Here's my review of HHN this year. Get ready. It's a big one. I'll just right too it. I'm going to review in order of what I accomplished. First off, I went ahead and did early entry.....on accident. I went inside the gate and waited for my buddy to arrive. I wanted to see the opening ceremony, but I wasn't able to. They were forcing everyone down to the lower lot which was stupid. First year I missed the opening ceremony on my first night, but whatever. Anyway, we both decided to hit the tram first.
Terror Tram: Survive the Purge: Since it had been years since I've done the Terror Tram and there was no wait, we decided to hit it up. Might as well get the biggest turd out of the way first. I know some people that work it so that was fun to see their familiar bloody faces.
Now I appreciated the fact that the tram finally had a story to go along with it instead of it just being an advertisement for TWD for once. The
video did its job developing the story, but it wasn't very interesting. What happened to that super-gory video that Murdy was supposedly filming? Did management force him to cut it because it was too gruesome or something stupid? Did Gloria Alvarid supervise the video and demand that it get canceled? Well, disappointments aside, they did make some effort to add things and change things up. I appreciated that. On top of that, the talent was on FIRE and at our throats. I didn't really get scared because of the setting, but I have to give them props just for their energy and making things more fun. There's no denying that I loathed Terror Tram ever since 2010, but this year, it was actually tolerable. Not great, but worthwhile for me to stop by again. I'm going to leave the flamethrower at home....or maybe I'll need it later on. I say the Tram is okay, but not great. The talent was FANTASTIC, but there's not much else you can do with the tram. It's still feels like Terror Tram. I'm still hungry for something completely different.
Overall: C
The Walking Dead: Wolves Not Far: It was almost eight and the wait was about 25 minutes. Not bad. I really liked the facade. The sets looked really cool, but I haven't gotten a great run through. I did
manage to get a couple of really good scares in there. The one things that REALLY bothered me mainly was how there were a few black walls with no theming on them in a few areas. I mean, c'mon. Would it kill them to at least put some
mesh netting on there? Despite that, I thought this was a solid maze. I'm torn on whether or not I like this better than 2013's maze. That crashed helicopter scene back then was pretty epic. I thought the revolving door scene was really cool.
Overall: B
Crimson Peak: Maze of Madness: I personally think this was one of the most beautifully-designed houses HHN has ever done. I also got some great scares in here. Again, I was bothered by a few of the black walls in this house as they serve as terrible transitions. Everything looked beautiful but those few black walls threw off the flow. *sigh* I'm really tired of complaining about this. Why is it that HHN is so freaking lazy with transitions? Florida has that downpat. For a movie-quality event, this needs to change. We haven't had that problem pre-2011, so what happened? At least there weren't that many. Anyway, very well-done. Anyway, this is probably my favorite house this year. Best promotional maze USH has done.
Overall: A
AVP: Alien Vs. Predator: Still a great house. Only giving it a B- 'cause it's a repeat. Nothing new to see here, moving along. Thought it was funny this had the shortest of wait times throughout the night. I said it's a repeat.....what else do you want me to say? Moving on.....
Overall: B-
Insidious: Return to the Further: As a lot of you know, I really didn't like 2013's rendition. There were WAY too many black wallways and the set design was just not that impressive. This house fixed those criticisms I had. I REALLY liked this house and got some great scares in here. While they did use some black walls for the further, they were used appropriately and in a way that worked. Plus, a lot of the rooms actually had ceilings in them so I really felt like I was there. The sets were great in here and they actually put a lot of effort to make them immersive. Also the "He's got your baby guy" was CREEPY! All he did was mouth his line while standing still and it was a tad unnerving for me; just him standing there, staring into my eyes uttering those lines. That was a great touch. That hallway effects was also REALLY cool! I also really liked the new scare tactics they had of the Man who Can't Breathe scaring you from above. The only thing I would fix is have more fog in the further rooms to make it more ominous. Also, the talent was on FIRE so I got some great scares in there! Murdy and Chris did a great job making this a new experience without making it feel like a repeat. Great sets, great scares, greatly improved from 2013. Tied with favorite house with Crimson. I will say this though: I don't want to set your expectations too high on Knott's maze, but after seeing Paranormal Inc, I don't think I liked this as much as I wanted to. Still great though.
Overall: A
This is the End 3D: Oooooh boy. Here's the one I'm sure you guys are interested in hearing what I thought about this one. Look, I know it's a horror comedy house. I know its chief purpose wasn't to be completely scary. I did chuckle a few times so it kinda did its job. But yikes, this was worse than Black Sabbath. It just was not good. There were a couple of good effects I liked which I'll get to shortly, but there were some GLARING issues that ruined it for me. First off, the maze looks NOTHING LIKE IT DID IN THE MOVIE. NOTHING. I haven't watched a whole lot of it, but I know enough that it's nowhere
close to it. I don't know what Murdy was saying when he would go for a darker tone, but this the most cartoonish house I have seen this year. Even Clowns at least looked somewhat more realistic, and that's saying a LOT. The HoTC approach was where I was hoping it would go. Make it realistic, but make things colorful and pop when appropriate. Also, this has got to be the most repetitive and boring maze HHN has done design-wise. Half of it is pretty much the same thing. Demon pops out of a wall. Go to hallway with TV. Go to creature pop out. Go to hallway. Half of it was the same thing over and over with little change in it. I did enjoy the Emma Watson scare. It was a good mix of funny and startling. Plus, THEY DIDN'T EVEN DO MOST OF THE HORROR-RELATED SCENES FROM THE MOVIE. No
grocerystore? No guy losing his head? You'll include repetitive hallways of the creature but you couldn't include THAT? Also, the "outside" portion was REALLY cartoony. Make the bricks looks realistic. Make it feel like I'm THERE. I felt like I walked through a 3D Knott's maze from 2009. I did like the rapture lighting effect and the transitioning scene. That was interesting. The ending was a complete copy and paste of a scene Black Sabbath and Clowns. It didn't loom great. Overall, I felt this was super-lazy and poorly designed. I thought hardly any effort went into making this descent. If it were up to me, I would stop these stupid 3D houses. We haven't had a solid 3D house since Alice Cooper. THIS here was the bottom of the barrel of the 3D houses. If HHN insists that we must have a 3D house every year, go back to HoTC. That was the best 3D house HHN has ever done. GO BACK TO YOUR ROOTS. Like I said earlier, Murdy is going to extreme with the neon cartoony look. Go back to the dark look with color put in where appropriate. Having everything bright and neon isn't scary. I'm giving it a grade above an F only because of the few things I sorta liked in here.
Overall: D
Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home: I'll start this off by saying that this is the best house Parisian has ever had. Very detailed, very stinky, and VERY scary. Michael gave me some really good scares in this house. The one thing that really bothered me though was the long hallway of hedge wallpaper. I'll say that again. Hedge. Wallpaper. Remember the old construction walls they used to build Harry Potter? They had no better place to put them, so they used 'em for Halloween. For the last time Murdy, PUT SOME FREAKING GREEN MESH NETTING OR SOMETHING TO COVER IT UP! Why the love for blank, unthemed/lazily themed walls!? Step. It. Up. You've done this for ten years. Come on now. Also, I was disappointed to see the closet scene have no clothes....just....black...walls. Aside from that, I really liked this house and liked the detail. The ending was unnerving and the scares were fantastic. Still doesn't hold a candle to 2009's. That was legendary. Ah, memories.
Overall: B+
Jabawockeez: Well, I will say this show did a great job taking people off the street. They REALLY packed people in which was refreshing to see. I thought the show a little cool and fun, but it's....not my style. The GP was EATING it up. They REALLY liked it. I guess that puts the last nail in the coffin for Bill and Ted. I did hear that they're completely booked up in Vegas throughout October 2016, so maybe there's hope? I probably won't see this again until towards the end of the run. Oh, my buddy got a video of some guy getting up during the quiet/volunteer portion of the show and yelled, "F&%$ THE JABAWOCKEEZ! LONG LIVE BILL AND TED!!!" After his outburst, he was escorted out and the talent shrugged him off. I'm trying to get him to upload it. When he does, I'll post it. I did like this better than the Hanging, which says a lot. It's fun, it's okay, but I miss Bill and Ted! At least I'll see them this Friday.
Overall: C
Overall thoughts: Well, I really enjoyed this year. I enjoyed it a bit more than last year. Of course there were some flaws, but whatever. I had fun. Scarezones were cool. Just wish they would do more with them. The content was pretty solid, but for the love of all that is good and right, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE BLANK WALLS! My word. I do hope we see seven houses again as that would even the crowd out pretty good. I noticed that for a sold-out night, crowds were somewhat tolerable. Just do early entry, and you should be fine. The lines didn't start to get bad until after Terror Tram closed. Again, I had a swell time and look forward to going back Sunday, and then ORLANDO BOUND THURSDAY!!!!!!! YEEEEAAAAA!!!
So go. Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Beware of Crimson Peak.