Halloween Horror Nights 2018 at Universal Studios Hollywood has FINALLY arrived and the event is showing a promising return to form. Rising from last year’s lackluster showing, Creative Director John Murdy and Art Director Chris Williams have been given a wide range of properties to toy with. There is plenty of nightmare fuel with properties like Stranger Things, Halloween 4, Trick R’ Treat, and the entire collection of classic Universal Monsters at their disposal. That is not to mention two mazes based on Blumhouse properties, The Walking Dead permanent attraction, The Terror Tram, and the breakout star of the event Poltergeist.
No, there are still the usual hurdles that Hollywood must contend with. We end up with the same route for the Terror Tram, we have a painful lack of non-IP-based maze ideas, and a limited but sprawling footprint. Yet, somehow, the challenges seem to have been embraced and even utilized to greater effect this year lending to an overall better experience.
Let’s get to the scares.
Mazes
This is, as Murdy put it in one of his many tweets, a year that caters to so many different tastes in horror. From pop-culture and cult favorites to classics, Universal has delivered nicely. It’s a shame to have to report that boo boxes black walls are recurrent vices again for Hollywood HHN. Jason Blum is back with his own brand of horror with not one, but two mazes this year. Despite that, this is a much better collection of walkthrough mazes for 2018 fully worth the price of admission.
HALLOWEEN 4
Okay, so truth be told I am a gigantic Michael Myers fan. Somehow though, I never got on the Halloween 4 train. Does that matter if you are just going to enjoy a good scare? Nope. This maze based on the film Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, is exactly what you would hope it would be. Darkness, Myers, Loomis, and a crap-ton of Halloween III references. Good and scary, enjoyable fun.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”82″]UNIVERSAL MONSTERS
A passion project for John Murdy, Universal Monsters was an attempt at introducing these classic creatures to modern audiences. Aided by the prolific SLASH who wrote an original score for the maze, Universal Monsters successfully straddles the fans of old an new.
Beginning at an abandoned cemetery that is peppered with graffiti, we enter the gates and venture through the hallowed grounds of the past. Soon the memories of these brilliant monsters spring to life and we wander through visceral adaptations of such icons as Frankenstein, Dracula, The Invisible Man, and The Wolf us man among others.
There is a certain substance to the nasties of the past. Rooted in European folklore and literature, the monsters that terrified audiences of the 20’s-40’s have a weight to them. Murdy valiantly attempts to connect the social media generation with monsters of greater depth with a few key choices, most of which work.
We have the modern electric guitar-driven score, which is actually quite good by the way. We have the updating of the look of each monster, ever so slightly, and we have the very apparent choice of vibrant, living color in the art direction. Nothing looks or feels retro, vintage, or campy. Instead, there appears to be the attempt to connect through rapid-fire scares, eye-popping color, and ear-busting sound.
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BlumHouse of Horrors 2
The premise is great, we approach, once again, the nasty, decrepit movie theater that is home to the vile creations of Blumhouse Productions. It’s a bummer that Mr. Blum has offered two undeniable stinkers as the basis for this year’s maze. Truth or Dare and Unfriended (the original film is barely fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) were neither critical or box office successes. Somehow though, we have ended up with a maze of both of them.
Truth Or Dare begins with the old abandoned Tiajuana mission where the cursed game begins. We are then subject to the grinning monsters, demanding we play a real game of Truth or Dare. What is confounding is that the original film had no real set pieces to string a walkthrough on. Next is the inexplicable choice to build a maze based on a film that takes place entirely on chat screens. Truly one of the biggest headscratchers of the year. The adaptation only works slightly and, well, meh.
The real treat for this maze is the third act. We leave the two mediocre horror pics and wander back into the haunted cinema. This section worked well and became the pleasant topper to an otherwise bland maze. In fact, you could even call it the one original maze in the lot.
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Poltergeist
Best maze of the night goes to Poltergeist.
We can agree that Poltergeist, the original, was easily one of the best horror films ever made. turning what was then, a modern home, into a creepy AF haunted house, the movie made generations apoplectic at the site of clowns, static tv, and raw steak.
Murdy’s demand for details works perfectly for this maze. We approach the 80’s tract home as lights flutter inside the home while Jerry Goldsmith’s brilliant score accompanies the chaos. Immediately we see Carol Ann in front of the TV while an entity undulates on the wall above her. The ectoplasm has already hit the fan when we arrive and we are pelted with a relentless collection of the best scenes from the film, brought to life, inches from our face.
One sour note; just after the first third of the maze we are subjected to an inexplicable long, black hallway. WHY??? this makes no sense and only screams of seas in the budget.
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Overall though, Poltergeist is the one DO NOT MISS of HHN 2018. This maze is a great mix of technical wizardry and live theatre that Halloween Horror Nights has become known for.
The First Purge
Guys, we really need to call this one. The Purge is not scary. It is disturbing but hardly scary. Wandering a dystopian wasteland, we enter a world where The purge is a new idea and everyone is taking advantage of their newfound freedom to murder, kill, and vandalize.
We go from scene to scene waiting for something far more interesting to happen to no avail.
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Highlights include a room full of department store mannequins, more stuff that is destroyed, and boo boxes.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”117″]Let’s be totally fair here, the talent brings it in this maze. Probably more than any other. They are lunging and cavorting non-stop in an attempt to bring visceral terror to the proceedings. Props to them.
Trick R Treat
Trick r Treat is easily the second best Halloween films ever made. A bold statement to be sure, but it is true. The rabid fan base (yours truly included) are responsible for the film’s survival and for the unbelievable, self-defeating anticipation this property brings with it.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”66″]Trick R’ Treat the maze is a mixed bag but man, what a fun one. Hearing the music from the opening titles, seeing the home from the beginning of the movie, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I was about to enter the world of Trick R Treat! No, instead of going into the home, we veer off to the right and around the corner, into a back alley where the first scares are hidden. Scenes are broken up with brief titles, introducing each new scene; The Principal, The Surprise Party, Meet Sam. It was thrilling to FINALLY be in the world of Trick R Treat, yet as a walkthrough, the clever callbacks to other stories is tricky.
Visually striking, yet somehow disjointed, Trick R Treat will be a feast for fans of the film and may leave the uninitiated a bit confused. Our advice? SEE THE MOVIE AND ENJOY THE MAZE!!!
Stranger Things
Stranger Things brings a tremendous amount of anticipation to it. The wildly popular show on Netflix has finished the second season with a third in the works. Lines on opening night topped 175 minutes as eager fans ambled toward the entrance of the huge soundstage holding the maze.
Easily the most visually consistent of the mazes this year, Stranger Things successfully brings to life the scenes that viewers crave to be a part of.
Scare Zones
A bumper crop of scare zones this year yields mostly wonderful results
Hell’s Harvest
The introduction to the park, Hell’s Harvest is a demonic-tinted section of the event that competes with visitor interest amid the dubstep music and flashing lights. The scene works well enough to get the ball rolling.
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Trick R Treat
Yes, there is a maze on the lower lot. That doesn’t matter as this is actually the perfect way to really kick off the scares. Again, just see the movie.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”88″]One note that I would have is wondering how this would have worked on the lower lot, on the path leading to the maze in front of Transformers. Fire Towers, lights, all of the craziness, it would have captured the town festival referenced in the movie perfectly and made sense to have guests wander to the maze, keeping the story going.
Monster Masquerade
A perfect example of scare zone and maze working in tandem, the Monster Masquerade serves as a free-flowing exit path out of the Universal Monsters maze. A nice way to ease back into the crowds, we are treated to more of the music by Slash and the classic monsters luring their prey.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”86″]Toxxic Tunnel
It’s a shame that something more effective can’t be devised for this space. A long tunnel that guests must use to make the trek to the metro sets, Toxxic Tunnel (with two Xs) is a disorienting experience filled with flashy lights, music, and monsters. Really there isn’t much more that you can do with this particular spot but, okay.
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Holidayz in Hell
The best scare zone of the bunch, Holidays in Hell serves as another directional walkway into the metro sets. However, this is actually a hell of a lot of fun. Every holiday from New Years to Valentines Day to Dia De Los Muertos is here filled with thrashing monsters and plenty of fog. The finale to this section is the return of Dark Christmas which brought a little tear to my eye. PLEASE can we have this scare zone back as a new zone or full maze? Pretty please?
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”70″]Terror Tram
Okay, wow. Hollywood Harry’s Deadtime Stories is fun and surprisingly clever. Told in the verse style of a children’s bedtime story, Terror Tram breaks things up by giving each section of scares its own story.
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JABBAWOCKEEZ
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”90″]Again the Jabbawockeez bring their own gender and race-neutral dance show to HHN. A major improvement over last year, this edition feels fresh. Yes, we have the same show beats that we are used to; the oddball set up, the audience participation moment, the audience cheer competition bit, and so on. I honestly can’t point my finger on it, but this show just felt like a far more cohesive presentation. It’s also a great way to sit for a minute and rest your feet.
Universal Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights 2018 is a success. A much stronger year than 2017, there is a consistency to the efforts in each scare zone and maze. The Terror Tram has been made enjoyable this year, A HUGE PLUS for me personally, and the majority of the mazes were scary and entertaining. That’s not to mention the wide variety of scare zones that keep things going in between mazes.
John Murdy and Christ Williams, Thank you! This was a great year! See you in the fog!
“Halloween Horror Nights,” Southern California’s most extreme Halloween event, continues on September 15-16, 20-22, 26-30, October 4-7, 11-14, 18-21, 25-28, 31, and November 1-3, 2018.
