Jigsaw, Michael Myers and Chucky team up for Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights

T.J. Kosinski is back as a contributor for Hero Complex, this time with a quick preview of the seasonal scares coming soon to Universal Studios Hollywood...  

 

Want to play a game? This October, Universal Studios Hollywood wants to take you on a hellish ride with Jigsaw, Michael Myers, Chucky and more as part of its Halloween Horror Nights. This year’s event, entitled "You'll Wish it Were Just a Movie," is the biggest in park history, and there will be some very familiar faces lurking in the dark corners of four new mazes.

“Our big vision was to take the most popular horror movies in the world and turn them into living horror movies that people get to experience,” said Universal's John Murdy, the longtime horror aficionado who directed, designed and wrote everything the audience experiences in those mazes.

The mazes are based on three major horror franchises -- "Saw," "Halloween" and "Child's Play" -- and "My Bloody Valentine," which hit theaters with a splatter in January.

As you might expect, Universal officials say this is the biggest and baddest edition of the fright franchise, which launched at the Universal City park in 1986 with sequel years in 1992 and 1997 through 2000. The event was revived as an annual tradition in 2006 and has been a potent draw in Southern California, explaining the calendar expansion this year to 16 horror-dedicated days, the most ever. 

For Lionsgate, which will release "Saw VI" on Oct. 23, the event is a fairly potent marketing opportunity, although the franchise is a killer all on its own; the worldwide box office for the films to date is $669 million, an impressive total considering the production budget for the first was $1.2 million and, reportedly, none of the sequels have cost more than $11 million to film.

In the "Saw: Game Over" maze, park-goers venture into the lair of Jigsaw, the demented and ingenious killer, and they dare to inspect some of his intricate death machines from the films, among them the razor-wire trap and the needle pit.

That may be the centerpiece attraction, but the other three mazes offer frights of different flavors.

 

"Halloween: The Life and Crimes of Michael Myers" takes brave souls through the odyssey of the masked mass murderer who first appeared on screen 31 years ago and has proved himself a supernatural survivor after nine films (with a 10th reportedly on the way). "Chucky's Funhouse" brings back everyone's favorite demonic doll (five films from 1988 to 2004) and gives him an army of playthings -- think "It's a Small World" but with a body count.  "My Blood Valentine: Be Mine 4 Ever,"  keyed to the 2009 remake of the 1981 movie, digs deep into the horror of an abandoned mine where a pick-ax killer looks for unromantic revenge.

In addition to the mazes, there are six "scare zones" with varying themes -- two have "Saw" imagery (think pig-masked minions, like the one in the top photo); another is devoted to the zombie shenanigans of the 2004 film "Shaun of the Dead" -- and the park's signature back-lot tour has been refitted as “Terror Tram: Live or Die," with, you guessed it, a "Saw" theme. If you need a psychic break from the flood of arterial blood, there are also two ensemble performances: "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute" and "Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure."

After all that, if you make it out in one piece, you might feel the true weight by Jigsaw’s famous words: “Congratulations. You are still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive, but not you. Not anymore ...”

Halloween Horror Nights event dates are: October 2-3, 9-11, 15-18, 23-25, 28-31. The event will begin nightly at 7; closing hours vary by night throughout the event. 

TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION

-- T.J. Kosinksi

RECENT AND RELATED

Maggot vomit? Yes, Sam Raimi dragged his star through hell

Guest blog: Jaime King hit bottom (literally) on "Mother's Day" set

"Saw" scream-queen Shawnee Smith's Web scare 

Guest rant: Horror remakes need to aim higher

Horror! Moviegoer stabbed at "My Bloody Valentine"  

No rest for the wicked: Rob Zombie explains his sleepless life

"Nightmare on Elm Street" claws its way back to screen

Eli Roth's scariest plan: I almost made a "Baywatch" movie

Wes Craven discusses the American "inheritance of violence"

Upper photos: Scenes from Halloween Horror Nights. Credit: Universal Studios

Lower photo: Sam Raimi. Credit: Ann Johansson / For The Times

Shawnee Smith's '30 Days of Night' Web scare

Horror fans should drop by fearnet.com to check out the first chapter in a six-part mini-movie called "30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust," which stars "Saw" scream-queen Shawnee Smith. Each chapter of the vampire tale "Dust to Dust" picks up after "Blood Trails," a FEARnet miniseries last fall that the website says was viewed more than 5 million times.

There's a limited edition "Dust to Dust" tie-in comic book (only 10,000 copies printed) and poster that will be given out at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Shawnee Smith and others involved in the project will be signing stuff at the Sony Pictures Entertainment booth (#4313) on Saturday at noon.

Here's the lowdown on "Dust to Dust" from the press release:

'Dust to Dust' continues the New Orleans storyline from Blood Trails where fans first met George, an ex-junkie who, while trying to expose the vampires, got captured by the authorities and blamed for the trail of bodies.  Our new series begins as Detective Nick Maguire learns that his sister Sara, a nurse at the local penitentiary, disappeared during a mysterious prison break in which George escaped. Nick ignores the wishes of his former partner, Gina, and begins to search for Sara himself. While scouring the gritty streets of New Orleans, Nick finds George and learns that there was more to the prison break than anyone thought, and that the wounds inflicted upon Sara may be changing her into a blood-thirsty vampire.  Now, in order to save his sister, Nick will have to learn to trust George, and become a believer in the evil that stalks his streets at night.

Dust to Dust’s spine-tingling action will premiere in July at Comic Con San Diego.  The chilling story unfolds over six, 3-7 minute mini-sodes that will be released on a weekly basis.  Ben Ketai, who wrote Blood Trails, makes his directorial debut with a script penned by Ed Fowler.  Steve Hein, who produced the Boogeyman Franchise, returns to produce this second series with Ghost House Pictures’ Aaron Lam.  Jim Burns, Steve Niles, Rob Sebastian and Shawnee Smith serve as executive producers. 

Both FEARnet projects followed the "30 Days of Night" film which adapted the graphic novels written by the always spooky and smart Steve Niles. In other Niles news: He's doing a signing at Meltdown in L.A. to promote "Lost Ones" (an upcoming Zune Arts graphic novel) on July 31. You can find the press release after the jump.

-- Geoff Boucher

Photo of Shawnee Smith in "Dust to Dust," courtesy of FEARnet.com