Fright Nights 2024 - Spoilers

[JoshC.]

All spoilers for Fright Nights 2024 go here!

[Mark9]

Tonight - BEST FRIGHT NIGHTS EVER

 

Tomorrow - where did all the actors go?!

[MattyMoo]

MCDONALDS VAN.

 

Just watched the Deadbeat POV on TPM Twi....X - hmmmm. Visually it looks very impressive. But.... to me... it's giving Doom Town with a bit of Cellar: Imprisoned at the end. I remember seeing Survival Games on TOWIE Preview Night for the first time and thinking.... yep, can't wait to give that a go, that looks fantastic and intense. Deadbeat... not so much to be honest. Be interesting to see the reviews.

[JoshC.]

I'll give my honest immediate reviews now.

 

I'm honest here. This isn't "TPM Josh" talking. This is "JoshC., Thorpe Fan but fair" talking.

 

DeadBeat

Ehhhhh, not for me.

 

Visually it looks great; no dead spots. However, the story is a little...lost. The pre show talks about a rave being hosted by a DJ. But there's no reference to the DJ when you're in there. The maze is just going through a club / bar / similar areas. It's cool, but very incoherent.

 

The maze isn't the longest, but makes best use of its space. They've also cleverly designed the maze to make it feel like you're repeating yourself / going in circles, which I liked. However, this had a downside of a group thinking they'd gone the wrong way and turned back on themselves. That's just something which needs actor knowledge though, so no issues.

 

It's a bit of a passive experience too, with you watching clubbers and demons (known as "Viscerals") interacting with each other. There's nothing wrong with passive experiences / scenes, as they can create fear, but it's not for me. The final quarter is much more interactive, just focusing on the Viscerals, and is nice. The finale is great (some have said it's like The Cellar at Tulleys, of which they ain't wrong, but so what)

 

It does need time to bed in and the actors to really know what ticks. It needs tweaks with the presentation and story line too.

 

A big positive though: I did it 3 times, and it was very consistent. Consistency is a huge thing to sort out in mazes, and it's something directly within the park's control during the event (in that, they can encourage / coach / train actors to be consistent, they can't change say the space the maze takes). Based on today, it's great to see they had that right, as even on previous press nights, mazes haven't been consistent run to run. Hopefully that continues.

 

My personal opinion, is that the maze needs to start off completely as a rave. No scares. No viscerals. Just pure fun. There are already "dancers"/"ravers" actors, just make them happier, with a bit of an edge if necessary. Then have a scene where everything goes wrong, and it's purely demons. It involves you in the story, and creates the necessary distinction.

 

Stitches

This remains very similar to last year. Which means I don't like it.

 

It's a completely passive experience, focusing on creepiness and a fear of what is happening to others, as opposed to what is (or could be) happening to you.

 

Absolutely fine as a maze, and there's a place for those experiences as it gets people. but not for me.

 

Was a bit disappointed they didn't change the mirror scene at the start. They could have put something different there.

 

Survival Games

My favourite of tonight, although I will have extra bias as there was only 2 of us in the whole maze.

 

It remains intense, in your face and hands on. That's great. It's not for everyone (like Stitches), but it is for me. I heard some mixed reviews through the evening, so I think actors need to bed in and get used to what they can and can't do with guests, but that comes in time. 2022 Survival Games was exactly the same.

 

There's currently no chainsaws in the finale, for reasons I'm not sure I can say. I believe they're working on it though and they should return.

 

Trailers

A very good version this year. 

 

3 scene:

-Hell Cell has been changed into Creek Freaks

-Vulcan Voodoo has been changed into Knock Knock

-Ship Happens and Nightmare on Staines Street have been turned into The Sleeper Express

 

Knock Knock is a nod to Death's Doors, and re-uses the good costumes there. The pre-show is now no longer a cinema employee, but The Director. 

 

The pre show is a bit meh for me, but it is fan-servicey, which is what the whole maze is. However, they've completely cut the second pre show in the cinema screen - meaning the removal of what I unaffectionately referred to as the "orgasming actor" - HURRAY.

 

The premise of the maze is much the same.

 

Unfortunately, the new scenes aren't so much "new". They are just overlays of what was already there.

Creek Freaks still has the prison bars from Hell Cells, but they've got Buckwheat actors and some stuff added to the walls.

Knock Knock is still in a wooded area, but with doors added.

Sleeper Express has the same layout as the other two, just made to feel more like the maze.

It's fine, but don't go in expecting something totally new.

 

As I say though, strong maze. Good cast, and the maze works well.

 

The Crows

This hasn't quite hit the highs of last year yet, but it's still very good. 

 

The new fenced section looks cool from afar, as well as very big, but it's not.

There's two routes too: One which takes you in that fenced section, one that takes you round.

 

The ended is incredibly dense with smoke (I expect that might change soon tbh, but if it doesn't, great!). 

 

It's a great scare zone and I'm glad they've kept it.

 

One point of note: It now starts a little further down the pathway, with a little queue made of hay formed, which should help the batching into it.

 

Creature Campus

Only caught a glimpse of it due to how busy the night was, but it looks nice. The removal of the werewolves and vampires has meant they've brought the music into a more modern era, and it seems pretty cool. Will be watching properly tomorrow.

 

Lucifer's Lair

My absolute highlight of the night. There's a fire / dance show which is INCREDIBLE in my opinion.

 

It's only 8 minutes long, but there's so much crammed in there that it felt twice the length (in the best possible way). The concept of the zone is perfect. The actors are fab. I expect I'll spend a lot of time round there this year.

 

IT 4D 

Didn't watch. Will watch tomorrow. Little bit of theming dotted around the cinema. Is cool.

 

 

This is a strong Fright Nights. Maze-wise, they do have 4 mazes which are good. And I will say this again as I have done in previous years: If you take any maze this year and put it in any other FN line up from before 2020, it would almost definitely be the highlight and best received. If not, it would rival Big Top, Ex10 or Asylum. That's the quality of the mazes on show.

 

I don't think any of them are worth £10 still. The £5 mark would be best. £6-8 is reasonable. But beyond that is pushing it. And I think Thorpe are very formulaic now: pre-show, wander around highly themed sets in a linear fashion, flashy ending. It's another reason I like Survival Games so much: it breaks that formula. I hope we see something different next year.

 

There's still stuff to iron out, and not all of it is for me, but I think this is again a good showing. I hope it stands the test of time for the event.

[Inferno]

Oh interesting....

I wonder how things will develop during the event.

[MattyMoo]

Thanks for the in-depth review JoshC Thorpe Park Fan. Have to say.... I don't really feel too bad about not doing Fright Nights this year. I think I did the same thing when Trailers was new and then went the next year when SG was new so the effort and expense was worthwhile  I know this is unlikely to change, and keep repeating myself, but the £10 a maze fee I just can't entertain when every FN seems to be busy now as there are purposefully no "quiet days" meaning the likelihood of a "busy" run through in a massive group is always a risk. Plus I still feel burned by paying out for all the mazes last year, and nearly not getting them all done (by mere minutes).

 

Impressed that Lucifer's Lair is evidently so good when it's not an upcharge. Bit of a shame there's no Death's Doors either this year, that was a fun - free - addition.

[Glitch]

Is the McDonald’s van around all event or has Burger King blocked it

[yeah]

Was there yesterday. Ride wise had a bit of a nightmare, only got about 4 I think, mostly due to Hyperia messing us around, but got on it in the dark and it was HAULING. Seemed much busier than previous first days of Fright Nights.

 

Experienced almost everything Fright Nights wise, here are my thoughts

Dead Beat
I really liked Dead Beat, didn't think it was particularly unique as I saw some people say, but it's a theme that doesn't get done often in mazes. Do think the whole "music that steals your soul" thing was a bit lost in the maze, but I don't think the storyline was very coherent honestly. Think it's a bit of a missed opportunity not to have a more sound-based attraction, although the soundtrack is great. Think it lacks a few things, especially a better ending.

Spoiler

The creature flying above your head was an amazing scare that really got me, also noticed on our second run through a really cool effect in which a demon lifts a club goer into the air. Do wish the strobe section at the end was a tad longer, as it lacks a really good ending. There are also a few very similar scenes to Stitches.

Trailers

Trailers on it's opening was one of my favourite mazes ever, had a bit of everything and was incredibly fun. Over the years it got a bit less intense each year, to the point I was scared for it's future, so I'm glad it's been refreshed in this way. The rooms that have got the "chop" are mostly the rooms I was expecting/hoping would go, with the exception of Staines Street which is kept mostly the same. I always thought Ship Happens was a particularly weak room, partially due to it's length, so I think the two rooms being one continuous room helps massively. Similar with Vulcan Voodoo not really having any good hiding places, whereas Knock Knock now has about six. The one thing I'm surprised they didn't add was a fake train scare, similar to the last Platform ending, but space probably would've been an issue for that.

 

My first run through on Trailers was one of my best on any maze, with it being well populated with actors who used the space incredibly well, and it had me running out of there at the end.

 

Stitches

The exact same as last year. Not much to add. Could do with more actors. The weakest of the four for me last night.

 

Survival Games

Thought Survival Games was very weak in it's first season, then last season was my favourite maze. This season my one run through was sort of in the middle, the group was massive so we were never really split up at all, walking through the first half in one long line. When we got to the labyrinth, I think we only had 2 actors in there, who were trying their absolute hardest, but this maze just needs a huge amount of actors in this section to get a good run through. I appreciate that they (I think) changed the layout a bit for repeat visitors, but I still find it has the same issue it's always really had in that you need to go and find the scares yourself sometimes rather than them happening naturally. Fair play to the actors, who tried to prolong it as much as possible, I had one in particular who I recognised from a few Fright Nights gone by basically drag me to the exit, where an actor there separating people to the exit, room next door or back into the maze sent me back, before the same actor from before dragged me back again, where the actor at the exit told me to stand against a wall for about 2 minutes where nothing happened. Then no chainsaw at the end, which I appreciate was probably out of their control.

 

The Crows of Mawkin Meadow

We only had one run through of Mawkin this year due to unfortunate timing, but I feel like I'm okay with this going soon. The costumes are amazing and always have been, but I'd like the Crows to return to roaming actors. Granted we went left so didn't get to go through the house, but the constant flow of guests combined with the lack of real hiding places makes it incredibly hard for the actors to give proper scares, and it relies a lot on the creepiness of the Crows and their costumes, which lessens each time you go through. 

 

General

Didn't see much of Lucifer's Lair or Creature Campus, so can't comment on them. I'm aware Creature Campus has it's fans but it's never really been for me, I don't think either really work as scare zones and I'd rather have another, more "linear" scare zone akin to Mawkin or Death's Doors (although that never really worked despite the cool concept) as a second free, proper scare attraction. That's just a personal thing. Lighting was REALLY good, something they haven't really bothered with for a few years, so that was a big plus. Shame they seem to have stopped doing the event ride overlays, always enjoyed those and thought more parks should do things like that. I prefer each ride/area having it's own Fright Nights soundtrack and announcements as opposed to one parkwide soundtrack.

 

Overall, I think it's a very strong year maze wise for Fright Nights, it's just lacking a few little things and, in my opinion, another free scare attraction to be a very strong year across the board.