Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights opens its gates this week. Creative Director John Murdy led a sneak peek at a couple of the Hollywood theme park maze offerings with two returning franchises Halloween and Insidious for this year’s event.
Here are the things you won’t wanna miss while being terrified:
Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home
In the Halloween Maze for this year’s haunt, John Murdy brings Carpenter’s iconic Michael Myers back to lurk in the shadows of his hometown. The front facade of the Myers home has been modeled much like the one in the film, in it’s decayed and haunted state that both he and Dr. Loomis find it in and that the Strode family sell it as.
Dialogue from the film will guide haunt goers. We will hear Dr. Loomis talk about the dog Michael eats which we do not see in the movie but will get to witness the grisly nature of it in the Myers home section of the haunt.
Some of the iconic scenes that will be recreated with Scare-actors include Bob’s death in Lydia’s kitchen. The team over at HHN went all out in painstakingly giving the sets a 70’s feel to put you right in the action. Seriously, right down to the television playing the Silver Shamrock Toy Factory’s Halloween commercial from Halloween 3.
The maze will pretty much take you through the plot of the entire first Halloween film and including getting real close to Michael in the the hanging laundry section and shrubbery walls. The centerpiece of the maze will be the scene were Laurie finds all of her friends killed throughout the room and the Judith Myers’ gravestone on the bed over Lynda’s body. The closet door and nook where the rest of the bodies will be are set to open and close as guests come through to see the scene as Laurie would have.
The finale of the maze, to not give it away, is much like the ending of the film, with an actor playing Dr. Loomis and goes out with a bang. However, that is not the last time you see of Myers before you make your way out.
Insidious: Return to the Further
One of the scariest mazes in recent years for HNN was their Insidious maze from a couple years ago. Now it’s back and will encompass Insidious Chapters 1-3. We start in the Lambert family home from the first film as an entryway into the Further with Specs and Tucker filling us in on happenings.
Murdy shared with us that director James Wan requested the maze start in the living room without any scares to set the tone and give attendees a false sense of comfort that will only be jarred as they go through.
We’ll journey into the kids room from Ch.1 with the freaky red faced demon which will have a cool effect using projections. Here’s a look at the art from the film that the kids have on their wall with foreboding images of the demon’s lair which leads us right into it.
Some of these mannequins in the right lighting look eerily like real children. Here is one of Dalton on the window of the red faced demon’s lair. When we start getting right into the thick of it, we find ourselves in Insidious Ch.2 with the story behind the Bride in Black
We get to go into the kill room of the deadly spirit and witness their M’O with the Scare-actors. After which we go into the mind of the Bride to see their childhood.
In the Insidious Ch.3 section we get to be tormented by the demon with the breathing mask in the apartment of the family that’s tormented but the best part of that film is hands down the medium Elise’s seance room which promises to be filled with many tormented spirits. Here are some of the details to take note of as you rush to the door.
Halloween Horror Nights starts this friday at Universal Studios Hollywood. Tickets to this year’s event are available for purchase atwww.HalloweenHorrorNights.com/hollywood, including a “Killer Deal Nights” ticket option with discounts of up to $25 on select dates as well as a Front of Line ticket option which enables guests to enjoy priority access to each “Halloween Horror Nights” maze, “Terror Tram,” Jabbawockeez show and theme park attractions. Advance purchase is recommended as event nights will sell out.
Halloween Horror Nights dates are: September 18, 19, 25, 26, 27, October 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, and November 1, 2015.
The finale of the maze, to not give it away, is much like the ending of the film, with an actor playing Dr. Loomis and goes out with a bang. However, that is not the last time you see of Myers before you make your way out.