- Nov 7, 2016
- 1,590
- 1,763
Let's compare 2017 vs. 2018.
The classic maze. Shining vs. Poltergeist.
Alright, without a doubt Shining is a bigger classic, easier to see how it can be done as a maze, and more requested. However, that leaves more room for disappointment. It was shoved into the cramped Mummy venue and that was essentially All She Wrote for that maze. Poltergeist has one of the bigger Metro sets and the facade already is pretty big. And giving the movie another watch, especially if including the sequels, there's a lot more to play around with in terms of Haunt usage. Shining was more psychological anyway, but Poltergeist is pure haunted house mayhem if done right.
Winner: 2018
The TV Show maze. AHS: Roanoke vs. Stranger Things.
Roanoke was divisive, but the maze was fantastic. It was dark, never ending, scary, and brutal. However, everyone loves Stranger Things. The budget going into this thing will be massive, and it'll be in a soundstage with what will probably be insane amount of detail and scenic work. There will also be more puppetry, crazy scareactor designs, and iconic locations. Roanoke's mood, tone and gore may be classic Haunt, but Stranger Things will seem like a breath of fresh air.
Winner: 2018
The Cult maze. Ash vs. Evil Dead vs. Trick r Treat
AvED secretly wanted to be Evil Dead in disguise, but unfortunately, it wasn't. It was also long awaited, much like TrT has been. We got the show instead, and it COULD HAVE BEEN really awesome, but it was the biggest component of the Black Wallz of Death that 2017 was. Now, TrT could easily be the same, but it has a lot going for it. With different stories, it has the potential to change itself up so it doesn't run into monotony by the end, like AvED did. It can easily change tone and scenery after 2 or 3 scenes. AvED somehow felt very stale for such a fun show. While TrT can have the cute, fun, comedic Krampus like moments, but also the darkness of something like TCM.
Winner: 2018.
The Return of Old Familiar. Saw vs. Halloween
Saw at first seemed like a welcome back. Then they did nothing new with it. It had nowhere near the same energy that the first mazes had. Halloween 4 at least is saying it'll be based solely on a completely different movie, with a different tone, soundtrack, kills, etc.. The Halloween 2 maze was one of the greats, and if they go anywhere near the same direction of even 10% originality, they could strike that hot iron again.
Winner: 2018.
The NOT THIS AGAIN. Insidious vs. The First Purge
I've loved each iteration of the Insidious mazes and I'm almost 100% sure even the worst one (the 2017 one) will be better than the First Purge. With that said, we are getting something very new here. We're getting the first Purge (no pun intended) in earnest maze form. I personally don't count the gauntlet as a maze. And I don't count the first 1/3 of HOB as much of a Purge maze either. This will be the first time getting some enclosed spaces, full scenes, and trigger scares. All I'm saying is, in comparison to Insidious for a third time, at least this will be seen in a completely new light for The Purge that it hasn't quite done before. Again, Insidious I'm sure was and forever will be a much better maze, but I at least anticipate The First Purge as a maze a bit more. So that's the only reason I'm leaning towards TFP. But I can't fully go in that direction, because I know the maze quality for Insidious was so great, so this one for me is a --
TIE
The Mash Up Maze. Titans of Terror vs. Universal Monsters
As cool as ToT was as a concept, it failed to bring us all the monsters at once. Not saying UCM will, but we've seen the ToT on their own multiple times. UCM, ironically, is fresh and new. It doesn't need to be connected as seeing these in one maze will be a treat in of itself. It also lends itself to more gothic locations, make up design, and possibly even sound (whatever weird musician is throwing itself in there).
Winner: 2018
The Horrors of Blumhouse: Chapter 1 vs Chapter 2.
I hated chapter one, but no doubt that sounds helluva lot better than the properties in chapter 2. The only redeeming value the new one has is the "how the hell are they going to do that?" And if the first year was any indication, the answer is poorly. Very poorly.
Winner: 2017
2018 was the overwhelming victor. We definitely don't have a 2017 on our hands. Even if the event is bad, it won't be THAT bad again. At least not this year.
The classic maze. Shining vs. Poltergeist.
Alright, without a doubt Shining is a bigger classic, easier to see how it can be done as a maze, and more requested. However, that leaves more room for disappointment. It was shoved into the cramped Mummy venue and that was essentially All She Wrote for that maze. Poltergeist has one of the bigger Metro sets and the facade already is pretty big. And giving the movie another watch, especially if including the sequels, there's a lot more to play around with in terms of Haunt usage. Shining was more psychological anyway, but Poltergeist is pure haunted house mayhem if done right.
Winner: 2018
The TV Show maze. AHS: Roanoke vs. Stranger Things.
Roanoke was divisive, but the maze was fantastic. It was dark, never ending, scary, and brutal. However, everyone loves Stranger Things. The budget going into this thing will be massive, and it'll be in a soundstage with what will probably be insane amount of detail and scenic work. There will also be more puppetry, crazy scareactor designs, and iconic locations. Roanoke's mood, tone and gore may be classic Haunt, but Stranger Things will seem like a breath of fresh air.
Winner: 2018
The Cult maze. Ash vs. Evil Dead vs. Trick r Treat
AvED secretly wanted to be Evil Dead in disguise, but unfortunately, it wasn't. It was also long awaited, much like TrT has been. We got the show instead, and it COULD HAVE BEEN really awesome, but it was the biggest component of the Black Wallz of Death that 2017 was. Now, TrT could easily be the same, but it has a lot going for it. With different stories, it has the potential to change itself up so it doesn't run into monotony by the end, like AvED did. It can easily change tone and scenery after 2 or 3 scenes. AvED somehow felt very stale for such a fun show. While TrT can have the cute, fun, comedic Krampus like moments, but also the darkness of something like TCM.
Winner: 2018.
The Return of Old Familiar. Saw vs. Halloween
Saw at first seemed like a welcome back. Then they did nothing new with it. It had nowhere near the same energy that the first mazes had. Halloween 4 at least is saying it'll be based solely on a completely different movie, with a different tone, soundtrack, kills, etc.. The Halloween 2 maze was one of the greats, and if they go anywhere near the same direction of even 10% originality, they could strike that hot iron again.
Winner: 2018.
The NOT THIS AGAIN. Insidious vs. The First Purge
I've loved each iteration of the Insidious mazes and I'm almost 100% sure even the worst one (the 2017 one) will be better than the First Purge. With that said, we are getting something very new here. We're getting the first Purge (no pun intended) in earnest maze form. I personally don't count the gauntlet as a maze. And I don't count the first 1/3 of HOB as much of a Purge maze either. This will be the first time getting some enclosed spaces, full scenes, and trigger scares. All I'm saying is, in comparison to Insidious for a third time, at least this will be seen in a completely new light for The Purge that it hasn't quite done before. Again, Insidious I'm sure was and forever will be a much better maze, but I at least anticipate The First Purge as a maze a bit more. So that's the only reason I'm leaning towards TFP. But I can't fully go in that direction, because I know the maze quality for Insidious was so great, so this one for me is a --
TIE
The Mash Up Maze. Titans of Terror vs. Universal Monsters
As cool as ToT was as a concept, it failed to bring us all the monsters at once. Not saying UCM will, but we've seen the ToT on their own multiple times. UCM, ironically, is fresh and new. It doesn't need to be connected as seeing these in one maze will be a treat in of itself. It also lends itself to more gothic locations, make up design, and possibly even sound (whatever weird musician is throwing itself in there).
Winner: 2018
The Horrors of Blumhouse: Chapter 1 vs Chapter 2.
I hated chapter one, but no doubt that sounds helluva lot better than the properties in chapter 2. The only redeeming value the new one has is the "how the hell are they going to do that?" And if the first year was any indication, the answer is poorly. Very poorly.
Winner: 2017
2018 was the overwhelming victor. We definitely don't have a 2017 on our hands. Even if the event is bad, it won't be THAT bad again. At least not this year.
