I think all the complaints about this house are very valid but I think it's an excellent house overall. The sets look good and the scares come from all angles with a good variety of creatures attacking.
Universal Monsters: Unmasked (HHN 32)
- Thread starter Brian G.
- Start date
-
Signing up for a Premium Membership is a donation to help Inside Universal maintain costs and offers an ad-free experience on the forum. Learn more about it here.
What lack of storytelling is there? These are the "killers" in Paris and you're walking through the carnage of each Monster as you're trespassing on their turf.
- Apr 4, 2020
- 1,516
- 4,347
There is story, but I think it's just not as strong as the past two UM stories.
Plus like I mentioned, I don't think Phantom carving faces like Leatherface fits him at all. Plus Quasimodo killing random people just doesn't make any sense, unless they changed his backstory.
I think we're being a bit nitpicky here with the story stuff...
Also - this is set in Paris post-Monster films.
- Apr 4, 2020
- 1,516
- 4,347
I just don't think it fits Phantom at all, but to each their own.
Ah, that makes a bit more sense.
We're at a point where he's on the run and he's lost Christine. Why wouldn't he give everyone the same treatment that befell him? All the monsters in this maze are tragic monsters but Phantom is the only one who's an outright killer.
- Apr 4, 2020
- 1,516
- 4,347
Okay, putting it in that perspective actually does make more sense. Thank you for the clarification!
I think the idea for Quasimodo is that Esmerelda has been hung and he's now enraged/despairing over that loss. that's why he participates in the killing spree.
- Oct 9, 2016
- 1,522
- 1,994
It just feels a little bit more sparse than previous years, and compared to what little we know about Hollywood's this year from the Midsummer Scream panel.
Like it seems like this is some kind of darker timeline, where after Christine rejects Erik's appearance, he flies into a murderous rampage trying to inflict his own facial injury onto others, and seemingly burning Christine alive(?), Jack Griffin is just kinda there, presumably fleeing to paris after his initial murder spree rather than being caught and killed, Dr. Jekyll is also kinda just there, I guess fleeing his past but then Mr. Hyde comes out involuntarily again. Quasi is kinda a wild card in orlando, since I'm not sure we have any real reason for his behavior, though in the Hollywood panel it seemed like Esmeralda's death is what sent him over the edge and he's now taking out his revenge on the world, so if we're to assume Hollywood and Orlando share the same canon of backstory, it could be the same there.
Like I said, it seems like the story is essentially a darker timeline mashup of all their individual stories, but they really dont come together cohesively into the same story, theyre sort of just individual stories happening concurrently until the final scare.
That actually was part of a Phantom remake in the 80's starring Robert Englund as The Phantom.. but I agree, especially when I was hoping they'd design a cool porcelain mask for The Phantom, kinda like a hybrid of Chaney and Rains' masks
I think it’s telling that you see his mask on a ledge during your first encounter but the rest of the maze, it’s off. He’s accepted his role as a “monster”.
- Jun 28, 2017
- 1,822
- 2,302
In the UTH tour, it's stated that the person being burned behind the door in Phantoms section, is actually a rival actress to Christine. He's still doing this because of Christine, which implies she's still alive
- May 21, 2018
- 179
- 275
Well... can we really call what happens in the Invisible Man rooms carnage?
Joking aside, I admit you have made me rethink the story though. I think Invisible Man and Dr. J/Mr. H feel a little shoehorned in, almost like Phantom vs. Hunchback was the original idea and more monsters were forced in.
I can say this was never meant to be a Vs. house.
- Nov 9, 2019
- 980
- 1,969
The storytelling is there, but we have to dig a little too much to get it. Better Transitions in scenes would have been so more appreciated from going to each location and to each monster.
I actually really like this house, I like it a lot ( I even like this over Legends Collide.) but also a stronger reoccurring voiceover would have really made the house a lot easier to digest.
How deep do we have to really dig? You have the Cop at the bridge telling you about the murders and a newsboy shouting the headlines several times throughout the maze. You're walking through Paris, and the Monsters are there. That's it.
- Nov 9, 2019
- 980
- 1,969
So, the monsters are just there?How deep do we have to really dig? You have the Cop at the bridge telling you about the murders and a newsboy shouting the headlines several times throughout the maze. You're walking through Paris, and the Monsters are there. That's it.
There is no substance in that area, at all.
Why are they there? If it’s for a fun so they can just do their own thing and kill others, it should atleast be insinuated within the house. They have story beats and elements that just aren’t rounded out in the rest of the story of the house.
The opening is very good, but the newsboy atleast to me does not satisfy the bridging the cap between events in the house in a satisfying storytelling way.
A lot of these are nit picky claims but sometimes it’s best to be a harsh critic in the sake of hoping to get something better in the future.
half of the monsters are already in paris and it stands to reason that the other half of The Gang fled to escape law enforcement.
but ultimately, yes, they’re just there. if you went on a tour of the catacombs only to be attacked by these monsters, you probably would be less concerned with why they’re there.
I haven't been through the house yet, nor seen any footage, BUT I will say that not every house needs a complicated story. Some of the best houses are simple, and the plot doesn't need to be overly complex. "Monsters unmasked in Paris," got it.
Every house is going to have a different angle. Some houses will be simpler than others.
Legends Collide needed a big setup because we needed to know why 3 unrelated Monsters were fighting each other in Egypt.
