* Red Barn
Red Barn is another repeat maze, but there are a few changes from last year. It still features the redneck family worshipping horses and pigs while eating people kind of like Children of the Corn Sawyer family. The victims telling you where to go is a nice touch. Judging by the amount of severed limbs and bodies around, there would be a lot of victims running around the place. The undead horse thing never looks good. I wish they would update it with something because it looks ridiculous next to everything else. The new wooden doors and numerous cultish symbols make the rest of the maze cohesive. I was impressed by the trough in a cross shape underneath a body. It combines the cannibalism and religious aspects in one good image. The chainsaw chase at the end is good, but I didn't actually get to see it. Chainsaws always freak me out and I wish they could time it a little better. It's an overal improvement from lasty year even with the weird horse.
* Timber Mountain Log Ride Halloween Hootenany
This ride is so adorable! It's a more family friendly Halloween than the rest of the park, but I just find it delightful. Scare actors are peppered here and there, but they seem out of place with the more wholesome feel. The inside is peppered with cobwebs and black light so they glow. Projection effects have silhouettes of monsters here and there. Jack o'lanterns, aliens, bat-vampire hybrids, witches, and a band made up of horror movie monsters are added to the ride. It's all charming and adorable with fun music throughout. I love this addition to the Knott's.
* Scare Zones
The scare zones were pretty lackluster this year. The themes were fine, but there didn't seem to be enough actors. The fog is crazy as always, but the Day of the Dead themed section is never very scary. The actors were prompting people to dance and goes against the concept of the scare zone. The Carneval section wasn't as good this year and I don't even remember going through the Sleepy Hollow themed section at all. Get it together!
* Improvements!!!
Overall, Knott's Scary Farm improved so much. The makeup is on point. The sets are so much more detailed with appropriate lighting. They've started to incorporate better sound effects and soundtracks to each maze. Between rooms, they opted to have opaque barriers so what's on the other side is a true surprise. They even had those annoying strings in front of your faces that feel like spiders that Universal has used for years. The small details really make a difference. I had so much fun. In past years, the scares just wouldn't land with me. This year, almost every single one landed and there were a lot of surprises. The only downside for me was the lack of workers on the rides. It tales forever for people to put themselves in the ride on their own and it gets pretty crazy. Other than that, everything was pretty awesome. I'm so excited to go next year to see how they will change and become even better.
Showing posts with label halloween haunt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halloween haunt. Show all posts
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Knott's Halloween Haunt 2017 Part 2
* Voodoo
While much is the same from last year, the route of the maze is backwards with the swamp first and then the buildings. This one has a very unexpected scare with lighting, sound, and a good scare actor making an excellent jump scare. I'm used to seeing that at Universal, not at Knott's, so it's a sign of them changing their game and creating higher quality scares. The lighting is much more mysterious and creepy, filtering through the trees. The insde of the houses are basically the same. It's a basic culturally insensitive maze other than that. the scare actors on bungeeds are the only other impressive stunt. The snake at the end is pretty cheesy.
* Pumpkin Eater
Pumpkin Eater is a brand new maze that takes the traditional nursery rhyme and makes it creepy and murderous. He seems to skin people's faces or carve their faces like jack o'lanterns. Going inside pumpkin is an experience. The first couple encounters with the pumpkin guts hanging down from the ceiling are dry, but the last one is wet, making it feel just like real pumpkin guts. Very startling when you aren't expecting it. The pumpkin has tortured and dead people along its walls with projection effects to make it seem real. Afterwards is a creepy corn maze, a grinder full of people, and people filled pies in a smoky oven. It's the most unique concept I've seen in a while and it offered quite a few scares.
* Dark Ride
Dark Ride is also a new maze that takes you into a defunct carnival ride where something obviously went wrong what with the dead bodies. It's a fun mixture of obviously fake cheesy scares and something that feels truly wrong. The scary tree scene is pretty much stolen from the Snow White Ride. Other rooms include a haunted library, weird neon electrocultions, and a pretty impress (but damaged) giant dragon. The Danny Elfman-esque soundtrack helps as does the effect when the power briefly goes out, stalling the animatronics, the lights, and the music. It seems that ex-workers have turned it into their torture chamber. It's an interesting concept, but it's missing something.
* Shadow Lands
This lackluster maze is back as another culturally insensitive installment. Samurai aren't really scary even when they're dead. Neither are geishas with loud fans. The only interesting part is the stuttery spider walk (which is missed in the video) of a long haired ghost woman. Everything else is painfully awkward and simply not scary. It's just a step above from the cowboy mazes.
While much is the same from last year, the route of the maze is backwards with the swamp first and then the buildings. This one has a very unexpected scare with lighting, sound, and a good scare actor making an excellent jump scare. I'm used to seeing that at Universal, not at Knott's, so it's a sign of them changing their game and creating higher quality scares. The lighting is much more mysterious and creepy, filtering through the trees. The insde of the houses are basically the same. It's a basic culturally insensitive maze other than that. the scare actors on bungeeds are the only other impressive stunt. The snake at the end is pretty cheesy.
* Pumpkin Eater
Pumpkin Eater is a brand new maze that takes the traditional nursery rhyme and makes it creepy and murderous. He seems to skin people's faces or carve their faces like jack o'lanterns. Going inside pumpkin is an experience. The first couple encounters with the pumpkin guts hanging down from the ceiling are dry, but the last one is wet, making it feel just like real pumpkin guts. Very startling when you aren't expecting it. The pumpkin has tortured and dead people along its walls with projection effects to make it seem real. Afterwards is a creepy corn maze, a grinder full of people, and people filled pies in a smoky oven. It's the most unique concept I've seen in a while and it offered quite a few scares.
* Dark Ride
Dark Ride is also a new maze that takes you into a defunct carnival ride where something obviously went wrong what with the dead bodies. It's a fun mixture of obviously fake cheesy scares and something that feels truly wrong. The scary tree scene is pretty much stolen from the Snow White Ride. Other rooms include a haunted library, weird neon electrocultions, and a pretty impress (but damaged) giant dragon. The Danny Elfman-esque soundtrack helps as does the effect when the power briefly goes out, stalling the animatronics, the lights, and the music. It seems that ex-workers have turned it into their torture chamber. It's an interesting concept, but it's missing something.
* Shadow Lands
This lackluster maze is back as another culturally insensitive installment. Samurai aren't really scary even when they're dead. Neither are geishas with loud fans. The only interesting part is the stuttery spider walk (which is missed in the video) of a long haired ghost woman. Everything else is painfully awkward and simply not scary. It's just a step above from the cowboy mazes.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Part 3
* American Horror Story: Roanoke
Roanoke starts with the human sacrificing colonists and the Butcher. We enter a small replica of the beautiful house. The ghosts of the colonists attack throughout the house. The scene with bloody items (no idea what they were) moving by themselves on the wall was weird and I didn't remember anything like it on the show. The nurses who murder people based on their names and ghost Edward Phillippe Mott appear, but the figure most seen is the Pig Man. I didn't really find him that iconic of a character and it was similar to the Saw maze. The backwoods cannibal family is included with the stomach churning leg flaying scene. Overall, this maze was on par with the meh season of American Horror Story.
* The Walking Dead
This year, The Walking Dead maze is a permanent fixture in the park. Because it's not going to be torn down any time soon, it's much more immersive and realistic than it has been in previous years. The rooms where people wait look just like the hospital Rick woke up in complete with missing ceiling tiles, blood splatter and bloody handprints on the wall, and random hospital stuff and trash. I love that they included the iconic bicycle girl, one of the first zombies Rick ever encounters. The fire effects in the next room were the best I've seen at such an event and felt realistc. The windows with zombies crowding around them were a nice touch to make it feel like the zombie apocalypse. The truck with the dismembered zombies was unexpected and so were the pens with numerous zombies. My only gripe is that too many of those zombies are stationary and obviously statues. This maze is on much larger scale than any I've seen before and very high quality. This was one of my favorites.
* Insidious: Beyond the Further
I do not like the Insidious movies and I do not like this maze. The last Insidious maze from 2 years ago had surprising scares, but this one is completely lackluster. The first room is clearly the one they used for The Exorcist and there's no scare in it. There is an overabundance of dummies in the maze. They just don't inspire fear. People seem to be committing horrific acts of murder, but it doesn't work as a jump scare. The man strangling his daughter in her bed and the woman possibly going to stab her infant are creepy in theory and not so much in the maze. The narration throughout the maze was more annoying because it was hard to hear at times. The screams of the ghosts grew repetitive. The best part of the maze is the makeup of the demon at the beginning and the Tiny Tim song Tiptoe Through the Tulips. This one had the longest wait probably in anticipation of the new movie, but I was extremely underwhelmed by the maze. The end is similar to the Titans of Terror maze, but half of the Insidious villains looked goofy rather than scary.
Universal's Halloween Horror Nights gets better every single year. This year, the RIP tour was reintroduced, which was a little different. It includes a delicious buffet dinner, 2 alcoholic beverages, valet parking, and a guide through all the mazes plus the Terror Tram. This means that my group cut in front of the entire line for each maze, but there was very little rest time or breaks in between. I would have liked to go on the rides instead of backtracking and riding them later. In the 4 hours we walked around, there were 2 bathroom breaks and no time to just rest. It's tiring walking around for so long and a little rest time would have been nice. Other than that, the RIP tour is worth the money and I hope it's slightly re-evaluated for next year. I can't wait for next year to see what other movies they will bring to life.
Roanoke starts with the human sacrificing colonists and the Butcher. We enter a small replica of the beautiful house. The ghosts of the colonists attack throughout the house. The scene with bloody items (no idea what they were) moving by themselves on the wall was weird and I didn't remember anything like it on the show. The nurses who murder people based on their names and ghost Edward Phillippe Mott appear, but the figure most seen is the Pig Man. I didn't really find him that iconic of a character and it was similar to the Saw maze. The backwoods cannibal family is included with the stomach churning leg flaying scene. Overall, this maze was on par with the meh season of American Horror Story.
* The Walking Dead
This year, The Walking Dead maze is a permanent fixture in the park. Because it's not going to be torn down any time soon, it's much more immersive and realistic than it has been in previous years. The rooms where people wait look just like the hospital Rick woke up in complete with missing ceiling tiles, blood splatter and bloody handprints on the wall, and random hospital stuff and trash. I love that they included the iconic bicycle girl, one of the first zombies Rick ever encounters. The fire effects in the next room were the best I've seen at such an event and felt realistc. The windows with zombies crowding around them were a nice touch to make it feel like the zombie apocalypse. The truck with the dismembered zombies was unexpected and so were the pens with numerous zombies. My only gripe is that too many of those zombies are stationary and obviously statues. This maze is on much larger scale than any I've seen before and very high quality. This was one of my favorites.
* Insidious: Beyond the Further
I do not like the Insidious movies and I do not like this maze. The last Insidious maze from 2 years ago had surprising scares, but this one is completely lackluster. The first room is clearly the one they used for The Exorcist and there's no scare in it. There is an overabundance of dummies in the maze. They just don't inspire fear. People seem to be committing horrific acts of murder, but it doesn't work as a jump scare. The man strangling his daughter in her bed and the woman possibly going to stab her infant are creepy in theory and not so much in the maze. The narration throughout the maze was more annoying because it was hard to hear at times. The screams of the ghosts grew repetitive. The best part of the maze is the makeup of the demon at the beginning and the Tiny Tim song Tiptoe Through the Tulips. This one had the longest wait probably in anticipation of the new movie, but I was extremely underwhelmed by the maze. The end is similar to the Titans of Terror maze, but half of the Insidious villains looked goofy rather than scary.
Universal's Halloween Horror Nights gets better every single year. This year, the RIP tour was reintroduced, which was a little different. It includes a delicious buffet dinner, 2 alcoholic beverages, valet parking, and a guide through all the mazes plus the Terror Tram. This means that my group cut in front of the entire line for each maze, but there was very little rest time or breaks in between. I would have liked to go on the rides instead of backtracking and riding them later. In the 4 hours we walked around, there were 2 bathroom breaks and no time to just rest. It's tiring walking around for so long and a little rest time would have been nice. Other than that, the RIP tour is worth the money and I hope it's slightly re-evaluated for next year. I can't wait for next year to see what other movies they will bring to life.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Part 2
* Titans of Terror
I love how the maze starts: with an uber-horror fan's room decorated with all things Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface complete with a horror host on the TV. Each villain gets their own section of the maze, separated by rooms lit by different colored, high placed lights and fog, effectivley blinding the viewer. First is Freddy Krueger, introduced by his creepy nursery rhyme sung by children. Walking into his boiler room was like stepping into one of my favorite movies. The kill where his claw goes through a victim was so unexpected. The missing signs with skull superimposed over the children's faces with light is an incredible effect for a maze. The giant bone stroller gives the right amount of weird and cheesy that Freddy embodies. The sound effects of Freddy eating a child are absolutely disgusting even if the placement of the Freddy snake thing made it look super phallic.
The last two sections are much shorter than Freddy's. Second is Jason Voorhees, introduced with his whispers and by his mother. The maze starts when Camp Crystal Lake is defunct, which is accurate to the movies since Jason as villain doesn't show until the second film. It delves into his mommy issues as his mother plays a lullaby for him and compliments him while viewers are struggling through his waterlogged victims. This section seemed less detailed. I wanted to see his shrine to his mother with her mummified head. Last but not least is Leatherface, introduced by that chilling, flatly delivered news report at the beginning of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The very next scene is taken from the second movie, which disappointed me since Chop Top is so annoying. We get a glimpse into the Sawyer's grotesque kitchen with skinned and groundup people plus Leatherface working on a living victims, sawing them in half and cutting off their faces. I love the last three rooms, which are three rapidfire jumpscares with all 3 villains. Very effective if you go through with the right timing. This was my favorite maze of all because it was like stepping into two of my favorite movies. (Sorry Jason, your films aren't great.)
* Titans of Terror Tram hosted by Chucky
Chucky hosts the Terror Tram this year with his signature humor and bloodlust. He states the stats of all three killers. Jason is the most prolific with 146 kills over 12 movies. Freddy has only killed 35 people in 8 movies while Leatherface is only responsible for 23 kills. Of course Chucky markets his new movie Cult of Chucky (or he will kill the audience and the driver). At the end of the tram ride, he vows to kill as many of us as possible to catch up with the other villains. A crowd of Chucky's come at us with chainsaw as we leave the maze. It's a good effect and gives a clue to the twist in the new movie, but grown people look pretty ridiculous in Chucky costumes.
Jason is first here with the Camp Crystal Lake Motel. Most of the kills are so much better than the maze: a girl being in the back with a paddle, another's whole body being bent backwards by a folding bed, Jason shoving a girl's face into a circular blade sharpener, putting counselors in front of archery targets, and closing a vise on a victims head. Leatherface is next, starting with Chop Top and a corpse attacked to the front of his body right out of Texas Chainsaw 2. We enter the Sawyer Meat Plant where we are the food, attacked by various Sawyer family members with the uncomfortable sounds of squealing pigs.
The Freddy costumes for the plane crash set are inspired: Freddy is a grandma, a policeman, an EMT, a pilot, a teen athlete, and so many others. The sounds of his glove scraping by the metal dividers and his nursery rhyme accompanies the scene. Then comes the Sawyer Rendering Plant and that same flatly delivered new report. Unfortunately, the scenes that follow are exactly the same as the Titans of Terror maze. All the other villains got different scenes, but not Leatherface. Unfair and poor decision making.
More to come!
I love how the maze starts: with an uber-horror fan's room decorated with all things Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface complete with a horror host on the TV. Each villain gets their own section of the maze, separated by rooms lit by different colored, high placed lights and fog, effectivley blinding the viewer. First is Freddy Krueger, introduced by his creepy nursery rhyme sung by children. Walking into his boiler room was like stepping into one of my favorite movies. The kill where his claw goes through a victim was so unexpected. The missing signs with skull superimposed over the children's faces with light is an incredible effect for a maze. The giant bone stroller gives the right amount of weird and cheesy that Freddy embodies. The sound effects of Freddy eating a child are absolutely disgusting even if the placement of the Freddy snake thing made it look super phallic.
The last two sections are much shorter than Freddy's. Second is Jason Voorhees, introduced with his whispers and by his mother. The maze starts when Camp Crystal Lake is defunct, which is accurate to the movies since Jason as villain doesn't show until the second film. It delves into his mommy issues as his mother plays a lullaby for him and compliments him while viewers are struggling through his waterlogged victims. This section seemed less detailed. I wanted to see his shrine to his mother with her mummified head. Last but not least is Leatherface, introduced by that chilling, flatly delivered news report at the beginning of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The very next scene is taken from the second movie, which disappointed me since Chop Top is so annoying. We get a glimpse into the Sawyer's grotesque kitchen with skinned and groundup people plus Leatherface working on a living victims, sawing them in half and cutting off their faces. I love the last three rooms, which are three rapidfire jumpscares with all 3 villains. Very effective if you go through with the right timing. This was my favorite maze of all because it was like stepping into two of my favorite movies. (Sorry Jason, your films aren't great.)
* Titans of Terror Tram hosted by Chucky
Chucky hosts the Terror Tram this year with his signature humor and bloodlust. He states the stats of all three killers. Jason is the most prolific with 146 kills over 12 movies. Freddy has only killed 35 people in 8 movies while Leatherface is only responsible for 23 kills. Of course Chucky markets his new movie Cult of Chucky (or he will kill the audience and the driver). At the end of the tram ride, he vows to kill as many of us as possible to catch up with the other villains. A crowd of Chucky's come at us with chainsaw as we leave the maze. It's a good effect and gives a clue to the twist in the new movie, but grown people look pretty ridiculous in Chucky costumes.
Jason is first here with the Camp Crystal Lake Motel. Most of the kills are so much better than the maze: a girl being in the back with a paddle, another's whole body being bent backwards by a folding bed, Jason shoving a girl's face into a circular blade sharpener, putting counselors in front of archery targets, and closing a vise on a victims head. Leatherface is next, starting with Chop Top and a corpse attacked to the front of his body right out of Texas Chainsaw 2. We enter the Sawyer Meat Plant where we are the food, attacked by various Sawyer family members with the uncomfortable sounds of squealing pigs.
The Freddy costumes for the plane crash set are inspired: Freddy is a grandma, a policeman, an EMT, a pilot, a teen athlete, and so many others. The sounds of his glove scraping by the metal dividers and his nursery rhyme accompanies the scene. Then comes the Sawyer Rendering Plant and that same flatly delivered new report. Unfortunately, the scenes that follow are exactly the same as the Titans of Terror maze. All the other villains got different scenes, but not Leatherface. Unfair and poor decision making.
More to come!
Friday, October 10, 2014
Knott's Scary Farm 2014
This is the second year in a row that I've been to Knott's Halloween Haunt and it was a mixed bag this year. I went with my sister and we got the Fright Lane passes that allow you to bypass the lines for the mazes and the Skeleton Key pass that allows access to an extra scare room at the beginning of some of the mazes.
The Good
* The Tooth Fairy
This was my favorite maze of the night. The concept is freaky and that drill whine throughout the maze gets to you. The actors were much better when I saw it. The child's room with the giant mout door is genius. The room with the mouths lining the walls was different than anything I've seen there. Everything passed the children's room was rusty and dirty looking and deliciously creepy. There were figures on the wall with wings made of their own flesh and bone. Before the room with the cage, one of the characters was screaming at us to turn back and save ourselves, but of course we went forward anyway. I felt like a typical horror movie character ignoring warnings and running towards danger. Good maze all around.
* Forevermore
This is a repeat from last year. A murderer kills people inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe. It was good last year and it's good this year. The image of the nurse chained to giant raven wings with a bird mask is very striking and one of the most memorable of the night. The bird masks are way better than last year and evoke more discomfort in the viewer because they are victims instead of attackers. The tableau right inside the psychiatric hospital was well done and more eerie with the blinding lights. I love the recitation of the tales based on them. The only ones lacking were the Cask of Amontillo and The Masque of the Red Death.
* Black Magic
Infinitely better than last year! The Skeleton Key room is much creepier with an actual Houdini actor. The room with the women's faces all over was really creepy and well done. There was even an actor with her face removed in the room with impressively realistic makeup. The mirror maze is disorienting. The giant rabbit was weird, but not horrible. So many better choices were made to make the maze much scarier than last year.
* Voodoo
This one is brand new and had the best Skeleton Key room. You are led into coffins for a spell to protect you from demons. It's a little freaky and not for the claustrophobic. The atmosphere captures the hot Louisiana weather and vibe. This maze is actually a little bit longer than the others because of the trip through the cemetery. Most of the maze is outside, which is different than the others. The waters are filled with the dead and crocodiles that were a subtle touch that you really had to look for. One of the best of the night.
The OK
* Pinnochio Unstrung
This is another repeat from last year. I think I might have missed it last year somehow. The Skeleton Key room tells how Pinnochio became a real boy, but it was taken all away by the Blue Fairy because he told a lie. Now, he wants to kill her and wear her skin to become real his own way. The concept is very cool, but the maze is OK. My favorite room was the one where we enter Monstro's mouth and walk with his skeleton above us. I liked the overall puppet and circus theme and the last room with the giant Pinnochio is impressive. Other than that, the scares were a bit lackluster and the characters underwhelming.
* Trick or Treat
This one is a little worse than last year. The gothic, classic horror mood was missing except for the very first room with all the jack o'lanterns lining the staircase. The only new part I liked was the devil coming out from under the bed. The last room and the ghosts wearing sheets were particularly disappointing.
* Witch's Keep
Much better than last year. The Calico Mine Ride is more infused with the witch's story. It's a much better integration than last year, but the ride itself is still kind of boring.
* Dominion of the Damned
A little worse than last year. The paintings I loved are still there. The final room was disappointing. The overall air of sophisticated, cultured vampires was maintained. The Skeleton Key room was interesting since I was made to feed Renfield's "plants." The best part was the walls made of human flesh. Not sure what it has to do with vampires unless it's just their kind of decor, but it looked amazing. Very Hellraiser.
The Bad
* The Boo-fet
My sister and I went to the Boo-fet buffet before the park because it came with early access to the park. The event was way, way overbooked. We didn't get to eat at our time, rendering the early access useless since we were still eating when the park opened. They wouldn't allow us to just get our passes and go into the park to eat there. The food was cold and disgusting after all the waiting. Characters are in the hall to harass you as you eat. I just want to eat my food. We won't be making that mistake again.
* Gunslinger's Grave
Again, these are just cowboy bandits. Nothing supernatural about them. It's just not scary at all. Cowboys do not incite fear and neither do saloon girls. I wish they would have kept the Apocalypse maze from last year instead of this uninspired garbage.
* The Hanging
The Hanging is an uninspired show that parodies everything pop culture over the last year. It's crass, crude, and just immature. The only part that made me laugh was the Do You Want to Have a Hanging song to the tune of Do You Want to Build a Snowman. Everything else was shoddily done, horrible costumes, and a bunch of fake blood.
* The overall quality and condition of the park
The quality of the mazes, actors, and makeup are far inferior to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. I still enjoyed the event, but I was never scared. I enjoyed the sets and storylines of the mazes, but the actors seemed annoying to me and not a part of the attraction. They favored screaming (sometimes right in my ear) and making loud noises which quickly loses effect and becomes bothersome.
The park is not well kept. No one was picking up trash and it piled up over the course of the night. Many of the attractions were shortstaffed. On Jaguar, the guests were seating themselves which was chaos and made the line infinitely longer than it should. Some mazes had multiple rooms with no actors in them when there should have been based on repeat visits or videos online. Smoking and vaping are unfortunately allowed everywhere in the park. So many people were smoking everywhere that I couldn't get away from it. The smell saturated my hair and clothing and it was just gross.
Every little thing costs extra money. To get the VIP experience at Universal, it costs $200, but includes front of the line passes for mazes and rides, the VIP lounge, the all you can eat buffet, 2 alcoholic drinks, valet parking, a special Terror Tram experience, and a tour guide for the Terror Tram and 3 mazes. The Skeleton Key and Fright Lane pass costs about $100. The horrible buffet is an extra $30; the front of the line passes for the rides costs an extra minimum $35; and the parking alone was $20. That makes Knott's cost almost the same as Universal with nothing near the same quality in general.
The overall experience is far inferior than practically any other theme park in my area, so I may not bother with Knott's anymore. Next year, my sister and I plan to try the Queen Mary Dark Harbor event instead.
The Good
* The Tooth Fairy
This was my favorite maze of the night. The concept is freaky and that drill whine throughout the maze gets to you. The actors were much better when I saw it. The child's room with the giant mout door is genius. The room with the mouths lining the walls was different than anything I've seen there. Everything passed the children's room was rusty and dirty looking and deliciously creepy. There were figures on the wall with wings made of their own flesh and bone. Before the room with the cage, one of the characters was screaming at us to turn back and save ourselves, but of course we went forward anyway. I felt like a typical horror movie character ignoring warnings and running towards danger. Good maze all around.
* Forevermore
This is a repeat from last year. A murderer kills people inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe. It was good last year and it's good this year. The image of the nurse chained to giant raven wings with a bird mask is very striking and one of the most memorable of the night. The bird masks are way better than last year and evoke more discomfort in the viewer because they are victims instead of attackers. The tableau right inside the psychiatric hospital was well done and more eerie with the blinding lights. I love the recitation of the tales based on them. The only ones lacking were the Cask of Amontillo and The Masque of the Red Death.
* Black Magic
Infinitely better than last year! The Skeleton Key room is much creepier with an actual Houdini actor. The room with the women's faces all over was really creepy and well done. There was even an actor with her face removed in the room with impressively realistic makeup. The mirror maze is disorienting. The giant rabbit was weird, but not horrible. So many better choices were made to make the maze much scarier than last year.
* Voodoo
This one is brand new and had the best Skeleton Key room. You are led into coffins for a spell to protect you from demons. It's a little freaky and not for the claustrophobic. The atmosphere captures the hot Louisiana weather and vibe. This maze is actually a little bit longer than the others because of the trip through the cemetery. Most of the maze is outside, which is different than the others. The waters are filled with the dead and crocodiles that were a subtle touch that you really had to look for. One of the best of the night.
The OK
* Pinnochio Unstrung
This is another repeat from last year. I think I might have missed it last year somehow. The Skeleton Key room tells how Pinnochio became a real boy, but it was taken all away by the Blue Fairy because he told a lie. Now, he wants to kill her and wear her skin to become real his own way. The concept is very cool, but the maze is OK. My favorite room was the one where we enter Monstro's mouth and walk with his skeleton above us. I liked the overall puppet and circus theme and the last room with the giant Pinnochio is impressive. Other than that, the scares were a bit lackluster and the characters underwhelming.
* Trick or Treat
This one is a little worse than last year. The gothic, classic horror mood was missing except for the very first room with all the jack o'lanterns lining the staircase. The only new part I liked was the devil coming out from under the bed. The last room and the ghosts wearing sheets were particularly disappointing.
* Witch's Keep
Much better than last year. The Calico Mine Ride is more infused with the witch's story. It's a much better integration than last year, but the ride itself is still kind of boring.
* Dominion of the Damned
A little worse than last year. The paintings I loved are still there. The final room was disappointing. The overall air of sophisticated, cultured vampires was maintained. The Skeleton Key room was interesting since I was made to feed Renfield's "plants." The best part was the walls made of human flesh. Not sure what it has to do with vampires unless it's just their kind of decor, but it looked amazing. Very Hellraiser.
The Bad
* The Boo-fet
My sister and I went to the Boo-fet buffet before the park because it came with early access to the park. The event was way, way overbooked. We didn't get to eat at our time, rendering the early access useless since we were still eating when the park opened. They wouldn't allow us to just get our passes and go into the park to eat there. The food was cold and disgusting after all the waiting. Characters are in the hall to harass you as you eat. I just want to eat my food. We won't be making that mistake again.
* Gunslinger's Grave
Again, these are just cowboy bandits. Nothing supernatural about them. It's just not scary at all. Cowboys do not incite fear and neither do saloon girls. I wish they would have kept the Apocalypse maze from last year instead of this uninspired garbage.
* The Hanging
The Hanging is an uninspired show that parodies everything pop culture over the last year. It's crass, crude, and just immature. The only part that made me laugh was the Do You Want to Have a Hanging song to the tune of Do You Want to Build a Snowman. Everything else was shoddily done, horrible costumes, and a bunch of fake blood.
* The overall quality and condition of the park
The quality of the mazes, actors, and makeup are far inferior to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. I still enjoyed the event, but I was never scared. I enjoyed the sets and storylines of the mazes, but the actors seemed annoying to me and not a part of the attraction. They favored screaming (sometimes right in my ear) and making loud noises which quickly loses effect and becomes bothersome.
The park is not well kept. No one was picking up trash and it piled up over the course of the night. Many of the attractions were shortstaffed. On Jaguar, the guests were seating themselves which was chaos and made the line infinitely longer than it should. Some mazes had multiple rooms with no actors in them when there should have been based on repeat visits or videos online. Smoking and vaping are unfortunately allowed everywhere in the park. So many people were smoking everywhere that I couldn't get away from it. The smell saturated my hair and clothing and it was just gross.
Every little thing costs extra money. To get the VIP experience at Universal, it costs $200, but includes front of the line passes for mazes and rides, the VIP lounge, the all you can eat buffet, 2 alcoholic drinks, valet parking, a special Terror Tram experience, and a tour guide for the Terror Tram and 3 mazes. The Skeleton Key and Fright Lane pass costs about $100. The horrible buffet is an extra $30; the front of the line passes for the rides costs an extra minimum $35; and the parking alone was $20. That makes Knott's cost almost the same as Universal with nothing near the same quality in general.
The overall experience is far inferior than practically any other theme park in my area, so I may not bother with Knott's anymore. Next year, my sister and I plan to try the Queen Mary Dark Harbor event instead.
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