In The Flesh
1. Mask-erade: Unstitched

I would have put Bayou at #1 but other than that I can't argue with your rankings. :thumbs:

- - - Updated - - -

Houses:

1) Halloween/AvP - Neither was an all time classic, and both had issues that kept me from really loving either. AvP had the terrific effects and the feeling of never being safe, Halloween had the perfect representation of the movie...but neither were close to being scary, and AvP had the worst "ending" I've ever seen.

2) Giggles and Gore - It was either this or Dollhouse, but I thought Giggles was a tad more coherent and overall more fun.

3) Dollhouse - Great, creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately it didn't have the scares to back it up.

4) From Dusk Till Dawn - Yea, yea. Say what you will but I had a great cast each time I went through, the barker was hilarious, etc.

5) Walking Dead - Great sets but a long, boring slog with 0 scare factor.

6) Roanoke - Great concept, laughable execution. MEAT.

Didn't go through Dracula.

Streets:

1) Mask - interesting visuals, fun music, and the babes.

2) All the rest. Zones may have been "back", but they were still as dull as dishwater.

Overall, this year was fine, but honestly the least amount of scares since I started going in 2011. There's still no one who brings the details like Universal, but the scares desperately need to improve for the 25th

Wouldn't disagree with this either.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Houses:

1) Halloween/AvP - Neither was an all time classic, and both had issues that kept me from really loving either. AvP had the terrific effects and the feeling of never being safe, Halloween had the perfect representation of the movie...but neither were close to being scary, and AvP had the worst "ending" I've ever seen.

2) Giggles and Gore - It was either this or Dollhouse, but I thought Giggles was a tad more coherent and overall more fun.

3) Dollhouse - Great, creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately it didn't have the scares to back it up.

4) From Dusk Till Dawn - Yea, yea. Say what you will but I had a great cast each time I went through, the barker was hilarious, etc.

5) Walking Dead - Great sets but a long, boring slog with 0 scare factor.

6) Roanoke - Great concept, laughable execution. MEAT.

Didn't go through Dracula.

Streets:

1) Mask - interesting visuals, fun music, and the babes.

2) All the rest. Zones may have been "back", but they were still as dull as dishwater.

Overall, this year was fine, but honestly the least amount of scares since I started going in 2011. There's still no one who brings the details like Universal, but the scares desperately need to improve for the 25th

Just curious, what would you consider an all-time classic HHN house if not Halloween? I know that 2011 had some stellar houses but the other 2 years you've been honestly sucked lol. Aside from American Werewolf, I think Halloween may be my favorite house of the years you've been going.

 

[JungleSkip]

Just curious, what would you consider an all-time classic HHN house if not Halloween? I know that 2011 had some stellar houses but the other 2 years you've been honestly sucked lol. Aside from American Werewolf, I think Halloween may be my favorite house of the years you've been going.

Houses I've seen I'd rank above Halloween: Winter's Night, In-Between, Poe, Gothic, Dead End, Nightingales, Bloodngutz, American Werewolf in London, Cabin in the Woods.

Halloween was a terrific representation of the movie. It wasn't scary in the slightest. As for the two years before this sucking, I far preferred last year to this year.

 

[MrRoamer]

It doesn't sound like you are going on scare factor. Out of curiosity since scares was all you mentioned what else are you basing off of. Those were some pretty good houses only ones I think don't fit in that list are in between, dead end, and nightingale.

Right now with it being so fresh in my mind it's hard to say but halloween is up in my top 10 list.

 

[JungleSkip]

It doesn't sound like you are going on scare factor. Out of curiosity since scares was all you mentioned what else are you basing off of. Those were some pretty good houses only ones I think don't fit in that list are in between, dead end, and nightingale.

Right now with it being so fresh in my mind it's hard to say but halloween is up in my top 10 list.

I'm not just going off scare factor. I'm going off the complete package. Nothing this year had the complete package, IMO

 

[Drew]

Some thoughts now that the event is over.

1. Halloween - Perfect. Total American Werewolf treatment where it was as if I was walking through the film scene for scene. Close quarters, tight turns, Michael everywhere. Loved it. The sound effects were wonderful. That closet room always mad me uncomfortable.

2. The Walking Dead - Really enjoyed it opening weekend. The house absolutely improved. The cast the final week was absolutely ON POINT. So many actors. It was absolutely the best Walking Dead effort we've seen. Hopefully it's the last, but I doubt it.

3. Alien vs. Predator - My most anticipated house ever. It didn't live up to my sky-high expectations but it was still a very good time. Definitely more of a "cool" house than scary and that's perfectly fine. The puppets looked amazing and the Predators were awesome. Just wish there were more.

4. Dollhouse of the Damned - Fun. Some cool sights. A few cool nods. Not really much to add. I totally enjoyed it, never had a bad run.

5. Giggles & Gore Inc. - This house and Dollhouse were neck & neck for me. Both had some good scares, some cool visuals and never had a bad run through either. The whole build up to the end of Giggles was a little strange.. but other than that, fun stuff.

6. Dracula Untold - I enjoyed it even if I had no idea what was happening. Cool facade, cool sets, the actors really tried to do what they could. I loved the scene where Dracula attacks and the solider with all the arrows in him. Seems like I hit this house during a cast change more often than not.

7. FDTD - Amazing facade and cool finale. Other than that? WELP.

8. Roanoke - No. Just. No.

 

[Cole]

Don't get the Roanoke hate whatsoever, either you guys never got a good run or I'm delusional. Either or at this point lol. Also cooger maskerade was my favorite scare zone too!!! You guys can just call me "the horror nights hipster", I love what most hate and I'm proud of it lol

 

[s8film40]

Here is my ranking. I made my list based on what was most important for me to do one last time on the last night, seems to be a good way for me to focus which ones overall I enjoyed the most.

1. From Dusk Till Dawn
2. Aliens vs. Predator
3. Dollhouse of the Damned
4. Halloween
5. The Walking Dead
6. Giggles & Gore
7. Dracula Untold
8. Roanoke

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Don't get the Roanoke hate whatsoever, either you guys never got a good run or I'm delusional. Either or at this point lol. Also cooger maskerade was my favorite scare zone too!!! You guys can just call me "the horror nights hipster", I love what most hate and I'm proud of it lol

Outside of MEAT and the sets, Roanoke wasn't anything special. It wasn't really scary either, and I got hit by the majority of the scares.