Sartana

SCARE ZONES The only two that stood out for me was The scare zones surrounding the BODY COLLECTORS entrance and the SKOOLHOUSE. The scare zone for BODY COLLECTORS was well placed in the creepiest part of the the studios and even though it is a relatively small section the scare actors were in good form. The SKOOLHOUSE had a very nice looking pumpkin patch as well as a creepy looking School House. The scare actors' costumes for this segment weren't exactly scary but well suited for this section. Evry other scare zone was mediocre at best. ASYLUM IN WONDERLAND was so brightly lit that nothing could possibly jump out and scare you. AMERICAN GOTHIC was a neat concept but was cheaply put together as was FRAGMENTED TALES which gets an award for WORST COSTUMES ever.

I have to say the last time I was impressed by this event was back in HHN 7. That was the only truly terrifying year for me. Of course one has to take my age into consideration at the time (I was 10) but nonetheless, if my memory serves me, the scare-actors were more enthusiastic than any other HHN event that I've been to and the overall presentation was tops compared to other years. Since 2004 it seems that Universal is more interested in making a quick buck than putting on a good show. They pack the park(s) to the limit and sell as much booze around every corner at all times of the night (if they were at all concerned about having customers to return in the following years they could at least have ths smarts to stop the selling of alcohol at least three hours before the park closes) making you (the hard paying customer) squeeze through a sea of rowdy drunks whilst avoiding puddles of puke that never seem to be cleaned up by the park janitors. All the while dealing with 2 to 3 hour wait times for medicore scare mazes. This is the reason I stopped going on fridays and saturdays. Sundays nights (and week nights) seem to conjure up less people, diminishing the ridiculously long lines, crowds and puke puddles. Unfortuntly it does nothing to the unmotivated scare-actors and lousy ideas/production values that go into making the houses and the scare zones. You would think with the amount of cash Universal makes on these things every year that we would finally see an HHN event where ALL the houses and scare zones are top notch material. While last year was kinda of a rarity, all the houses ranged from above average to excellent, this year was no exception to the HHN rule of the past 7 years, quantity over quality. Let's start with the houses... CREATURES: Pure uninspired fluff. just a bunch of people dressed up as hillbillies jumpin' out of corners and not doing much else. You would think with a title like CREATURES that we'd actually get to see something that resembled a creature!!!! There is one at the very end but I wouldn't have noticed it if I didn't squint my eyes at what looked to be like a pile of garbage bags. GRADE: F INTERSTELLAR TERROR: One word, FILLER. An "Alien" (the movie) rip off without the alien. Like "Creatures" a bunch of deformed humans are stalking you around a Nostromo like ship. The design of the house wouldn't be awful if it hadn't looked like they took pieces of THE THING (a much better sci-fi house) house, from last year, to make it. Just another rush job. GRADE: D- BODY COLLECTORS: Now this is more like it!!! Wonderful atmosphere, great production design (the London alley ways being the most effective) and actual scary figures after you. The most memorable part is a theatre full of these collectors watching an autopsy being conducted on a live victim! I was even treated to one Collector slashing the throat of a hooker. GRADE: A+ (Best in show) DOOMSDAY: Had to sacrifice this house so I could see the much talked about BLOODY MARY house and DEAD EXPOSURE. I was one of the 9 people in the states that actually saw the film on its release. It's an obvious rip off of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and MAD MAX but it was fun. REFLECTIONS OF FEAR: Not horrible but a huge let-down. I only spotted MARY once and the house seems totally void of any mirrors. I would have thought this house would concern itself with mirrors and lots of them. We just get another variation of a mad scientist conducting horrible experiments on his or her patients. You would think the title house would get better treatment. GRADE: C- DEAD EXPOSURE: Most likely the cheapest looking house in the whole event. They just seemed to put up paper mache zombies in empty rooms and couple them with scare actors so you wouldn't know which is which. What makes this dubious premise work is that it's pitch black except for the occasionally camera flash that lets you see your surroundings. A creative idea that I'd like to see improved in the years to come (making it longer would help). GRADE: B+ THE HALLOW: A solid affair. The best bit being where you are forced to walk through a hallway with dangling severed heads. Can't recall much else but I recall a lot of scare-actors in corny looking goat masks. I also recall coming out liking it. GRADE: C+ SCARY TALES: Production values were on par with BODY COLLECTORS but the scare-actors were totally not into it. It also seemed that there were a lot of rooms/halls with nothing in it. There was one memorable setting that has you rummaging through rapunzel and Alice (what does ALICE's ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND have to do with BROTHERS GRIMM exactly?) ripping out the insides of the white rabbit (or the Marsh Hare). What was most interesting however, was the presence of a few mirror gimicks. WHY oh WHY did this house and NOT "Reflections of Fear" have mirror scares? GRADE: B- I'll be back with my review of the scare zones if I feel up to it.