Halloween Horror Nights 29 General Discussion

[jrn14]

Yeah honestly as far as IPs go House of 1000 Corpses is as brutal and dark as you can get, yet I'd bet it's probably one of smallest draws as far as IPs go... so I don't think it's necessary that the IPs aren't "hard" enough when I feel like Stranger Things is probably the IP still drawing the most people.

 

[Mad Dog]

I recall a number of people complaining last year that the crowds had gotten too huge, wild, and uncomfortable the past couple HHN's, that because of those factors HHN wasn't as much fun for them anymore. Just wandering if the too many unwieldly crowds in the past,and the negative experiences created by overcrowding, have caused many to cut back the number of planned visits this year, or not even attend at all.

 

[Lucky Planet]

My 11 year old sister who is indifferent about HHN somehow has heard this year “isn’t that scary”.

So yeah, I think word is spreading.

A while back, on fb someone said "first year going to hhn but my family is worried"
The next 30 replies were "oh you have nothing to worry about! The event has been toned down so much that it wasnt scary at all!" Or people commenting on how the event is more like a party than a horror event.

Some people make it sound like if hhn became an event like mardi gras or something...

I recall a number of people complaining last year that the crowds had gotten too huge, wild, and uncomfortable the past couple HHN's, that because of those factors HHN wasn't as much fun for them anymore. Just wandering if the too many unwieldly crowds in the past,and the negative experiences created by overcrowding, have caused many to cut back the number of planned visits this year, or not even attend at all.

Thats true, both the smaller crowds of this year and people saying "it is not scary" makes me wonder what will they do for hhn 30.

 

[Brian G.]

I think people are confusing "scary" with "horror", or gore. Sure, Ghostbusters, Stranger Things, Klowns, and even Us, can drive that narrative... but Vikings has victims of Blood Eagle, Nightingales is all gore, Yeti has the gut eating and heart rip, Vanity has face rips, and yea... House of 1000 Corpses. There's plenty of blood and guts in the event.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I'm not trying to be snarky - okay, maybe a little - but really, what's harder than House of 1000 Corpses? It's not like we're gonna get a Cannibal Holocaust house.

It’s not a headliner, though. And I think that's a big part of why the "not scary" talk is so high. To add to the above post, the GP will by and large form its opinion based off the IPs featured in marketing. Thus, IF WB gives them back the keys to its big properties, the "not scary" talk would mostly die out.

 

[Lucky Planet]

House of 1000 corpses is a niche film and even though it has gore and messed up elements, it is seen as a "music video" movie by some people or seen as a texas chainsaw rip off with the obscene funny clown.
Most people regard the sequel as the better horror movie.

I think If uni can bring Hellraiser in the future, hhn will be seen as scary again.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

House of 1000 corpses is a niche film and even though it has gore and messed up elements, it is seen as a "music video" movie by some people or seen as a texas chainsaw rip off with the obscene funny clown.
Most people regard the sequel as the better horror movie.

I think If uni can bring Hellraiser in the future, hhn will be seen as scary again.

Yup. Still more of a "niche" IP than say NoES, but more name recognition than HoTC--enough to shape peoples' opinion of the event.

I'm actually enjoying this year much more than last year--likely partially for...ahem, personal reasons, as well as somewhat lower crowds, but also because of expectations. My expectations were so through the roof last year for multiple reasons: FIVE originals (coming off Scarecrow and Dead Waters) and actual separate announcement videos for each of them, the fun clues Legacy left, and bringing back two houses and an IP that was similar to another house from 18 ten years later (my favorite year, so lots of nostalgia) made it feel like it had a lot to live up to. So I ended up crushingly disappointed. But for this year, being the year before an anniversary, I basically set my expectations to blank. Combine with certain other factors, and I'm definitely having more fun.

Still, the negative talk on FB makes me want to discuss 30.

 

[SeventyOne]

I think If uni can bring Hellraiser in the future, hhn will be seen as scary again.

Eh, while HoTC is after my time, it seems pretty well-known and liked by younger Xers and Millennials. Meanwhile Hellraiser late 80s, so its target demo only aging, and I don't know that Pinhead ever entered the horror pantheon on the same level as Jason, Freddy & Leatherface. Certainly not opposed to a Hellraiser house--should have some cool visuals and real scares--but I fear it would also be sort of niche. I don't see them building an ad campaign around it.

Which is the problem we've been predicting for a couple years now--not enough truly classic horror IPs left to mine. IT obviously still huge but with the mixed reaction to Ghostbusters, are Gremlins, Beetlejuice and Big Trouble in Little China off the table? Something like Pumpkinhead or Children of the Corn could make a scary house, but that's not going to be a headliner property. After riding TWD for a half decade, it feels like they got 1 year each out of AHS and ST. I don't know that hit genre TV shows pop up that often. I think ultimately the event will turn on what IPs they can get.

 

[Lucky Planet]

My reasoning was that, even if people have not seen hellraiser, Pinhead and the Cenobytes are pretty well known horror characters in pop culture.
I mean, as far as horror characters go, everyone basically recognizes pinhead or has an idea of what hellraiser is.
I only bring it up because we had hellraiser in the 2006 director's house and the movie is very creepy, which would bring an edge to the event.

It might not be as famous as jason, but pinhead is kind of iconic as a horror character.

 

[GA-MBIT]

This is kinda starting to stray out of 29 discussion territory but I’m predicting HHN30 to go back to IPs they’ve used quite a bit the last 5 years like Halloween, Blumhouse, NoES. Besides Hellraiser and Zombieland I don’t know where else there is to go at this point.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

This is kinda starting to stray out of 29 discussion territory but I’m predicting HHN30 to go back to IPs they’ve used quite a bit the last 5 years like Halloween, Blumhouse, NoES. Besides Hellraiser and Zombieland I don’t know where else there is to go at this point.

I’m predicting ST, H5, and Frankenstein Meets Wolfman. I’d say WD as well, but who knows when the WD movies are even coming out.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I’m predicting ST, H5, and FMWM. I’d say WD as well, but who knows when the WD movies are even coming out.

Whats the last one

 

[Clive]

I've been saying Universal has backed itself into a corner on relying so heavily on IPs (and deploying too many of them at once versus metering them out) for years - literally once it became clear that the event was going to rely on Walking Dead-level phenomenons to grow year-over-year attendance exponentially. That sort of trajectory just isn't sustainable when you don't have enough red hot IP to drive that sort of interest... and now it's even harder with FOX properties out of reach.

You have to remember there are two types of horror IPs that Horror Nights deals in: the ones that have an evergreen, perennial appeal to people who *don't typically consume horror content* (let's call them Tier A, the ones most heavily featured in advertising), and those that are targeted specifically at horror consumer fans (Tier B). Ideally, you have a mix of both to appeal to every demographic... but there are only so many Tier A's to go around.

To break it down, here's how I see it:

Tier A: The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, The Exorcist, Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, Michael Myers, Chucky, The Shining, American Horror Story, Scream, IT
Tier B: House of 1000 Corpses, The Cabin in the Woods, Trick r Treat, Poltergeist (arguably), Evil Dead, Insidious, Hellraiser, Candyman, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Thing

There aren't many Tier A's left... so where does that leave the event?

 

[Lucky Planet]

I've been saying Universal has backed itself into a corner on relying so heavily on IPs (and deploying too many of them at once versus metering them out) for years - literally once it became clear that the event was going to rely on Walking Dead-level phenomenons to grow year-over-year attendance exponentially. That sort of trajectory just isn't sustainable when you don't have enough red hot IP to drive that sort of interest... and now it's even harder with FOX properties out of reach.

You have to remember there are two types of horror IPs that Horror Nights deals in: the ones that have an evergreen, perennial appeal to people who *don't typically consume horror content* (let's call them Tier A, the ones most heavily featured in advertising), and those that are targeted specifically at horror consumer fans (Tier B). Ideally, you have a mix of both to appeal to every demographic... but there are only so many Tier A's to go around.

To break it down, here's how I see it:

Tier A: The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, The Exorcist, Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, Michael Myers, Chucky, The Shining, American Horror Story, Scream, IT
Tier B: House of 1000 Corpses, The Cabin in the Woods, Trick r Treat, Poltergeist (arguably), Evil Dead, Insidious, Hellraiser, Candyman, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Thing

There aren't many Tier A's left... so where does that leave the event?

I guess oneway would be to rely more on tv shows and video games.
But who knows if that would bring crowds.
A lot of younger millenials prefer games over movies sometimes as their media, but who knows if it would do as well as Tier A movies.

Silent hill doesnt count because it was based on the movie, and resident evil was more like a funny house.

 

[comrade_bob]

I think universal owns the rights to Slap Shot - think about it, a house that has zombiefied hocket players coming to drill you into the boards, imagine the receipts from selling Hanson jerseys

 

[comrade_bob]

ok seriously, sony owns the rights to Venom - that would make a great house!

 

[Parkscope Joe]

ok seriously, sony owns the rights to Venom - that would make a great house!

they don’t own the rights to Venom, they are allowed to make the movies.

 

[Imperius]

Yeah if you want the Marvel rights to go back to Disney, make another Marvel haunted house.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I made the topic in HHN General about whatever IPs were left to use and honestly there weren’t too many. The Ring, Conjuring, IT, The Living Dead series, Shakespeare, Amityville Horror. They are pretty big names in horror but besides It none of them are gonna be huge draws for people nowadays.

 

[hhnlover]

I made the topic in HHN General about whatever IPs were left to use and honestly there weren’t too many. The Ring, Conjuring, IT, The Living Dead series, Shakespeare, Amityville Horror. They are pretty big names in horror but besides It none of them are gonna be huge draws for people nowadays.

There's also The Thing, and most movie fans know that.