Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights 19: Ripped From The Silver Screen

September 29th, 2009

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By Leonard Pickel

I recently had a chance to speak with some of the people at Universal Studios Orlando about what they are offering this year during the 19th installment of Halloween Horror Nights. This year’s haunted attractions are a mix of classic and modern movie favorites.

The attractions for Halloween Horror Nights 19 are based, perhaps as they should be on the storylines of movies! Silver Screams is an attraction that takes scenes from various movies and packs them into one experience. Set in the historic Universal Palace Theater, cult favorites like Sawn of the dead, Phantom of the Opera, My Bloody Valentine, are all represented.

In conjunction with the 30 year anniversary of Fangoria magazine, the first two attractions are original material described as “B Movie” storylines. The Spawning is a trip through the sewers of a major city, filled with pipes steam and something spawning in the crack and crevasse. Described as intense and completely “immersive” the early run through attractions with acting staff has exceeded expectations in the scare factor!

Leave it to Cleaver on the other hand is a dark comedy set in the very popular and profitable a meat packing plant of a small town. Set in the 50’s, modern patrons will quickly learn that the meat this plant is packing seems familiar. Humanity, the other white meat!

More contemporary movies represented as attractions include an attraction devoted to Chucky: Friends Till The End, where patrons are transported into a twisted world of demented popular toys, and one devoted to Saw in which death traps from each of the five movies are recreated in this “lair of Jigsaw,” and the presence of the patrons has set the traps in motion!

The classic movies included in this year’s spooktacular are re-envisioned versions of the creatures that put Universal Studios on the map in the first place!

Dracula: Legacy of Blood is set in a gothic castle, patrons will be greeted by the count at the entrance of the attraction in his corporal form but through the rest of the attraction he appears in more frightening forms, like a bat and a wolf. A scene where patrons walk across the roof is incredible!

Frankenstein: Creation Of The Damned is set shortly after the end of Bride of Frankenstein, in the burned out hulk of the family castle which was destroyed at the end of the film, Dr. Frankenstein has continued his experiments in reanimation and he is getting better at creating creatures that mimic life, however they still have no soul. The sets and machinery of this attraction are themed using the “Steampunk” style of fiction and art that is based on the premise of what modern technology would look like if it was built in the days of the Steam engine.

The Wolfman attraction takes its direction from an upcoming film to be released in February by Universal Studios and is a walk through of scenes from the movie. A brilliant marketing move, the attraction will work like a prequel and drive early interest in the film.

Cirque Du Freak, one of the six “Scare Zones” in the park is also inspired by an upcoming film, with characters and form the movie used for the scares. The Scare Zones for this year include Lights Cameras Hacktion, Horrorwood Die In, Apocalypse: City of Cannibals, War of the Living Dead, and Containment.

In 2009, the pop culture satire extravaganza, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure returns and no public figure or celebrity is off limits in this un-politically correct spoof on current events. Another show returning for Horror Nights 19 is The Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute; back by popular demand.

It is great storyline and architecture that drives the designs of the attractions and characters,” explains TJ Mannarino, Director of Art and Design who heads up the Horror Nights creative team. “At Universal we try to take you to places that you have never done before.”

Using the period, timeframe and characters from these classic films offers a huge amount of back ground and research for the design team to draw from. “It was a thrill to re-visualize the classic Universal monsters for this years’ event,” explains Mannarino. “I grew up watching these creatures on TV with my Dad. To now bring them to life is like reliving our childhood dressing up as these iconic characters.”

Susan Moore, Design Manager in charge of costuming and make up, feels that in recent years Frankenstein and Dracula have become sympathetic creatures that instill pity from the audience. To do that, the designers went back to the creatures roots. “Frankenstein’s monster, which is named Alpha in this adaptation, is pure rage and emotion,” explains Moore. Vlad the Impaler was used as the inspiration for Dracula.

While it is impossible for Mannarino to pick one favorite attraction that he has worked on over the years, he remises, “It will be hard to see these attractions go after this year.” But with next year’s 20th anniversary of the event, perhaps we will see some of them return in a “best of” compilation.

Halloween Horror Nights 19 at Universal Studios Orlando opens on September 25th. Go to www.halloweenhorrornights.com for more details!

Leonard Pickel is editor of Haunted Attraction Magazine and a consultant for the Haunted Attraction industry. He can be reached at 972-951-5100 and by email at leonardpickel@gmail.com, or check out his web page at www.leonardpickel.com.