For the first time in its 19-year history, Halloween Horror Nights will be completely devoted to scary movies, Universal Studios theme park will announce today.
All eight haunted houses and each of its six scare zones — home to terrifying street performers — are inspired by big-screen thrillers.
"We’re turning the front gate into the facade of the Universal Palace Theater. There will be a box office, there will be a movie screen showing trailers," said Michael Roddy, show director for Universal Orlando Entertainment. "And then once you walk in, all these environments, all these movies are ripped from the silver screen and come to life."
As announced in June, three contemporary movie characters will be featured. Jigsaw (from the Saw series), Chucky (Child’s Play) and the Wolfman (from a film set to open in February) will be set up in their own houses.
Saw producer Oren Koules, who lives in Tampa, said he looks forward to the event, which runs for 23 select nights beginning Sept. 25.
"We get to see it live every year. We get to build it and we get to see what it’s like," Koules said. "To have people experience it — not just on the screen, but to have people walk through it, taste it, touch it and feel it — is amazing for us."
The sixth installment of the Saw series debuts Oct. 23. Guests have a lot of familiarity with the style of these films.
"We couldn’t do a Saw experience without a reverse-bear trap, we couldn’t do it without the hair-pull trap, we couldn’t without seeing the Billy puppet, we couldn’t do it without seeing Jigsaw’s lair," Roddy said.
The movies, which each have been released around Halloween, are graphic, violent, mind-game driven films filled with traps. The Saw house is designed to be intense, Roddy said. Guests will be the ones being tested, he said.
"As they progress farther into the maze, every step they take is causing and affecting the traps to be sprung."
Koules, who’s also the CEO and majority owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team, expects some of the team will come over.
"I’m excited to bring the players in and have them go through it," he said. "They’re huge Saw fans. They’re young males. ... 18 to 30 is pretty much a demographic of ours anyway."
Two houses will be devoted to Dracula and Dr. Frankenstein’s monster. Two others are inspired by B movies, Roddy said.
"Once we had the big boys as far as Wolfman and Saw, we said ‘What about the B-grade horror, those cult movies that people love?’ " Roddy said. "They might not know the title, but they know the scenarios whether it’s a sewer with cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers or a chainsaw family of cannibals living in the Midwest. So we decided to do two of those based on cult horror films and brand them ourselves."
The eighth maze will highlight several horror films including Shaun of the Dead and The Phantom of the Opera.
The scare zones will spotlight corpses reanimated into super-soldiers, a toxic green mist, a chainsaw drill team, an abandoned drive-in theater and half-human, half-beasts. One zone will be dedicated to Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, a Universal Pictures film also set to open Oct. 23.
Mel’s Drive-In at Universal Studios will morph into the Horrorwood Die-In.
"There will be seven to eight vehicles, there will be old-style speakers, and there will be a torn screen showing clips from the worst horror movies," Roddy said. "And literally, these characters will come from the screen, through the screen at you."
Two stage shows return for this year’s Horror Nights: the ever-popular "Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute" (warning: on-stage guest involvement).
After the jump: Universal’s descriptions of the haunted houses and scare zones.
Houses:
SAW – For years you have come to celebrate Halloween and to witness the weakness of others. The only way to gain redemption for this voyeuristic obsession is to truly know what it means to bleed, to feel weak; to experience pain. Jigsaw will give you this experience. Happy Halloween. Let the games begin.
The Wolfman – Pure. Animalistic. Rage. Take a journey through England’s countryside and come face to fangs with one of the most terrifying creatures to ever explode from the silver screen. Forget everything you thought you knew, and prepare yourself for the sights and sounds of the newest addition to Universal Pictures’ legacy of horror.
Chucky: Friends to the End – Ever wonder what happens when good toys go bad? Chucky has been hard at work, tinkering with your favorite childhood playthings. Nothing is what it seems as you step inside and experience what its like to live in Chucky’s world. This is no Child’s Play.
Dracula: Legacy of Blood – Welcome to Castle Dracula on the night of "The Calling." Vlad Dracul bids you welcome – be you one of the chosen women who has been called or merely a mortal man. Those who have been chosen must decide whether to join the Dark Prince in everlasting life as his brides, or reject his offer and suffer for all eternity. The blood must be renewed. The fate of the legacy hangs in the balance – Dracula’s legacy of blood.
Frankenstein: Creation of the Damned – It has been a fortnight since his creation caused the castle to be engulfed in flames. Doctor Frankenstein now continues his work to perfect the art of resurrection and regeneration, surrounded by his creations. The Creature has also returned, to make the Doctor pay for the pain and suffering he has had to endure. The Creature will destroy everything in his path to gain redemption, and you are now caught in the middle of this epic battle.
The Spawning – Something "different" has moved in among the sewers of Wyandot County, Ohio. The locals claim that these creatures, these "Sculders," are two feet tall, with the body of a snake. As a volunteer member of the local water district, it is your civic duty to venture into these pipes and restore the flow. But beware, the locals are wrong about the "Sculders" and the only thing that will be flowing is your blood as it leaves your lifeless body.
Leave it to Cleaver – Samuel Meetz works for the people of Carey, Ohio as a butcher, bringing them the freshest meat possible. With a steady livestock of transients and town
lawbreakers with which to serve, and a staff of volunteers who will preserve their towns deadly secret by any means necessary, there is truly no end in sight for Samuel or his family business. As Sam always says: Meet Me at Meetz…The Z stands for cannibal.
Silver Screams – Julian Browning has been the usher in the Universal Palace since it opened in 1922, of course, he’s been dead since 1940, but he still commands respect for his most beloved films from every patron. Buy a ticket to the Universal Palace, and let Julian usher you into a realm where the horror on the screen is ripped away to reveal a world that is truly terrifying. Features "The Phantom of the Opera," "My Bloody Valentine 3D" and other popular horror films
Scare zones:
Lights, Camera, Hacktion!!! – Hollywood Boulevard is being used as a location for the filming of the next big horror movie to be released in October 2010: The CHAINSAW DRILL TEAM MASSACRE in 3-D. Lights, Camera, Hacktion! Our director, Mas Imair, noted horror film aficionado, is bringing the massacre to life in blood-red terrorcolor. But the actors seem to be taking their direction literally and are "hacking" through the cast and crew. It’s a close encounter of the worst kind as the backlot becomes a hacklot and the streets run red with blood. Are you ready for your close-up?
Cirque Du Freak – Inspired by Universal Pictures’ upcoming film "Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant," which tells the fantasy-adventure tale of a boy who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares. "Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant" will be in theaters on October 23.
Horrorwood Die-In – The Hollywood Drive-in has been closed for years, and some say the abandoned grounds are haunted, where late at night the dim flickering images of carnage and chaos, monsters and madmen leave the screen and enter the real world looking for fresh victims to star in their latest horrors.
Apocalypse: City of Cannibals – A whole civilization of war-like carnivorous humanoids emerges from the sewers and underground tunnels of New York, looking for fresh food. Half-humanoid, half-beast and ravenous, these tribal cannibals invade the streets of Manhattan. No one is safe!
Containment – When an experimental bio-nerve gas is accidentally released into the atmosphere, the streets are filled with a toxic green mist that turns anyone that comes in contact with it into an infected, melting glob of flesh and blood.
Containment – When an experimental bio-nerve gas is accidentally released into the atmosphere, the streets are filled with a toxic green mist that turns anyone that comes in contact with it into an infected, melting glob of flesh and blood.
War of the Living Dead – On a remote island in the Pacific during the last days of World War II, German military attempted to create the unthinkable – a new breed of super-soldier made from the reanimated corpses of the dead. American forces quickly seized the island compound, but not before the reanimate agent was released. The island was quarantined and has remained a secret until now. Fifty years later, the two opposing dead forces are still locked in immortal combat with you caught in the crosshairs.
