Full HHN 25 Review

This is one of my favorite things to write up every year, a full review of Halloween Horror Nights. By this point I have done every house at least twice and many houses 4 or 5 times so I am comfortable enough with them to write up my reviews for the houses. Every year takes on an identity as to how the houses shape up: 2011 was a ridiculously strong year from top to bottom, 2012 had a solid top 2, a decent 3-4 and a very weak 5-7. 2013 had an incredible top 4, a decent 5, then a huge drop off with a very weak 5-8. 2014 had an incredible top 3, a very good middle, and also the bottom two were pretty good for a bottom two.

How does 2015 shape up. This year to me there are four groups of two houses. There is a clear top 2, but they are very close to each other as to which is number one. There is a clear 3 and 4, a clear 5 and 6, and a clear bottom two. In other words 1 and 2 are very close, but 2 and 3 are not. 3 and 4 are very close, but 4 and 5 are not. 5 and 6 are very close, but 6 and 7 are not. Hopefully that makes a little sense. Lets get into the rankings

1. Insidious: One of the all around creepiest and most disturbing houses I have ever done at HHN. A number of standout scenes include a room with actors standing still with creepy smiles before they lunge at you. The room with red face with tiptoe through the Tulips playing is pretty unnerving. The top scene though is actually a scene with 0 scareactors. A long dark narrow hallway with a effect that makes it feel like hands are touching you at either side. I love this house.

2. Jack Presents: 25 years of Monsters and Mayhem: This house is a dream for every die hard HHN fan. The facade sets the tone right off the bat, stepping into Jacks mouth with posters of all the other icons surround you. You step in and immediately see jack o lanterns in a darkened room, its a perfect start to the house. The house includes the icons, all the classic Universal monsters and select scenes from past houses, my favorite being the effect seen in Gothic in 2012 where it looks like you are very high up. Other scenes are from Havoc in 2010, and Nightingales in 2011 among others. It also includes several appearances from Jack himself.

3. Freddy Vs Jason: I was so stoked for this house when it was first introduced and it mostly lives up to my excitement level, but there are some flaws. First of all the mid-house facade entering the house on Elm Street is stunning. I also love the hallway where you see iconic kills from the NOES movies including smashing Amandas head into the TV. The scene after that however with all the mirrors lasts too long and they could have gone another direction with that. The screens in the boiler room scene are also kind of cheesy and could have been replaced with a better effect. Overall though its hard to screw up the two biggest horror icons of all time in house, and Universal mostly did a great job here.

4. Body Collectors: Recollections: This is the 4th BC house in HHN history, as they have became an HHN staple, people love the Body Collectors. The facade for this house is incredible, and the spine rip scene as well as the room with a Gentleman in the center as you go around him with different bloody images around you are both amazing. However I feel there could have been a few more detailed, expansive scenes, as I think a couple of scenes fell into generic territory. Still, its easy to see why the body Collectors are so popular, the look they have is just so disturbingly delightful.

5. RUN: I always enjoy the house in the Disaster queue more than most people and this house is no exception. The concept of this house is very intriguing, the the set up and scenes presented give this house a ton of potential. The "spark" effect returns this year for the first time in a few years which is a really good one in my opinion because the sound of those sparks is scary. The gore in this house is pretty good too. Maybe the house feels a little bit haphazardly put together, but the scenes that are there are strong.

6. Asylum in Wonderland: This is the 4th 3-D house in 5 years, and since they all pretty much use the same tricks there is a sense of "been there, done that" with this house. However, where this house sets itself apart from past 3-D houses is in its premise, and its costumes. The Alice in Wonderland gone mad concept is much stronger than the generic premises of previous 3-D houses, and the costumes in this house are among the most unique and fun to look at of any HHN house ever. Again though, because it uses so many of the same tricks in houses Ive done before, it ranks as a strong sixth this year. The 6th best house this year is much better than the 6th best house the past 3 years however.

7. The Purge: This house is loud, intense, and has a very agressive group of scareactors, and all that together saves it from the bottom. Its also a very generic atmosphere and in the grand scheme of things unmemorable and forgettable when compared to the unbelievably immersive atmopsheres of all six of the houses ahead of this one.

8. The Walking Dead: Talk about "been there done that." This is the 4th year in a row with a Walking Dead house and it just feels stale at this point. Walking Dead houses were never that good to begin with (last years was by far the best of the four and still only ranked as the sixth best house last year), but this years just feels lazy and one cant help but feel the Walking Dead well has run dry.

Scarezones: After three straight underwhelming years for the scarezones this year brings back the top notch zones HHN became famous for. Highlights include psychoscareapy and the Icons zone. Evils roots has a great atmosphere even iif the actual costumes are lacking, and all night die in is a real treat for fans of classic horror movies to see some of their favorite monsters. One of my favorite parts of that zone is the inclusion of Carrie.

Shows:
Carnage Returns: Only one other time in the History of Halloween Horror Nights has HHN has a top notch second show to go along with Bill and Ted. Every year there is a second show but it is often a standard run of the mill magic show not worth the time. The other time was with the Carnival of Carnage in 2007, but this show tops that in every way. Never has Universal put on a show with the production value of this, it is a sight to behold.

Bill and Ted: I love the houses, I love the scarezones, but to me Bill and Ted is Halloween. This years show falls somewhere in the middle of the six I have seen now, probably 3rd. I think some of the song choices for the finale were curious, but I loved the inclusion of Shut up and Dance and Uma Thurman, as well as Thriller for the final song this year. The opening dance was solid as it was clearly a nod to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Disney jokes are always one of the highlights and of course the Avatar bit returns for a 3rd year, (They have sex with their tails!) My favorite joke this year though was Bill and Ted making fun of Disney as well as themselves for having a Hocus Pocus show this year (Why would Disney base a Halloween show on a movie almost 25 years old?) then look at each other and realize Bill and Ted is in the same boat.

Overall the event this year is firing on all cylinders, something it hasn't done to this level since 2011. I would say overall this could be the best year for the event since I started going, at worst its second best behind 2011. There is 24 more nights for this years event to convince me it is better than the great 2011, I cant wait!