Universal Monsters: Unmasked (HHN 32)

[Chumpieboy]

This house was just OK. The UM houses always suffered from their plots not being as clear to the audience as the designers think they are. This seemed like separate book reports about the Phantom/Invisible Man instead of the integrated mashups the previous houses were.

 

[deadbydawn]

Just jumping over from the Hollywood thread to say I finally watched a walkthrough of this one and it is truly unreal what they were able to accomplish VS what we received. What a beautiful house!

 

[Chumpieboy]

We're at a point where he's on the run and he's lost Christine. Why wouldn't he give everyone the same treatment that befell him? All the monsters in this maze are tragic monsters but Phantom is the only one who's an outright killer.

Is this backstory and explanation ever given in the house itself? Would someone in the GP know this without reading BTS materials or moderating a HHN forum?

This explanation seems like it's borrowed from Patton Oswalt's "I want to hit George Lucas in the face with a shovel" bit.
- Cool! A phantom house! I wonder how they will do this scene from the book?
- Actually it takes place after the events from the book and he's really sad.

I haven't been through the house yet, nor seen any footage, BUT I will say that not every house needs a complicated story. Some of the best houses are simple, and the plot doesn't need to be overly complex. "Monsters unmasked in Paris," got it.

TBF the other houses in the Universal Monsters did attempt a complicated story and were "VS" houses. It's not unreasonable to expect the same from the 4th entry in the series...

 

[Jake S]

Is this backstory and explanation ever given in the house itself?

Isn't that the implication given by the projected shadow scene where Christine takes off his mask and passes out?

I also think it just ... doesn't matter that much. If they tell a convincing story inside any of these houses, it's a bonus. Otherwise: You're in Paris, the Monsters are here. Try not to die.

 

[Chumpieboy]

Isn't that the implication given by the projected shadow scene where Christine takes off his mask and passes out?

I also think it just ... doesn't matter that much. If they tell a convincing story inside any of these houses, it's a bonus. Otherwise: You're in Paris, the Monsters are here. Try not to die.

I get that and that's what I ultimately took from the house.

But there are people on this forum criticizing other folks who didn't get the premise of the house because they didn't read a boatload of background materials.

 

[Brian G.]

I get that and that's what I ultimately took from the house.

But there are people on this forum criticizing other folks who didn't get the premise of the house because they didn't read a boatload of background materials.

View attachment 19793

I mean - it's not rocket science. The premise of the house explains it all. You don't need any backstory.

 

[Kichkinet85]

Is this backstory and explanation ever given in the house itself? Would someone in the GP know this without reading BTS materials or moderating a HHN forum?

This explanation seems like it's borrowed from Patton Oswalt's "I want to hit George Lucas in the face with a shovel" bit.
- Cool! A phantom house! I wonder how they will do this scene from the book?
- Actually it takes place after the events from the book and he's really sad.

I don’t think the “GP” look for backstories as much as u think or we look for them. Most people go in the house looking to be scared and that’s it. While it’s nice to have a house with a backstory it’s not important. At least that’s how I see it.

Don’t get me wrong I love houses with backstories. Like GG from 29. It had a long back story and I loved it. But I don’t think most people look for that and just want scares.

 

[Lucky Planet]

So while this house has grown on me the last few weeks, I think there's a few notable omissions with no actual chandelier scene nor an actual belltower, I can understand they might not want to replicate scenes from '19 but I think these are odd to make when they're pretty central to the characters. Another notable omission is no catacombs, we go into the sewer but that easily could have transitioned into catacomb scenes.

Absolutely love the design of the main phantom room with plenty of references to the original movie, but the weird black hallway and extra "box" scenes left the pacing in phantom's section a bit off. Invisible man feels kinda shoehorned in, and the J&H scenes are about what I'd expect. The neon green potion is a nice touch I really enjoyed. Quasi could have had more interesting scenery but the facade is gorgeous.

In terms of a cohesive story and making some adjustments, my group (@PenguinCowboy ) thought about it this way. You would have Hyde loose on the streets of Paris escaping London because of his crimes. You pretty much bring the Hyde streets section forward where you eventually take refuge into the sewer / catacombs. You go from the sewer into a short catacomb section, perhaps invisible man makes an appearance in here (but it would make more sense without him). From the catacomb section you stumble on the phantoms lair, with a boat in front of it. Phantom section largely remains, with a slightly expanded lair to include an organ and a Christine. You travel up into the opera house, with a crashed chandelier coming through the stage floor as you ascend. You cut the black hallway and one box scene. Go through the 2 boxes and into the theater's rigging, where you emerge onto the roof of the theater and narrowly escape phantom in his "red death" outfit, jumping to the next building rooftop. You traverse a rooftop (think Gothic) and escape another Hyde attack, where you emerge onto the belltower. You take shelter into Notre Dame with Quasi grieving for Esmerelda. Work your way down the belltower to the sanctuary and the church proper where the final attack commences from all 3. We thought this might read more similar to BoFL or LC, giving more of a story line while keeping large elements of the house.

So you mean have the house backwards? ( second half be phantom.

I do see that the second half has much more detail and more sets and more variety. Second half is very very varied.
The first half with phantom is mostly the red curtains and gets a little repetitive.
I'm also shocked at no catacombs. That was literally what everyone thought was coming

 

[Returning-The-Reaction]

Kudos to the closing cast Thursday night. Absolutely killin' it past closing time. Great energy.

 

[PenguinCowboy]

So you mean have the house backwards? ( second half be phantom.

I do see that the second half has much more detail and more sets and more variety. Second half is very very varied.
The first half with phantom is mostly the red curtains and gets a little repetitive.
I'm also shocked at no catacombs. That was literally what everyone thought was coming

I think we were thinking more in line with starting on the streets (Jekyll/Hyde), get pushed underground (catacombs/sewers and if you MUST, Invisible Man), connect to the opera house/lake, flee upward (all Phantom, but with some slight variation in setting within the opera), jump rooftops to the cathedral (Gothic recreation), descend from the Bell Tower (all Quasi), and end up back at street level in the cathedral for a final assault by everyone.

Not necessarily more story, but improved transitions is all. I think it is very possible to have a thoughtful and linear flow through a house without spoon-feeding story beats too

 

[salismetho]

I don’t think the “GP” look for backstories as much as u think or we look for them. Most people go in the house looking to be scared and that’s it. While it’s nice to have a house with a backstory it’s not important. At least that’s how I see it.

Don’t get me wrong I love houses with backstories. Like GG from 29. It had a long back story and I loved it. But I don’t think most people look for that and just want scares.

Ehhh i know a bunch of people who didn't like the Hollywood Legends Collide because it was just confusing/disjointed. Not saying that applies here tho

 

[Grabnar]

I heard from the Facebook group last night that someone had a diarrhea explosion in the house. Don’t know if there was any truth to this?

Our RIP guide told us it happened at the

Spoiler

Hunchback fall scare

 

[HHN Maddux]

Possible hint for Creature house next year?

 

[Grabnar]

Possible hint for Creature house next year?

The other side of this is a reference to Dracula and the bike poster is a reference to the Invisible Man (didn’t get a pic of that one)

 

[Legacy]

They also have posters that basically say, “This doesn’t mean anything.”

 

[jseal777]

I heard from the Facebook group last night that someone had a diarrhea explosion in the house. Don’t know if there was any truth to this?

Why does it seem like people are having such a hard time keeping their bodily functions under control this year? Damn!

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Why does it seem like people are having such a hard time keeping their bodily functions under control this year? Damn!

Been going around.

 

[Grabnar]

They also have posters that basically say, “This doesn’t mean anything.”

My favorite is the opera poster in the first or second phantom hall that just says "You're going to die, don't be afraid"

 

[Robert Bliss]

They also have posters that basically say, “This doesn’t mean anything.”

 

[HHN Maddux]

One change I would make:

For the Invisible Man scene, give it the Dead Exposure effect, pitch black with only the occasional flash revealing Invisible Man everywhere.