Halloween Horror Nights 2019 (USH): Reviews & Photos

[DJIndy49]

Might as well throw my 2 cents in. I live in the Temecula area and work weekends (DJ) so I don't get to HHN neatly as much as I would want. My wife and I go once a year and this year we decided to do a Dark Harbor/HHN twin bill weekend. My feet were on fire about 9pm Sunday.

We did the unlimited express pass so lines were never an issue, we went on Sunday 9/28 and man was it crowded for a Sunday. All that out of the way here is my rankings:

1. Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman - The first run through the cast singled me out as the one to get and they did. In the lab scene I got both monsters laying on the table.
2. Ghostbusters - This was the most fun I have had going through a maze since Krampus.
3. Creepshow - Loved it, was everything I wanted.
4. Klowns - To me this seemed like the most polished maze in a long time. I liked the bit with the farmer looking for his dog out front.
5. US - I think this one was a victim of the twin bill. The first run through was my the first maze of the night and was in the first group through it and they didn't have the scenic lights on so it was tough to see anything, by the time I got back I was tired and looking forward to calling it a night. My wife however loved it and put it as her top maze.
6. Holidayz - Liked the scare zone better
7. HotC - Both times I went through the cast seemed bored, except Dr. Satan he was my favorite scare actor.
8. Stranger Things - I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either.
9. Pandora's Box - I have missed HHN from 06 - 15 so most of the reuse was still new to me, I just didn't get the story of the maze. I never got if we were going through the box, if the box had been opened. I am guessing the box was opened cause I remember at one point hearing a screech of "You'll never close the box"

 

[Dr. Herbert West]

Alright, gonna throw in my two cents before this thread bites the dust:

1. Killer Klowns - Had two impeccable runs through this house with never a dull moment. The water effects were really surprising (though expect them to unfortunately be in every maze next year), the sets were all well realized, no black walls until the finale, the costumes were amazingly accurate, and the fakeout hanging cotton candy cocoons might be my favorite scare of the event this year. Just a perfect balance between scares, camp, sets, and a great cast. A+

2. Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman - Felt much better realized and developed, both character-wise and scenic-wise than Monsters was last year. Great variety of environments, and the dueling monsters were all very aggressive. A

3. Us - Was not a fan of the film, but this maze rocked. Faithful sets, a few intense scares, best finale this year, and a truly dedicated cast. The moments where the actors were allowed to be creepy instead of jumping out were refreshing. A few dead spots, but a great maze nonetheless. A

4. Creepshow - This was a real blast, though there was the potential for this to be the best of the year with some minor tweaks (and GOAT if they had stuck with all 5 of the movie segments and ditched the TV show). The comic book hallways pulled off the scene transitions well, and man, I was not expecting so many Creeps! Father's Day was my favorite scene of the year; felt exactly like walking through the film and the Nate costumes and actors were great. The Crate was also great, though they could've thrown Billie in there somewhere. Creeping was light on scares, but amazing scenic, while Bad Wolf Down was the inverse. Grey Matter was kinda dull, and made me wish it was a Jordy Verrill ghillie suit room instead. Still super fun though. A-

5. Holidayz - Despite the fair amount of reusing going on here, I quite enjoyed this one. A few holidays were duds (Valentines, St. Patrick's, Christmas) but the rest all ranged from good to great. Should've stuck with traditional holiday music instead of that garbage Figure music though. More originals like this please. B+

6. Ghostbusters - Steep drop off in quality here. Having an extremely long black hallway with minimal scares and lackluster effects right up front really prevents this maze from picking up any momentum. However, when they do decide to build sets, they all look pretty great. Dana's apartment and the Hotel sections really shine, and the slimer and terror dogs look great. And the actors playing the Ghostbusters (plus Janine) all nail it. Stay Puft looks good, though that room feels so static, without any actors or movement, and having that as your finale kinda leaves the maze off on a dull note. C

7. HotC - Really boring, except for the actor playing the robot Dr. Satan, who deserves an award of some kind. The rest of this maze isn't bad, but it's just so "been there done that" with the previous Corpses mazes as well as the Texas Chainsaw mazes. D+

8. Stranger Things - Nope. F

Didn't get to do Pandora's Box, but overall a really solid year, with the top 5 mazes this year being pretty competitive with 2016's top 5, (even if 2016 overall was much stronger due to that year's worst maze was probably around a B-/C+ imo).

 

[Jimmypancakes20]

Here is the scores of the final night (nov 3,2019) closing night of hhn Hollywood



Mazes

1. House of 1000 corpses 10/10

2. Holidays in hell 10/10

3.Us 10/10

4. The curse of Pandora’s box 5/10

5. Stranger things 1/10

6. Killer clowns from outer space 10/10

7.creepshow 7/10

8.Universal monsters Frankenstein meet the Wolfman 7/10

9. Ghostbusters 10/10

10. Walking dead attraction (did not go through I’m closing tonight)



Scare zones

1. Fallen Angels 10/10

2. Spirits and demons of the east 9/10

3. Christmas in hell 10/10

4. Toxic tunnel 1/10

5. All Hallow’s Evil 10/10



So this is my final scores for this year‘s Halloween horror nights it is over can’t wait to do it again next year in 2020

 

[Horror Lover]

I know.. I'm super mega late in posting this but.. my Halloween Horror Nights 2019: Fear To The Max/Maximum Screamage/Your Worst Fears Live Here review..
IPs:

Stranger Things Vol 2: 6/10 = I like Stranger Things and I kinda dug last year's maze.. but as far as this year's goes.. eh, it wasn't really scary but there were some set pieces I liked like the pumpkin patch.. If they... oh who am I kidding, this IP sold the most merch and tickets this year so WHEN they bring this back next year, I hope they amp it up.. But eh, only did this maze twice and that was that..

Creepshow: 10/10 = I LOVED Creepshow!! I really loved the quirky comic book facade, the Father's Day scene with the head cake was well done, the Crate was terrifying as hell.. loved seeing the transition walls be comic book pages.. I even dug the ShudderCreep scenes.. which made me want to check out the Creepshow reboot on Shudder.. I think I should get on that.. I wouldn't mind seeing this again at some point with the remaining Creepshow 1 stories they didn't use and maybe Creepshow 2 scenes and more ShudderCreep scenes..

Ghostbusters: 9 and 1/2 out of 10 = WEEEE GOT ONE!!! I LOVED Ghostbusters!! I loved seeing the firehouse facade, the Ecto-1 in the garage, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the library scares, the Slimer scene, and even a creative use of black walls with the ghostly realm and seeing ghosts from the other films in the GB franchise in those rooms.. Oh and of course, getting to sing and dance to the theme song while in the queue and exiting the maze.. It wasn't meant to be scary but it was a great celebration of this IP

Us: 10/10 = I got five on it... This maze was so intense and creepy.. very aggressive and brought every single aspect of Jordan Peele's haunting tale to life.. Every scareactor was aggressive and it felt so true to the movie.. I enjoyed this maze so much.. The Tethered scene at the end is what got me the most..

Killer Klowns From Outer Space: 10/10 = PT Barnum said it so long ago, there's one born every minute, don't you know!! I LOOOVEEDD Killer Klowns From Outer Space!! This maze was a celebration of how over-the-top and fun the movie is.. Very colorful and zany but also scary.. It was fun seeing all those iconic scenes from the movie.. including the spaceship, the cotton candy cocoons, the police officer ventriloquist dummy and Klownzilla!! Really loved this maze and getting to sing along to the theme song.. I also remember getting sprayed with water in this maze.. they brought back water effects, woohoo..

Universal Monsters: Frankenstein Meets The Wolf-Man: 9 and a 1/2 out of 10 = A worthy follow-up to last year's perfect Universal Monsters maze.. the sad and mournful gypsy music set the tone for what we would expect.. a tale of a man and monster both cursed by fate.. seeking answers.. The gypsy camp, the castle ruins and of course, getting scared by Frankenstein and The Wolfman was just pure awesomeness.. Also, Slash's music was great this year like it was last year.. Hopefully they'll release the score again..

House of 1000 Corpses: 8/10 = RIP Sid Haig.. This maze was decent.. it was nowhere near the much grittier 2010/2011 3D version that we all fondly remember.. but it was a decent representation of this iconic movie.. it was great seeing the Murder Ride and the Firefly house again and Captain Spaulding..

The Walking Dead Attraction: ... yeah, it's the same as it always is and was.. no real change here...

ORIGINAL MAZES: FINALLY we got two originals again!! Yay!! Okay, on with the review!!

Holidayz In Hell: 10/10 = For years, we had gotten scarezones like Dark Christmas, Hell-O-Ween and the original Holidayz In Hell scarezone.. it all seemed like it was building up towards this maze.. and when we finally got this maze.. it was worth the wait.. Where do I start? I really loved this quirky, creepy funhouse take on the Holiday icons like Turkey and Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.. The postcards were so cool, the Easter room was delightfully disturbing.. complete with another water effect.. the Halloween room with the jack-o-lanterns was really creepy and awesome.. The Valentine's Day room was just WRONG!! lol.. the Holiday songs by Figure really helped sell the sinister yet campy tone of this maze.. Really loved Holidayz In Hell.. Would I want this to return? Um.. sure.. if they can do different ways of portraying the scenes.. but still making it sinister yet campy..

The Curse of Pandora's Box: 10/10 = Anything can be acquired.. anything your heart desires.. Well, my heart desired a really bonkers original maze from HHN and dammit, this maze delivered on that!! The creepy occult shop at the beginning really set the tone, the UV/neon nightmares that Pandora unleashed on us were scary but fun.. I loved the Medusa room and the spider monster room.. This hands down was a top 3 maze for me.. Would I be down for a sequel maze? As I said with Holidayz In Hell, yes, but give us new scenes and ideas that continue the storyline and not just rehash the original entirely.. Pandora is a character I wouldn't mind revisiting.. she is terrifying as hell..

Terror Tra-- oh, that's right, huh?

I'm still mixed on whether it should come back or stay in HHN's past, honestly..

Scarezones were also really cool this year: Spirits of The East was a really cool scarezone with interesting character designs.. The dragon demon scareactors were cool.. I'm still LOL-ing at the fact they had a Momo scareactor in the zone.. Christmas In Hell was cool.. continued that quirky yet creepy vibe of Dark Christmas and Holidayz In Hell.. Fallen Angelz was an interesting chainsaw zone with the bejeweled skull designs and the biker jackets.. the Prophets chainsaw troupe were also really cool with the demented vintage Halloween masks.. Toxxxic Tunnel... was Toxxxic Tunnel.. good actors and energy.. and All Hallow's Evil.. oh.. my dear All Hallow's Evil.. This scarezone was great and I loved the various vignettes depicting the various pagan festivals that led to Halloween.. I especially loved the reuse of La Llorona in a vignette.. I'd so be down for original mazes based on Spirits of the East and All Hallow's Evil in the future..

Shows: Didn't see Jabbawockeez, I'm sure it was the same ole, same ole.. You get tired of this show after a while.. I saw the Beetlejuice show at Throwback Thursdays with the 80's cover band.. wow, I'd love if Universal gave us a 2nd show with Beetlejuice that incorporated dark comedy, illusions, puppetry and a rockin' soundtrack.. That's a show I'd see.. and it would cut down on all the heavy crowds I saw this year..

My overall thoughts on HHN 2019: Definitely one of the strongest years of HHN Hollywood.. I was really impressed by the event this year.. comedy mazes, original mazes, it was an unusual but very well-done year.. The crowds were horrendous but the event itself was really fun this year.. My final rankings of the mazes would be..

10. The Walking Dead
9. Stranger Things
8. House of 1000 Corpses
7. Creepshow
6. Ghostbusters
5. Killer Klowns From Outer Space
4. Universal Monsters: Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman
3. Holidayz In Hell
2. The Curse of Pandora's Box
1. Us

With that said, bring on Halloween Horror Nights 2020!

 

[HHNManics]

1. Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman
2. Us
3. Killer Klowns From Outer Space
4. Creepshow
5. Holidayz in Hell
6. House of 1000 Corpses
7. Ghostbusters
8. The Curse of Pandora's Box
9. Stranger Things

1. All Hallow's Evil
2. Toxxxic Tunnel
3. Christmas in Hell
4. Spirits & Demons of the East
5. Fallen Angelz