Curtain rises on Halloween Horror Nights 19 at Universal Orlando
Familiar, frightful faces fill this year's edition of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios — but a few longtime fiends come with twists.
The silver-screen theme that runs throughout the event, from haunted houses to scare zones to shows, provides opportunity to interact with bigger-than-life scary characters dating from the 1930s to today, plus it teases to upcoming Universal productions.
"I think Saw is the most popular of our brands this year," says Michael Roddy, show producer at Universal Orlando. "I think it will be one of the major draws. It's prevalent, it's contemporary, people know what that is."
Saw, a series of torture-driven mind-game movies, debuts its sixth installment Oct. 23. Horror fans know the stories and expect realistic simulations. Roddy says the Saw haunted house will be "greatest hits" package of the Saw films.
"You're actually going to walk into Jigsaw's lair," he says. "As you walk in, it's an industrial building, almost nondescript. And as you enter, you're immediately in his workshop. You'll see all of the TVs and the cameras, and you'll come face-to-monitor with [puppet] Billy, who'll give you your task, which is to make it through this maze."
Tobin Bell, who plays the diabolical scientist Jigsaw, recorded new lines for the house.
"For us, it's a big, big challenge that we replicate this 100 percent," says T.J. Mannarino, director of art and design for Universal Orlando. "Saw will have to match that intensity, that excitement."
For old-school, classic characters Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, Universal will present a modern take on the original movies. Don't look for Herman Munster or Count Chocula.
"In 1931, people fled the theater [during Frankenstein]. In Dracula, people fainted," Roddy notes. "Now, so many years later, you go back to 'Well, what is Frankenstein's monster?' It's a reanimated corpse that has been burned, and it was stitched together."
The pieced-together theme runs throughout the Frankenstein: Creation of the Damned house, which is set in time after the Bride of Frankenstein movie. The castle — and other creatures — are being reassembled haphazardly with available materials.
The monster looks like a work in progress — thin, skull showing through in spots, and gray, not green. The costuming has a steampunk look: sort of a science-fiction feel using Victorian era materials such as polished wood, brass and iron.
"It's taking the beginning of electric and the beginning of that kind of life and bringing it into a period costume," says Susan Moore, design manager of art and design.
For the Dracula: Legacy of Blood house (very gothic with tapestry and statuary), designers shunned the widow's-peak look for a Vlad the Impaler style: belted tunic, high boots, cape and a key bit of protection.
"He's going to get one piece of armor that protects his heart," Moore says.
There will be a few different incarnations of the Count.
"We have the bat-faced look for him, and we have more of where he's changing from one to another, but always coming back to our classic look for him," Moore says.
The house will be populated with Dracula's wives. Some are pale and beautiful, but some aren't taking to this marriage. Universal calls them the "feral brides."
They're "really decrepit, disgusting, almost beastlike," Mannarino says.
The Wolfman house essentially serves as a preview of the Universal Pictures' upcoming The Wolfman starring Benicio Del Toro.
"We were basically given access to all their designs, and this is a big-budget version. A lot of amazing production value has gone into it." Roddy says. Although the house is built inside a soundstage, it has an outdoors feel with a gypsy camp, a forest and the sensation of being chased by a lycanthrope.
"This is the only place you're going to be able to see the Wolfman. It doesn't open until February, so that's pretty cool for us," Roddy says.