Universal Studios’ highly-attended nightly attraction, Halloween Horror Nights, returned Sept. 15 and will continue until Nov. 4. This year’s installment of Halloween Horror Nights is more enjoyable than previous years: mazes were longer, sensory effects livened movie scenes and more movies were incorporated.
This year’s Horror Nights has eight mazes, inspired by movies such as “The Shining” and the “Insidious” trilogy. Although some themes cycle out annually, “The Walking Dead” and “The Purge” have remained and continue to scare visitors each year.
Each maze is about four minutes long, allowing guests to feel a part of each horror movie for a considerable amount of time.
More time for each maze allows time to display notable scenes. In “The Shining” maze, the increased time helps maze designers portray famous scenes such as the “Here’s Johnny!” door-busting axe scene and the sinister “All work, no play makes Jack a very dull boy” scene.
The “Horrors of Blumhouse” maze utilizes various effects to capture the essence of horror movies. In “The Purge” section, the scent of the chainsaws fills the air as scare-actors with costumes and makeup designs rushed with weapons to scare visitors. The use of strobe lights in the “Sinister”-inspired attraction adds emphasis on Mr. Boogie’s sudden appearances.
Mazes such as “The Games of Jigsaw” uses strobe lights to reenact a scene with electricity. The “Insidious” maze uses high-pitched shrills to create tension and a more unexpected jumpscare.
Horror Nights also uses iconic villains from classic movie series to create better, scarier mazes. Leatherface from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Jason Voorhees from “Friday the 13th” and Freddy Krueger from “Nightmare on Elm Street” joins forces to form the “Titans of Terror” attractions.
The villains’ sudden and violent personalities are portrayed by the scare-actors. The scare-actors do a terrific job impersonating the villains’ personalities and created a more entertaining experience.
Halloween Horror Nights 2017 is the best of all previous installments, constantly scaring guests with a variety of famous horror movies. This year’s Horror Nights masterfully captured the essence of each movie and emphasized its undying legacy.
