It is hard to believe that another year of Halloween Horror
Nights is here again! I wait ten and a half months for this ad every year
during opening weekend its like a special reunion with a close friend you
haven’t seen in forever. The first time through every house you are on an
adrenaline high and just so ecstatic to be going through HHN house again, which
is why I reserve judgment and reviewing the event until four or five nights
have passed and I have been through every house multiple times. It really isn’t
possible to properly review the event until you have been through every house
at least 2-3 times because its impossible to see everything a house has to offer
in one walkthrough. Now that I have had that opportunity, here is my review of
each house, ranked 1-8.
1.
Halloween: The moment I heard this iconic horror
movie would be turned into a house, I was ecstatic. I knew it would be a
fantastic house, and it did not disappoint at all. This house literally scene
by scene takes you through the entire movie, with the iconic creepy music from
the movie playing in the background the whole way. This house is perfect and
every time Michael Myers jumped out at me I jumped a little, that mask is
terrifying. 5 Stars
In the closet scene, Freddy Kruegers sweater makes an appearance.
2. Dollhouse of the Damned: This is absolutely,
without a doubt, the most creepy, unnerving, unsettling house I have ever been
through at HHN. The premise is a little confusing, but basically it’s a
dollhouse where some of the dolls went bad and tortured the other dolls and now
it’s like a run-down abandoned toy factory. There really is no other word to
describe this house than plain old creepy, which is perfect for a haunted
house. 5 Stars
3.Giggles and Gore: One of the real surprises of
the year. I was not anticipating loving this house for two reasons. First, it’s
the disaster queue house, which is traditionally one of the weaker house. The
disaster queue house, has never cracked my top three (until now.) second, it’s
a clown house, and clown houses are one of the most cliché types of haunted
house imaginable. However, leave it up to the geniuses at HHN to come up with a
completely fresh and new take on clown houses. The story of this house is that
basically people are forced to become clowns against their will, and this house
takes you through the factory as you see the clowns being made. There are so
many great visual effects in this house, and just like Dollhouse, this one is
very creepy as well. 5 Stars
One great visual gag, is the clown in the making with his eyes forced open forced to watch Woody Woodpecker
4.Alien Vs Predator: This seems to be one of the most polarizing
houses this year. I have seen many people have it as their number one and claim
it one of the best houses ever and I have seen many put it at the bottom of
their list questioning what the hype was about. For me it sticks right in the
middle, but there is not much that separates it from any of the top 3. This is
a house with incredible sets, with some of the most unbelievable special
effects I have ever seen in a HHN house and the alien and predator costumes are
terrifying and outstanding. One problem: the house is incredibly dependent on
timing. If you have bad timing, you could miss all the effects and therefore
not like the house. So its hit or miss, which means it sticks in the middle. 4.5 Stars
5.The Walking Dead: End of the Line: lets hope the
title rings true and this really is the end of the Line for the Walking Dead at
HHN. This is the 3rd year for a Walking Dead house at HHN, and while
this years is far and away better than the previous two, it still isn’t good
enough to crack the top half of my rankings. At this point it is what it is, a
zombie house, another cliché in haunted houses. The Show is much more about
human interaction than it is about zombies, and therefore it simply doesn’t translate
well to a haunted house. I really did enjoy this years house, as evidenced by
its pretty high ranking, but I still don’t want it back for a 4th
year. 4 Stars
6.Dracula Untold: Kind of a surprise hit this
year, I fully expected to not enjoy this house at all and had almost
immediately resigned it to the very bottom of my rankings right away. However,
I dd really enjoy this house, so much so that it escapes the bottom two. The
sets in this house are beautiful, and I really enjoyed the gothic tone this house
took on. Of course, its still not good enough to crack the top 5 so its not
without its flaws. The story was sketchy at best, and the scares were minimal.
Dracula himself was practically nowhere to be seen also. Still though, number
six for this house should be seen as an accomplishment given my expectations.
3.5 Stars
7.
Roanoke: Cannibal Colony: The disappointment of
the year. This was one of my most anticipated, as a historical house on the
lost colony of Roanoke sounded so promising. Unfortunately, while the house is
far from bad, it doesn’t hold up well against the other six houses ahead of it.
The house is repetitive, and the music and the lighting in the house was just
bizarre. Also, the cannibal idea sounds good on paper, but it makes the actors
in the house more focused on eating their prop humans rather than trying to
scare the people walking through the house. One great thing about the house is
the entrance, one of the most awesome house entrances Ive ever seen at HHN. Another
great thing is this the second goriest house Ive ever seen at HHN, only behind
Saws N Steam in 2011, which was my favorite house that year. Gore is always a
good thing at HHN. 3 Stars
8. From Dusk Till Dawn: I just really didn’t get
this house. It has some neat visuals, but very little scares. It does a good
job of recreating the movie, but I could just never get into it. After a second
run through it only confirmed my opinion of this being my least favorite house
this year. 2 Stars
Bill and Ted: Bill and Ted is back once again. I, as well as
many other HHN fans have a special connection to this show, and therefore I
could never say anything bad about Bill and Ted. The humor and entertainment
this show provided have brought me out of some depressing moods over the years.
This years show is one of the funniest since I have started going. As much as I
love Bill and Ted, I normally don’t consider it all that funny, just wildly
entertaining. This year however, I did actually find many parts hilarious.
Scare Zones: Scare zones are back for the first time since
2011, and while the streets are much better than the past two years, they are
still nowhere near as good as the pre-2012 levels. The problem is the daytime
parade, which began in 2012. The parade needs space to go through the streets
of the park every day, meaning that there can no longer be the big massive
props that enhanced scare zones before 2012 when there was no parade. Until
Universal commits to just not running the parade during the HHN season, which
they should do since I don’t think anyone would be crushed if the silly parade
was held off for a month, we are going to continue to get half assed scare
zones.
So how does this event hold up compared to past years? Well
this year’s house lineup has the depth that last year didn’t have, but not the
top end quality. This years top 3 isnt as good as last years top 3, but this
years bottom 3 is also much better than last years bottom 3. It still doesn’t
have the depth the 2011 lineup had however. 2011 is nearly untouchable in terms
of how great the
house lineup was that year. In terms of house lineup Id rank
the years:
1.
2011
2.
2014
3.
2013
4.
2010
5.
2012
But in terms of the overall event (Houses, scare zones,
shows, overall ambience) Id rank
1.
2011
2.
2010
3.
2014
4.
2013
5.
2012
Keep tuned to this blog every Sunday night/Monday morning
for my updated house count and general observations from the event.
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