Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines (HHN 2024)

[Wesker69]

people like that movie now

Well. Not everyone lol... BUT I liked it from day 1.

There are many things I dislike about it, but my best friend & i had the tshirt lol. Obsessed with the soundtrack. And probably saw it in theatres at least 4 times

I wish I could've experienced the attraction before it became House of Horrors. The video for it (and the previous Mummy: Chambers of Doom attraction before it) was not enough spoiler-filled content.

I doubt we'd get a Van Helsing house due to having gotten the permanent walk-through attraction, but it's possible if Universal needs to tap their own IPs for HHN. It'd be a cool way to keep the Universal Monsters house trend going.

Although I'm kinda sold on the Franken-Saskia idea. It'd certainly make a fun movie!

 

[DTH]

I love Van Helsing as a guilty pleasure as much as the next guy, but I would not count on seeing a maze (based specifically on the movie) for it........pretty much ever.

 

[Freak]

I love Van Helsing as a guilty pleasure as much as the next guy, but I would not count on seeing a maze (based specifically on the movie) for it........pretty much ever.

True that, but it would be a heck of a lot better than Eternal Bloodlines!

 

[Wesker69]

The hilarious weird thing about this whole Van Helsing thing is a post about Van Helsing deserving a sequel popped up in my FB feed a little bit ago

Even the comments were praising/loving the movie. But yet, nobody liked it 20 years ago?

*grumble now i feel the need to watch it... even if certain parts drive me bonkers*

 

[Lucky Planet]

The hilarious weird thing about this whole Van Helsing thing is a post about Van Helsing deserving a sequel popped up in my FB feed a little bit ago

Even the comments were praising/loving the movie. But yet, nobody liked it 20 years ago?

*grumble now i feel the need to watch it... even if certain parts drive me bonkers*

i told u guys lol, people love it now lol. it's always getting love when it gets brought up.

 

[Wesker69]

Only because every attempt lately with the monsters is garbage (except Renfield which was enjoyable for what it was. And i didnt fully dislike 2017's Mummy)

Eternal Bloodlines as a movie would end up like Van Helsing, except instead of the unexpected companion meeting their untimely fate (Anna Valerious) it'd be a Van Helsing (hopefully without the Lion King in the heavenly clouds appeance)

 

[Lucky Planet]

Only because every attempt lately with the monsters is garbage (except Renfield which was enjoyable for what it was. And i didnt fully dislike 2017's Mummy)

Eternal Bloodlines as a movie would end up like Van Helsing, except instead of the unexpected companion meeting their untimely fate (Anna Valerious) it'd be a Van Helsing (hopefully without the Lion King in the heavenly clouds appeance)

I feel like people love nostalgia/ recognizable things, and a lot of people have been disillusioned with the current state of Hollywood.
( like you said with every attempt of monsters lately)

this house itself wasn't as well received, partly because of the new character, but if you had the legitimate can helsing from the movie with the long hair and sci Fi weapons and crossbow and stuff,
I could see people being happy. have the recognizable Frankie from that movie, have the funny monk. have a giant dracula gargoyle puppet

 

[chris.g]

I think it’s kinda funny we got an heir to a Van Helsing in a Monsters house before Van Helsing himself.

#VeVantVanHelsing

 

[Wesker69]

this house itself wasn't as well received, partly because of the new character,

The new character wasn't the issue, it's the lack of scares due to poor set design/layout, along with obvious budget cuts.

sci Fi weapons

? None of Van Helsings weapons were sci-fi or futuristic.

have the recognizable Frankie from that movie

Agree to disagree (besides, Japan did cyber-Frankie better)

have a giant dracula gargoyle puppet

He was a bat. Not gargoyle.

 

[Lucky Planet]

The new character wasn't the issue, it's the lack of scares due to poor set design/layout, along with obvious budget cuts.


? None of Van Helsings weapons were sci-fi or futuristic.


Agree to disagree (besides, Japan did cyber-Frankie better)


He was a bat. Not gargoyle.

that sunlight bomb thing was pretty futuristic looking.

 

[Wesker69]

that sunlight bomb thing was pretty futuristic looking.

Science & chemistry. Yay explosive chemicals.

 

[Jake S]

alright folks, let's keep this at least vaguely on topic. I'm sure there's a dusty thread around the movie section where we can all discuss in great detail Stephen Sommer's Van Helsing.

 

[Wesker69]

In my defense I tried twice to circle it back...


Wish this scene had more height, a throne, & a chandelier! And more regal/torn tapestries hanging


"Here's your precious princess" - Maleficent



Here's a bonus puppy picture

 

[AlexanderMBush]

damn, we'll be nostalgic for just anything these days

I'll give House of Horrors credit that it represented the Monsters in a period of time where they wouldn't get a major attraction like what would be eventually given in Dark Universe @ EU.

Giving my two cents on the house a bit more--as I had it as #4 in my ranking; I think the thing that stood out to me in this house was the tonal direction feeling stronger than Legends Collide and Frankenstein meets The Wolfman. It felt more clear to me of what exactly was the core direction of this house--especially as it is a by and large adaptation of Silver Scream Queenz from 2020/2021.

I don't know why but I leaned more to liking this house than that of the other two I went, as after night one of my two-night run with HHN; I pretty much got full-cast runs through Eternal Bloodlines. I got to see all of the effects work as they were intended to do, got to see the triggers in effect and the story done to it's fullest. Does it scream a soundstage house? No, and I think this house wasn't meant to be in a soundstage (something I'll muse on when we get to 2025 speculation); and I unironically hope we see SS12 used again for a ground up UM house.

If only to see what could happen if Murdy and the team are given a venue from the start, to do UM at the scale that this house could've gone too.

 

[DTH]

My thing with venue changes, if something goes into a soundstage even laaaate into the process, wouldn't you then rethink some sequences to better fill the space? "Oh we can make this scene wider now." "We can open up the roof a bit more on this part so it's taller." "Let's go vertical with the path so this scene can be on a platform and have space underneath." "This scene happens abruptly, let's just add one more moment right before."

I know the layouts are tight and figured out well before hand, but that improvisation with the space can really fix a lot of issues.

I feel like the only sound stage mazes we've had that feel like they were genuinely meant to be in a soundstage are AVP and the latest Weeknd maze. Maybe one of the Stranger Things ones too. Everything else has seemed accidentally put in one.

 

[Lucky Planet]

My thing with venue changes, if something goes into a soundstage even laaaate into the process, wouldn't you then rethink some sequences to better fill the space? "Oh we can make this scene wider now." "We can open up the roof a bit more on this part so it's taller." "Let's go vertical with the path so this scene can be on a platform and have space underneath." "This scene happens abruptly, let's just add one more moment right before."

I know the layouts are tight and figured out well before hand, but that improvisation with the space can really fix a lot of issues.

I feel like the only sound stage mazes we've had that feel like they were genuinely meant to be in a soundstage are AVP and the latest Weeknd maze. Maybe one of the Stranger Things ones too. Everything else has seemed accidentally put in one.

would that even be possible? extending stuff?

 

[AlexanderMBush]

My thing with venue changes, if something goes into a soundstage even laaaate into the process, wouldn't you then rethink some sequences to better fill the space? "Oh we can make this scene wider now." "We can open up the roof a bit more on this part so it's taller." "Let's go vertical with the path so this scene can be on a platform and have space underneath." "This scene happens abruptly, let's just add one more moment right before."

When I was going through EB--the biggest thing that felt intention to me was that it felt like a tent house much more than it ever did a soundstage house. And I think in considering SS12's size and scope--they could've easily plopped what was intended to of been a tent venue to then fit inside that of SS12 without as much interferrance.

 

[Freak]

My thing with venue changes, if something goes into a soundstage even laaaate into the process, wouldn't you then rethink some sequences to better fill the space? "Oh we can make this scene wider now." "We can open up the roof a bit more on this part so it's taller." "Let's go vertical with the path so this scene can be on a platform and have space underneath." "This scene happens abruptly, let's just add one more moment right before."

I know the layouts are tight and figured out well before hand, but that improvisation with the space can really fix a lot of issues.

I feel like the only sound stage mazes we've had that feel like they were genuinely meant to be in a soundstage are AVP and the latest Weeknd maze. Maybe one of the Stranger Things ones too. Everything else has seemed accidentally put in one.

Totally agree with this. Even Frozen Empire felt like a proper sound stage house way more than Eternal Bloodlines ever did. The issue with this house is that it clearly suffered from budget cuts, hence all of the black walls. I don't think they could even afford to make it a proper sound stage house. But even then, it really bothers me that they didn't use any of that extra vertical space, like at all.

I really wish HHN Hollywood would actually design sound stages houses as if they were actually in a sound stage. Don't be afraid to use all of that extra space.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Totally agree with this. Even Frozen Empire felt like a proper sound stage house way more than Eternal Bloodlines ever did. The issue with this house is that it clearly suffered from budget cuts, hence all of the black walls. I don't think they could even afford to make it a proper sound stage house. But even then, it really bothers me that they didn't use any of that extra vertical space, like at all.

I completely agree with the take on Frozen Empire--and I kind of wish we somehow were able to swap Eternal Bloodlines and Ghostbusters; if only because I wish Ghostbusters had actual AC/snow effects to better represent the death chill.

I really wish HHN Hollywood would actually design sound stages houses as if they were actually in a sound stage. Don't be afraid to use all of that extra space.

It's why I am hoping SS12 sticks around--and if it does for HHN; for Universal Monsters to get the proper soundstage treatment for atleast one year.

Also a side-bar, I am hoping the elephant door keeps the Frankenstein sign.

 

[DTH]

would that even be possible? extending stuff?

Look at any other haunt and ask why wouldn't it be possible. Some mazes use their infrastructure on purpose (anything in Parisian) and are planned that way (or if Knotts, the Mystery Lodge where Grimoire is now). But imagine if the reverse happened. A tent maze is then relegated to Parisian. It now has to account for an outside sequence, a hallway courtyard, and a very specific ending that spits out into French street. Essentially, the middle of the maze is most affected, but everything else would probably stay the same or similar.

Now think of the opposite. The space is now bigger. Why not take off the roof or push back the walls to extend vertically? If designed as a tent maze, there are specific hallways designed for scareactors to go through to get to booholes and what not. Again, I get it. But now you have the ability to open everything up. Just take up double the space. Does that mean longer hallways and more wood? Does that mean more scareactors? Ofcourse, budget will always be an issue. But it's absolutely purposeless to utilize a soundstage and give it only a quarter (if that!) of it's space.

KSF has warehouses that you can tell they use every inch of that and those mazes feel much longer, bigger, and taller than HHN (in particular scenes). KSF mazes are a bit more confined in their pathways (maybe 15-25% thinner). But also, these warehouses are only 1/4 the size of any given soundstage. A soundstage maze should be INSANE. The facade at the least should be massive. AvP and Weeknd are the only ones to really go crazy in that aspect. Why is the Weeknd the first time they've ever put someone on a platform above the maze? And it wasn't even done well?! There's been so many soundstage mazes at this point, how has the experimentation not gone beyond that?