HHN 24: Alien vs. Predator

[Jakemeister]

I still think all of you guys are crazy for thinking Dracula: Untold is going to happen. I might end up eating crow, but I don't think it will happen.

 

[shiekra38]

Well think about it, Silent hill, walking dead (new at the time), Alice cooper and P&T are all great properties. This year we are getting the walking dead for the third time, a show that only airs on the El ray network, AVP (barely horror), Halloween and Dracula untold (kinda horror). Atleast 22 tried something new (to orlando that is) with their IPs. We got our first video game house, first house based on a TV series, first music house and first IP and show based comedy house. There aren't a lot of things I would call new to the event this year. And while all those houses ended up being lame they atleast tried a ton of new things with great properties and you'd be lying if you said you weren't incredibly excited when those names weren't dropped. Unlike this year where pretty much everybody is kinda underwhelmed by most of the announcements. That's my 2 cents

Halloween is not horror? wut?

Silent Hill = Fantastic property; Underwhelming house
Walking Dead = Great property; Underwhelming house
Alice Cooper = Irrelevant property; Underwhelming house
Penn and Teller = Random property; Ok house

The "names" may have been better in 2012...but the quality sure wasn't..If anything I would say the properties last year were better than this year..2012 was absolutely awful from execution to website to planning..

The IPs this year, while random, have a lot of potential (besides Dracula..i'll give you that)

 

[Cole]

I'm specifically talking about names here, the houses aren't out yet so I can't judge them. Also said untold was kinda horror not halloween, just got mixed up with the way I typed it lol. Also yeah I'd count the mega house as new this year but walking dead isn't. I definitely think Halloween and AVP are fantastic properties but they don't do anything we haven't really seen before. We've seen battle houses, puppets, houses that take place in a normal house ect. Just another walk through the movies scenario witch isn't bad by any means it's just kinda been there done that. I honestly think we are gonna get more innovation this year in the original houses

 

[rhino4evr]

I also liked 2012, and also liked the "no where to hide" theme. We literally had scare actors coming into the bathroom to scare us. Which I thought may have been risky on a privacy standpoint, but it was a lot of fun. I do think the "IP" houses were probably the weakest of the group, but they werent terrible. Silent Hill needed more Pyramid Head though.

 

[SeventyOne]

Halloween is not horror? wut?

Silent Hill = Fantastic property; Underwhelming house
Walking Dead = Great property; Underwhelming house
Alice Cooper = Irrelevant property; Underwhelming house
Penn and Teller = Random property; Ok house

The "names" may have been better in 2012...but the quality sure wasn't..If anything I would say the properties last year were better than this year..2012 was absolutely awful from execution to website to planning..

The IPs this year, while random, have a lot of potential (besides Dracula..i'll give you that)

To P&T's credit, they started out a lot gorier in the 80s; e.g. Teller taking a knife through the hand to reveal a card. Their dark humor should have made an awesome comedy house--as a huge P&T mark for decades, that was my biggest disappointment ever at HHN. Similarly, I'm apparently a bit of an Alice Cooper apologist, and even I thought the house could have been. (Tho for the record, that man defined horror in the 1970s.) Meanwhile, still never saw that Mary Shaw movie, but remember the house vividly. Said it a hundred times, but execution is more important than IP.

 

[Shucker]

At first I was thinking last year IPs are substantially better than this year. But after I compared the lineups I am not certain:

2013 and 2014 (my IP rankings)
AWIL < Halloween
CitW < AvP
ED = WD
WD > DtD
RE < Dracula: Untold?


I think this years WD house will be the best (of the WDs). Lots of good content from this years show and a huge sound stage.

 

[Brian G.]

Why are we comparing IP's that haven't been experienced to past years?

The IP's ultimately are irrelevant if the house is executed greatly.

 

[anihilnation]

True, the predators are actually not scary and they do not hunt unarmed people, they only hunt their prey and kill whatever is in their way.
As for Walking Dead not being scary, the scarefactor of zombies in general is only so-so, scariest thing in the last season of Walking Dead was the tunnel and then the run through the warehouse at the end, first involved zombies, second humans.

People often confuse horror with gore, now don't get me wrong, I like gore as well and seen some awesome gore-fest movies, but true horror is not about that, this is why some of the best horror films have
no gore, just look at all the old flicks with Vincent Price.

Anyway, here is a good quote from Lovecraft: “It is not because of anything that can be seen or heard or handled, but because of something that is imagined.”

 

[Cole]

Why are we comparing IP's that haven't been experienced to past years?

The IP's ultimately are irrelevant if the house is executed greatly.

I don't know if I fully agree with that, people could always use the example of dead silence but then again that house could've been called an original house and most would't have been able to tell the difference (the movie was that forgettable). IPs matter a ton to me personally because that's what I'm going through, if it's based off a lame movie then I'm going through a lame movie. It could be absolutely terrifying but if I'm not interested in the atmosphere and characters (like dracula untold and WD) it would probably just come off as ok. To me AVP isn't scary but impressive and that's what I'm betting the house will be like

 

[Brian G.]

I don't know if I fully agree with that, people could always use the example of dead silence but then again that house could've been called an original house and most would't have been able to tell the difference (the movie was that forgettable). IPs matter a ton to me personally because that's what I'm going through, if it's based off a lame movie then I'm going through a lame movie. It could be absolutely terrifying but if I'm not interested in the atmosphere and characters (like dracula untold and WD) it would probably just come off as ok. To me AVP isn't scary but impressive and that's what I'm betting the house will be like

But it wasn't an original house. It was an IP. Everyone was looking forward to the Big 3 that year of Jason, Freddy, and Leatherface and Dead Silence caught them completely off guard because it was such a great house, and it's based on a mediocre movie.

The Walking Dead in the grand scheme of things, is a great property to use and the house was very weak in 2012 and slightly better in 2013. The Thing is more sci-fi suspense then horror but that's a top 5 house for most people.

 

[MrRoamer]

I don't know if I fully agree with that, people could always use the example of dead silence but then again that house could've been called an original house and most would't have been able to tell the difference (the movie was that forgettable). IPs matter a ton to me personally because that's what I'm going through, if it's based off a lame movie then I'm going through a lame movie. It could be absolutely terrifying but if I'm not interested in the atmosphere and characters (like dracula untold and WD) it would probably just come off as ok. To me AVP isn't scary but impressive and that's what I'm betting the house will be like

I think horror is a very open type of genre and just because one person doesn't like one thing doesn't mean someone else won't. Like anihilnation insinuated, a lot of people confuse the sub-genres. I almost always prefer non-gorefest type movies because a lot of them are there for shock and that's it. Just because you didn't like Dead Silence doesn't mean that the house could have been called an original house because no one knew the movie, I for one liked the movie quite a bit. Horror is more about the way it makes you feel rather than what it is about, and judging houses only on the IP is IMHO jumping the gun a little bit.

Take the announcements as they are and rewatch the movies to get an idea of what all they can do. Once we are able to take our first step into the houses, we'll begin to have an idea of what we are in store for and how the house will perform. Then after our 10th time going through that house we can debate where it should rank and how this year stacks up to previous years.

 

[Cole]

I might be jumping on the gun to quick but hey that's what first impressions are for. I guess lame IPs aren't so bad in the grand scheme of things but you all have to admit the house is a lot more enjoyable to go through when your a fan of the movie to begin with

 

[Brian G.]

I might be jumping on the gun to quick but hey that's what first impressions are for. I guess lame IPs aren't so bad in the grand scheme of things but you all have to admit the house is a lot more enjoyable to go through when your a fan of the movie to begin with

But can also lead to a bigger letdown.

 

[kingcooger]

I might be jumping on the gun to quick but hey that's what first impressions are for. I guess lame IPs aren't so bad in the grand scheme of things but you all have to admit the house is a lot more enjoyable to go through when your a fan of the movie to begin with

That's true, but let me put it to you this way:

My wife and I often buy different types of flavored chocolates or teas. We have created a game in which one gives the chocolate or tea to the other without telling them the intended flavor. If you cannot figure out the flavor, without knowing beforehand what it is supposed to be imitating, then the flavoring is not very good.

If you can walk through a haunted house without any knowledge of the property and still have an idea of what is going on and get scared, that is a good haunted house. Everything else is just bonus at that point.

 

[Cole]

But can also lead to a bigger letdown.

it definitely could, I feel like i'm the odd one out by most of you because I go to horror nights for the atmosphere and costumes instead of the scares. Probably why I liked afterlife while most of you hated it. Different spokes for different folks I guess

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That's true, but let me put it to you this way:

My wife and I often buy different types of flavored chocolates or teas. We have created a game in which one gives the chocolate or tea to the other without telling them the intended flavor. If you cannot figure out the flavor, without knowing beforehand what it is supposed to be imitating, then the flavoring is not very good.

If you can walk through a haunted house without any knowledge of the property and still have an idea of what is going on and get scared, that is a good haunted house. Everything else is just bonus at that point.

Thats a great analogy. I do want to say thanks to all of you for giving me a different perspective because it is very insightful

 

[kingcooger]

it definitely could, I feel like i'm the odd one out by most of you because I go to horror nights for the atmosphere and costumes instead of the scares. Probably why I liked afterlife while most of you hated it. Different spokes for different folks I guess

- - - Updated - - -



Thats a great analogy. I do want to say thanks to all of you for giving me a different perspective because it is very insightful

No problem.

Also, I enjoyed Afterlife too...

 

[Brian G.]

it definitely could, I feel like i'm the odd one out by most of you because I go to horror nights for the atmosphere and costumes instead of the scares. Probably why I liked afterlife while most of you hated it. Different spokes for different folks I guess

Not me. I don't get scared. I look for the atmosphere, themeing, fun, sounds, intensity, costuming.. all that jazz.


And I hated Afterlife..

 

[MrRoamer]

Not me. I don't get scared. I look for the atmosphere, themeing, fun, sounds, intensity, costuming.. all that jazz.


And I hated Afterlife..

Same here, I don't get scared very often. Mostly go to HHN for the same reasons BriMan listed and also adding watching people get scared.

Afterlife was a really good house... until you passed the electric chair room. After that, the house kind of just became a confused hodgepodge of 3d effects and didn't feel very cohesive. The person with the hole in their chest was pretty cool though.

 

[Jakemeister]

I'm going to break this down for a lot of you guys.

Sleeper hits are a very big thing. Almost every year has a sleeper hit and houses that people expected to be terrible can end up being decent or great.

If you want proof go into the archives. Dead Exposure, Dracula/Frankenstein, Hades/Cats N Combs, Bloodengutz, Penn and Teller.

My point of all of this is, seriously, don't preemptively jump the gun. If you don't want to go, than don't. If you want to go, and complain, than do. If you want to hate Horror Nights, whatever. All I'm saying is, I would wait to say something is going to be terrible until you go through.

 

[Cole]

I'm going to break this down for a lot of you guys.

Sleeper hits are a very big thing. Almost every year has a sleeper hit and houses that people expected to be terrible can end up being decent or great.

If you want proof go into the archives. Dead Exposure, Dracula/Frankenstein, Hades/Cats N Combs, Bloodengutz, Penn and Teller.

My point of all of this is, seriously, don't preemptively jump the gun. If you don't want to go, than don't. If you want to go, and complain, than do. If you want to hate Horror Nights, whatever. All I'm saying is, I would wait to say something is going to be terrible until you go through.

Well I think there is a giant difference then saying something will be terrible by the second you hear it and negative first impressions. I'm not saying anything is terrible, I'm just saying it hasn't peaked my interest witch it probably will when I go through