Andrew Douglas' The Amityville Horror Review

In a society where the horror genre is overrun by Paranormal Activity, it was nice to see an actual representation of paranormal horror. I watched this movie as a child, and recently reviewed it again. I was pleasantly surprised by the (not cheesy) jump scares and interesting plot. From the moment they stepped into the house, I knew there would be spirits within. However, I was once again pleasantly surprised that it was not the typical paranormal movie.

The cliche paranormal films usually go something like this... A nice family moves into a seemingly typical house. After a short amount if time strange events begin to take place. The woman of the house, and the children are usually the first to notice, while the husband is naive and does not believe any of it. The strange events escalate into full blown paranormal phenomenons and the husband finally realizes what is going on, right at the end. In the end it is typically resolved and the family lives on with their lives. Sounds familiar right? I bet you could name many paranormal movies that fit this scenario. Well, frankly I am tired of the same replay that these movies have. This is the main thing that stood out to me with The Amityville Horror, it does not follow the same mundane script as the rest. Sure it has its similar elements, but it succeeds in hitting a deeper and darker nerve.

As I watched the film I couldn't help but to feel enthralled by the eerie nature that surrounds it. Throughout the entire film I was constantly engrossed in the scenes. As each new event seemed to be full of scares, and twists. They created a lot of new aspects that are not found in many other films, and even when they did use a common scheme, they made it original by amplifying it.

Just when of the film the whole story is wrapped together in an excellent way. It answers all questions that you may have, and even throws some more information in there just to toggle with your mind. During this time, you are also witnessing the most intense part of the movie. It is a slow pace movie, up until the end, which gives an even more significant feeling of surprise. As you finally get to see the creature that has been causing all of the havoc. This movie really left me with the feeling that I had watched a quality film, and one that actually had an interesting plot, along with solid scares. It is a must watch for any horror fan.

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Scare Zones

Imagine walking through a cloud of fog, as strobe lights flash in the background. Just as you think you're emerging from the fog, a blood covered face appear in front of you and makes an unearthly sound. You recoil in fear and jump in the opposite direction. Welcome to a Halloween Horror Nights scare zone. As if the rest of the park isn't enough to completely have me startled and amazed. These zones are the final touch that made me so attached to this event.

Dark Christmas Concept Art

Dark Christmas Concept Art

The very first time that I ever stepped foot into a scare zone, I recognized how unique this was. No where else that I had been offered this experience. You can wonder around fog covered land, and repeatedly have fear thrown through your body. It's executed in such a way that I forgot about everything else around me, the other guests, my life worries, and just focused on the atmosphere around me. It's all consuming. 

At Halloween Horror Nights 2014 there was 5 scare zones. On the upper lot, 3 of these were located. The first of which was Dark Christmas. At first I was a bit reluctant. I thought, "how are they going to make Christmas scary?" Well I was wrong to be hesitant. This scare zone was executed in the best way possible. All of the popular christmas themes were represented, but each had a dark twist on it. 

Mask-a-Raid Concept Art

Mask-a-Raid Concept Art

The next maze on the upper lot was Mask-a-Raid. This was an original concept created by John Murdy and His partner Chris Williams. To sum up who these characters were portraying, they were members of a cannibal cult during pre-revolutionary France. Mixed in with other members at a masquerade ball, these characters released havoc amongst the party. Their presence resulted in an eery atmosphere that can be described as stepping inside of a nightmare.

The last scare zone on the upper level of the park is The Purge: Anarchy. Based off of the popular movie, this scare zone features dangerous civilians who are set on creating havoc for one night out of the year. In a time where all crime is legal, what is to stop them? This is the main scare zone, which means FLAME CANNONS! This is a signature for H.H.N. and really creates a sense of chaos.

The Purge: Anarchy Scare Zone

Skullz Concept Art

Now onto the lower lot where the Skullz scare zones takes over. These scare-actors run around the lower lot on stilts. These propel them into the air at more than 8 feet tall. They have animal skulls on their head and legend has it that they have an insatiable need for human flesh. With these characters lurking above, it's hard to not feel stalked.

The Walking Dead Scare Zone

On the far back end of the park is the very last scare zone. It is AMC'S The Walking Dead. Just like in the show, herds of walkers can be expected. As you venture onto the backlot you can only predict what awaits you. As you enter the scare zone, building rise up around you, and it creates a trapped

The Walking Dead Scare Zone

feeling. You ease into the fog, and the walkers become visible, a herd is approaching, and the only way to get out, is to keep going forwards. It was truly mind blowing to be able to get that close to what it would feel like to actually be in the zombie apocalypse, without actually being in any danger.

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How Halloween Horror Nights Becomes Possible

In a previous post I gave a brief run down of my favorite mazes at this years Halloween Horror Nights. But because of my deep appreciation for this event, I thought that each aspect of H.H.N needed to be given more attention. First off I will explain how the event begins, from the very start. Some of you may believe that this is public knowledge, however, that is not fully accurate. Yes you could find this information on the internet, but unless you have been following the daily social media updates of the Creative Director John Murdy, then you may not be aware of the exact perimeters in which this event comes to be.

Before the previous year even comes to a close, John Murdy receives many offers from executives celebrities, musicians, directors, or producers. These people all want their product to be featured at H.H.N. They realize the high publicity that H.H.N. could provide for their property. As this goes on, Murdy decides what properties he could use at the event, and he trashes the others. He is constantly brainstorming new ideas, and he puts every single one onto a sticky note, that he places on the wall in his office. By December this wall is completely filled with small sticky notes, all containing ideas that could later be translated into full blown mazes.

As time passes, each and every one of these ideas must be addressed, he searches through them all and decides which properties have the potential to translate into a successful maze. This is a daunting task, and there are three main characteristics that he looks for in each property. Are there environments that could be used to fill the rooms of a maze? Are there characters that could be played by scare actors? Is this property recognized by the general public? Without all three of these things, it can not be translated into a maze.

After a very short amount of time, Murdy must take his list of narrowed down properties and finalize which ones he would like to see at the event. In the end he must pick only seven. Imagine trying to pick seven things out of an entire wall of ideas, some of us have trouble trying to find what clothes to wear in the morning, yet alone that large of a task.

Now that all seven mazes are picked out, he must begin the precise explanation of what the maze will look like. This means he must write out every single object, detail, light, smell and decoration that he wants in each room of the maze. That is everything from the lights that shine above you, to where the scare-actor will be located, to the vine that is on the wall. These treatments are extensively long, and are basically the blueprints, or starting guide for every maze.

An American Werwolf In London Facade

Then begins construction, the walls go up, and the main details are laid out. This process takes most of the year, and always ends just short of when the event begins at the end of September. A large team is brought in for each maze, and this becomes their sole task. Near the end of construction for each maze, Murdy comes in and prepares the lighting. Each light must be placed in the correct location, in order to give off the correct effect. He puts specially created smells into each room, in order to fully engross all of your senses. No maze is complete without its signature facade. Outside of every maze is a detailed front. Just like all books have a cover, all mazes have an opening scene.

By this time, all the mazes have been announced and all the fans are dying of anticipation to see what has been created inside the gates of Universal Studios.

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Halloween Horror Nights 2014 Experience and Review

Previously, I have posted about a Halloween event that takes place in California every year. You can view that post here. On October 17th I made the long journey from Iowa to California for my favorite event in the world, Halloween Horror Nights. I had been anticipating this day since I left Universal Studios the year before. H.H.N. is top of the line, and because of this, I am left wanting more every single year.

As night fell on October 18th I arrived at Universal Studios and I was instantly hit with nostalgia as the familiar gates of H.H.N. stood tall. I entered the park and my best experience at this event to date, began. The front of the park was decked out in the usual lights, fog and music. These combined created an intense atmosphere that can never truly be imagined unless you witness it for yourself. Placed around the front gates are the famous H.H.N. go-go dancers. They dance in sync to the eerie music that is being blasted from the speakers, and they often distract much of the crowd so that the scare-actors can initiate their attacks.

As I sprinted farther into the park, the main scare-zone came into view. This year, John Murdy (Creative Director) chose to replicate The Purge. Dozens of chainsaw wielding scare-actors crept out from the shadows and began to stalk their pray. They then began the opening scaremony. The scare-actors rev their chainsaws and began to charge the large crowd. All of my senses were engrossed, and H.H.N. constantly does an amazing job of doing so. As the night began, I made my way towards the mazes. Below are some of my favorite mazes from this years event.

The Walking dead
For the past 3 years H.H.N. has hosted this incredibly popular show. They recreate everyone's favorite scenes and showcase the most popular characters. The prison was rebuilt in a way that made me feel like I was really on the set of The Walking Dead. The scareactors did an astonishing job of playing their roles, and utilizing their talents of scaring the guests.

Alien Vs. Predator
At this years event The Creative Director John Murdy went all out. Inside of this sound stage was a full size recreation of the space ship that is featured in Alien Vs. Predator. It was so large that it had to be built in three separate pieces, in order to fit it inside of the door. There was an immense amount of detail inside of this maze, and many animatronics that gave off the impression that they would come to life and any moment, a great task that H.H.N always seems to pull off.

An American Werwolf In London
In this maze they showcased the transformation from the human form into the form of a beast with expert precision. Through prosthetics, you could visually see the transformation occurring with your very eyes. This was the highlight of the maze, along with the numerous scares located through out.

Every year H.H.N. seems to raise my expectations, and every year they more than surpass them. This year is no exception to this. I was overwhelmed by the amount of detail that each location had. Anyone who attended this event would be a fool to not notice the obvious amount of time that is spent going into every single detail, and finishing touch. These are the things that brought this even to life for me, yet again.
http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/hollywood/2014/

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Haunts

Around the time of Halloween many haunts begin to open up around town. Depending on your location, there may be top of the line extravagant haunts, or small family built haunts that are based out of their home. Either way, going to a haunted house is a big part of the Halloween.

You walk down your neighborhood street, and you hear screams coming from your neighbors home. Normally this would be a serious issue, but not tonight. You approach their home, and as you see their haunt you the excitement builds inside you. You can't wait to see what fear they have created, and it is free spooky fun.

On the other hand, creating a haunt can be a great challenge, yet rewarding, once you hear the shrieks of fear that come form within your creation. Seeing your neighbors enjoy the haunt that you have created can be equally as enjoyable. I have personally created a small haunt that was connected to the garage of my house. My family and I spent days before Halloween creating it, and adding lights and fog machines as the finishing touches. In the end, our home built haunt gained many screams and was a success.

Every year I travel to a haunted house that is near me. I wait all year for this, so when the time finally comes it is always a blast. The weekend can never seem to come fast enough, and the days drag on until I finally get  to step inside of a haunt and get this true feeling of Halloween.

All of this is leading up to, in my opinion, the greatest haunted event ever made. Halloween Horror Nights. This is a must see if you are into haunted houses because, it is an entire theme park that is decorated as a haunt. You can check it out here on their website or check out my previous post about it here.

A haunted house is on the list of my top five favorite things to do in the Halloween season. I obviously prefer the larger more significant haunts, but a home haunt can also be enjoyable. So this year when you're thinking of fun things to do this Halloween season, consider creating your own haunted house or attending one elsewhere.

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AMC's The Walking Dead

I remember when I first saw the commercial for The Walking Dead. My family and I were all gathered in the living room, and we instantly became intrigued. As a family that are big horror fans we thought that this would be the perfect show. Little did we know that this show would become the number one show on television.

In the beginning The Walking Dead was not insanely popular, but it received enough viewings to stay on the air. As someone who watched this show from the very start it was interesting to see such a large fan base begin to grow. 

Not only has the fan base grown but I think it has also been a journey to see all of these characters develop and become new people over the course of four years. I've watched a family reunite, and do everything to stay together. As well as strangers come together to form a new and stronger group. 

The Walking Dead has taught me a very valuable lesson. Not how to survive in a zombie apocalypse, but that the real evil in this world resides within humans. This show demonstrates the rare nature of humans who have reached their low in life and have become so desperate that they feed on others in order to prosper.

This show also expresses the strength that comes with loyalty. When banned together Rick and the others are capable of conquering anything that is thrown their way. Just to name a few they faced life on the road, The Governor, illness, separation, death, and cannibals, yet they are still together as one, and continue to fight strong. This showed me the great capability that a solid foundation can have in any situation.

Through this bond that the characters have with each other, it is impossible to not grow attached to them as well. The Walking Dead did a great job of making me feel as if I can relate to all of these characters. You grow to care about the fate of all the people and this leads to a constant "edge of your seat" feeling. What will happen to your favorite character?

When I first saw the commercial for The Walking Dead, I never thought that this show would reach the extent that it has. The Walking Dead has eased its way into my life, and made a lasting impression.

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Sinful Horror

When horror was fist introduced it received a not so shockingly negative impact by society. Majority of the population immediately saw it as evil and something that should be avoided. While the minority embraced it as the new and creative art that it was.

In a time where movies were just growing and not many were released, each movie had a much greater chance to leave an impression. Also, at this time people were not very open minded to thing that were outside of their norm. So when a movie came to their local theatre that featured screaming women, unknown creatures, and things that they have never seen before, it was no wonder they reacted in the way that they did. I can only imagine how much shock was placed upon those very first horror movies goers. When they saw these movies for the first time, I believe that they thought that the films were "evil" and "sinful" because of the strong presence of religion during this time. They were unsure of what they were seeing on the screen and attributed it to being a negative thing for their religious community. On one hand, I can see how this is what people of this time period would turn to, but on the other hand, I think they should have seen the pure talent, and energy that had gone into making these films happen.

The horror genre was brand new, and that alone took a lot of ingenuity to create. When was the last time you created something brand new that had never been seen by the world? For this fact alone, I think that the horror genre should have gotten the benefit of the doubt. Due to the under recognition of these films, many actors ended up poor after their credits had passed. The horror genre almost went down the drain because of the criticism.  This situation should not have resolved to this. Society should have seen this as a brand new art form, and should have anticipated the next release date, instead of judging it based off of their lack of imagination, or knowledge.

There were very few people out there that saw the movies and automatically recognized the value of these films, and these people greatly aided the progress of the horror genre. Just by adding some positive feedback into the pool.

In the very beginning of horror movie history, it was drastically swayed by the judgment of society. Without their perseverance horror movies may not be at the point that they are today. However, they overcame the negative critics and created some of the greatest movies to date.

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