Fright Nights 2013

[Marc]

Universal are a film company, although they are not directly involved with the films they base their mazes on, they most likely have a far better understanding of the source material, which allows them to create better IP based mazes. Thorpe has tried created an IP maze before, and due to some of the actors misunderstanding of the source material, it just wasn't good. Of course I will have an open mind for FN, but I fail to see how they can come close to HHN.

Totally agree with Sidders point about the shear amount of slasher based mazes. Its boring, its been done before, no matter how much budget is thrown at them, they will still be generic mazes about blood and guts. More mazes that use psychology in the scares would be a welcome addition.

I didn't mean it will come close to HHN, I meant it will be the closest we have to it in the UK. For all Saw Alive's criticism's its probably one of the best themed mazes, and during its early days the acting did fit in with the Saw theme, although towards the end the acting did get abit more generic I agree.

[Sidders]

I think people need to wait and see what thorpe park have up their sleeves before writing off the mazes, Personally I think they will be going all out and that these mazes will be a lot better than those previously, people have mentioned that they feel it is unimaginative, but come on... asylum is about a mental hospital riot, passing was about dying, curse was about a haunted ship. Hopefully lions gate will have injected cash to improve park wide appearance, and if we take Thorpe's previous two mazes we can see that they will be utilizing different and interesting takes on the old conga line. Now just to wait for the results of my actor audition.

You seem to be suggesting that I'd prefer Thorpe's older mazes, but when I say I would like to see more range, I don't mean I dislike the new maze ideas so much that Thorpe should just return to The Passing, The Asylum, Experiment 10 and The Curse. What I mean is the whole thing should be ousted and replaced with a broader range of scares. Keep some gore, add in some hauntings, add some psychological horror, add a kitschy Halloween-based maze even (possibly something for that mythical family market Thorpe are 'aiming' for now?). Original ideas that will actually make the Merlin Magic-Makers' work for their paychecks.

See the thing I have with this is it seems very based on Halloween Horror Nights which are widely regarded the best of the best when it comes to horror events so it seems like Thorpe have taken that model and making it into their own. If it works for them I can see it working very well here also and I strongly believe this will be the best / biggest Halloween event we see this side of the pond.

Yes very true Marc, except Thorpe aren't making it their own, they're making it Lionsgate's. And certainly, if you measure the success of an event by the amount of revenue it rakes in then that is one of the few certainties we can call right here, right now: this Fright Nights will be an astronomical financial success - but how much money will Thorpe actually make? And besides, there are far better, more complex measures of success than simply quantitative means such as revenue/profit.

I'd like to see Thorpe create something of nothing, and I mean that in every sense. The IPs mean we already know to a certain extent what will feature in these mazes, leaving very little in the way of surprise as we guess and over-analyse about which scenes and story-lines will appear and where the mazes will be held. Creating something of nothing regarding the mazes, and the scares inside those mazes. Regardless of how poor it regularly was, when The Curse was announced to be replacing Hellgate, there was tangible mystery about what it was going to be. There was excitement at the prospect of not knowing anything (except it was on a boat). Creating something of nothing. Anyone seen the Paranormal Activity films? 'Course you have. And you'll know that in each of them there are moments where the actors look absolutely dumbfounded at say, the pool cleaner repeatedly jumping out of the pool at night. Nothing else happens. There's just moments of silence, with small exchanges and looks of confusion. There are moments where you expect something to happen, but nothing does. It's these 'false scares' that get you worked up, on your toes when you needn't be, adrenaline pumping, anticipation working up your sweat, and then leaving you too exhausted to prepare yourself for the real scares, hence why the franchise was so successful. There was a range of scare. Merlin's best horror maze - The Sanctuary - has no jump scares at all. It forces you to use the scariest and most advanced scare technology you can get - your own imagination.

And then of course there's the infrastructure that comes inherent with that comparison to Halloween Horror Nights. Sure, they're rated as some of best in the world within the theme park industry. Many independently-run mazes are far scarier and much, much clever. Broadditch Farm's Halloween events, for example, are quite frankly, astoundingly well-themed and absolutely terrifying, and all run by one little family in Broadditch. But regardless, whilst there are some great things about HHN, there are some terrible things, such as continuous conga-lines and strict H&S policies dictating that there should be, under no circumstances, any physical contact between actors and guests, leaving most of the scares as jump scares. I'm sure Thorpe will see sense and not do this though, as it is completely derailing of any feeling of vulnerability.

Thinking about it - another thing Thorpe have been doing wrong this whole time are the conga lines. Conga lines in narrow corridors (which are bound to return for CITW, MBV, SAW and YN if BWP is indeed the maze on the CCR path) leave only two open areas of attack (front and back), save for a few little hidey holes in the walls. It's not a natural position to be in. It's too much order when there should be chaos. And it's constantly reminding you subliminally that you're in a maze and there's a way out. If, like I predict for whichever maze ends up on the old CCR path, conga lines are less stringent and nucleic groups form, then it'll automatically serve as the scariest maze. In a group in a wide open space, not only are you vulnerable to attack from all angles, but you can see the other guests' faces and feed off their fear and their reactions, second guess where to be looking, be overwhelmed by the vast expanse of dark that your eyes simply can't cover all at once.

So if any of these mazes is going to be any kind of interesting, it'll be the one on the CCR path, with is bound to be BWP. Those thinking CITW should be there clearly haven't seen it. And next year, Thorpe, let's go for more paranormal and psychological scares. There's more that just the gore sub-genre when it comes to horror.

EDIT: And as for the acting in SAW: Alive. Well it's just rubbish. I don't expect to go in seeing GCSE students with white body-socks and paled-up faces crawling, hissing and leaping around like Gollum. I want to see them dying.

[Marc]

Yes very true Marc, except Thorpe aren't making it their own, they're making it Lionsgate's. And certainly, if you measure the success of an event by the amount of revenue it rakes in then that is one of the few certainties we can call right here, right now: this Fright Nights will be an astronomical financial success - but how much money will Thorpe actually make? And besides, there are far better, more complex measures of success than simply quantitative means such as revenue/profit.

Surely we cant really judge if they are making it their own or not till the event takes place? And regarding money I'm sure thorpe will make a handsome profit from this, otherwise Merlin wouldnt be investing into it so much..

Regarding the Conga lines I think thats abit unfair, thorpe AFAIK are the only park who have tried to move away from these (Experiment 10 / The Passing ) in their 2 newest attractions whilst other parks are still very insistent on them

[Sidders]

Surely we cant really judge if they are making it their own or not till the event takes place? And regarding money I'm sure thorpe will make a handsome profit from this, otherwise Merlin wouldnt be investing into it so much..

Regarding the Conga lines I think thats abit unfair, thorpe AFAIK are the only park who have tried to move away from these (Experiment 10 / The Passing ) in their 2 newest attractions whilst other parks are still very insistent on them

That's all you can pick up on about my post? My doubts as to how much money Thorpe will make?

And fair enough, I should've added that I commended Thorpe for Experiment 10 and The Passing's unique walk-through style last year, but nonetheless, I'd rather they didn't return to conga lines year.

But that still doesn't defend Thorpe's incessant pushing of the gore genre. There is more to horror than this. I doubt SAW and MBV will be distinguishable from each other. The only difference will be Billy the Puppet and a pickaxe. Add to that the fact that You're Next, when stripped of appropriate film time to establish the story, will simply become SAW in animal masks, and it looks like there's only one maze that differs from the rest, in both source material and maze infrastructure.

[Glitch]

I am starting to worry about large queues and high visitor numbers this year as Thorpe Park will attract in new people from all over Britain who have seen, for example the cabin in the woods, and would like to see it in person in maze form resulting in higher visitor numbers and more queues. So I am hoping that they try and implement the reserve and ride system this year for the mazes or I can see 3 hour long queues on peak nights.

[Marc]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Whilst it seems there will be a high amount of "gore" mazes in this years line up its not like they make these choices on a wim.

They know what works for their guests, they will have held focus groups and what not along with guest feedback from previous mazes / other parks mazes, whilst I guess it may not be everyones cup of tea I think for the majority this years fright nights will be the best yet.

[pluk]

You may well be right Sidders, but until it happens we really don't know how good it will be. There are a number of angles they can come from with a good few of these which could make each one interesting and unique. To say you are not even going to bother with some of them because of lack of originality without even seeing or hearing what it is they've done is not really fair, is it?

[Inferno]

I think we should wait and see what they come up with before writing these mazes off tbh... We have all been asking for this for years, now they've finally given us what we want and we're picking holes in it before it's even been built.

I am starting to worry about large queues and high visitor numbers this year as Thorpe Park will attract in new people from all over Britain who have seen, for example the cabin in the woods, and would like to see it in person in maze form resulting in higher visitor numbers and more queues.

Unfortunately that's the price we're going to have to pay for such an amazing event.

The key is to go on the Fridays, or The Passholder Preview.

[Sidders]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Whilst it seems there will be a high amount of "gore" mazes in this years line up its not like they make these choices on a wim.

They know what works for their guests, they will have held focus groups and what not along with guest feedback from previous mazes / other parks mazes, whilst I guess it may not be everyones cup of tea I think for the majority this years fright nights will be the best yet.

For certain. They will have held focus group and look at which are the most popular, rather than which cover the broadest spectrum of scares. Nothing wrong with thinking like a business and at the end of the day, they're going to listen to these films' popularity rather than the hopes of a few people with drastically different tacks.

You may well be right Sidders, but until it happens we really don't know how good it will be. There are a number of angles they can come from with a good few of these which could make each one interesting and unique. To say you are not even going to bother with some of them because of lack of originality without even seeing or hearing what it is they've done is not really fair, is it?

You could say it's unfair, yes, but I'm just not that into mindless gore Pluk! I don't find it clever or remotely entertaining but I thoroughly enjoyed The Blair Witch Project and Cabin in the Woods' twist was worth the entry fee. I just prefer horror films with more psychological elements is all. I may give them a go if accounts suggest MBV, SAW and YN's scare zone are up to scratch though.

I think we should wait and see what they come up with before writing these mazes off tbh... We have all been asking for this for years, now they've finally given us what we want and we're picking holes in it before it's even been built.

I wasn't asking for entirely IP-based mazes? I don't know anyone who has?

[swooddow]

I think people need to wait and see what thorpe park have up their sleeves before writing off the mazes, Personally I think they will be going all out and that these mazes will be a lot better than those previously, people have mentioned that they feel it is unimaginative, but come on... asylum is about a mental hospital riot, passing was about dying, curse was about a haunted ship. Hopefully lions gate will have injected cash to improve park wide appearance, and if we take Thorpe's previous two mazes we can see that they will be utilizing different and interesting takes on the old conga line. Now just to wait for the results of my actor audition.

Same Here ! I'm waiting to hear as well , from thorpe , I took an audition on monday at 4pm , very exited !

[JoshC.]

And fair enough, I should've added that I commended Thorpe for Experiment 10 and The Passing's unique walk-through style last year, but nonetheless, I'd rather they didn't return to conga lines year.

Whilst I too like the fact Thorpe moved away from the 'traditional' conga lines, last year they didn't seem to work in the park's favour. Experiment 10 was dirt awful last year in my opinion, and seemed to focus on grouping everyone together as much as possible, bar the obvious split. The Passing was met with very mixed opinions as well, though I was quite fond of it actually. From what I heard, the conga line mazes were much better than those 2 mazes last year. Also, whilst not a Thorpe maze, The Sanctuary is the best scare attraction I've been in to date, and that too adopted the simple conga line idea.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, the way you walk through the maze means very little; it's how the maze is executed which matters. This is also where my fears lie, though - if the mazes are executed in a similar fashion as to last year's mazes, the changes made will not have that much of an impact.

I wasn't asking for entirely IP-based mazes? I don't know anyone who has?

I don't think many have been asking for an all-IP Fright Nights. However, we have been asking for a serious amount of time, money and, most importantly, effort put into FN, and I think this is exactly what we are getting. Plus, when the rumours started circulating of IP mazes, most weren't exactly against the idea.

My main hopes for this Fright Nights are that we see more of an effort into park-wide appearance, and that the execution of mazes works well. I'd also like to see the time spent in the mazes lengthened, if possible. What struck me after visiting Alton was how short the mazes at Thorpe were; hopefully we can see improvements there!

[Sidders]

Whilst I too like the fact Thorpe moved away from the 'traditional' conga lines, last year they didn't seem to work in the park's favour. Experiment 10 was dirt awful last year in my opinion, and seemed to focus on grouping everyone together as much as possible, bar the obvious split. The Passing was met with very mixed opinions as well, though I was quite fond of it actually. From what I heard, the conga line mazes were much better than those 2 mazes last year. Also, whilst not a Thorpe maze, The Sanctuary is the best scare attraction I've been in to date, and that too adopted the simple conga line idea.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, the way you walk through the maze means very little; it's how the maze is executed which matters. This is also where my fears lie, though - if the mazes are executed in a similar fashion as to last year's mazes, the changes made will not have that much of an impact.

Very true Josh. But I must protest that I think deciding which maze suits which style is very important. I think the CCR path maze absolutely, no exceptions, requires nothing less than nucleic groups. Being a relatively free-roaming environment out in those dark woods, and to then confine everyone to a tiny, narrow sliver of shaking people shuffling along at a snail's pace with every other second being filled with "Sorry" or "Didn't mean to stand on your foot" would greatly damage the benefits of having an entire forest to play with.

I'll agree with you about The Sanctuary. It was excellent, and further testament that the right style of grouping can make or break a maze. And whilst it may have had the conga line idea, it doesn't need anything else as you are not being scared by actors in there. You are simply walking through and seeing actors... acting. They interact of course, but they don't jump out at you so much as they watch you and unnerve you. The maze works with the conga line because nothing's trying to hunt or kill you, so you don't feel as vulnerable to threat and there's no need to try and make the movement more natural. It's like an exhibition rather than a scare maze, and the scaring is left to your own imagination after seeing some of the surgical rooms and the effects of marmalisation on human beings. Also, parts like the arched corridor and the marmalisation room worked well because it felt like you were being processed in a long line of advocates. Being led by the person in front to whatever The Ministry had planned for you, with little or no say in where you went or wanted to go yourself. It was, mostly likely accidentally, an excellent form of submission right from the off. You were already being controlled.

I don't think many have been asking for an all-IP Fright Nights. However, we have been asking for a serious amount of time, money and, most importantly, effort put into FN, and I think this is exactly what we are getting. Plus, when the rumours started circulating of IP mazes, most weren't exactly against the idea.

My main hopes for this Fright Nights are that we see more of an effort into park-wide appearance, and that the execution of mazes works well. I'd also like to see the time spent in the mazes lengthened, if possible. What struck me after visiting Alton was how short the mazes at Thorpe were; hopefully we can see improvements there!

I'd love to see seasonal theming and generally a park that looks like every effort has been made to look like it's been well and truly taken over this year. And I don't mean Lionsgate merch. Hopefully Thorpe will do a bit better than the odd noose here and there too, and go back to the days when skeleton cages hung in the Colossus pit and green spotlights up-lit Stealth.

[Deleted Users]

The best 'group system' in my opinion are small groups of people where if you don't stick together, the actors will drag you off. Terrible throughput though.

As for The Sanctuary, it was certainly something special but there were plenty of jump scares for me.

[darkadder312]

Ayslum is a must for Thorpe I know it wasn't the best Fright Nights last year for it but still the best maze at Fright Nights. I would love to see also Saw Alive really scary like it was in its first year. Bring back more roaming actors its brilliant I am waiting patiently now to find out what new ones we have.

[JackR]

I remember last year going in The Passing, and me and a friend went through the latter part of the maze on our own. Whilst the maze was nothing special, being on our own really helped make the whole experience a lot scarier! If you was stuck in the woods in a small group it would be really nerve racking! Does anybody have any pictures of the woods on that note? I've never actually seen it and I'd quite like to see what it's like in there.

Also I vividly remember the Nemesis Inferno station when 'hell froze over'. Does anybody have any pictures of that too? I've been looking for a while and have had no luck finding any!

[swooddow]

FN's 04 , how did u get on with the photos , any intresting developments and exiting stuff ?

[FrightNights04]

FN's 04 , how did u get on with the photos , any intresting developments and exiting stuff ?

My camera broke from water damage in the rain ,asylum had the lights on and there's no difference in what you can see. Exp10 is not in the arena. BWP has some multi coloured flood lights, and not much else! Cabin in the woods (passing building) has a skip outside with lots of wood and other stuff, and if you look in the entrance, there is some curtains and a corridor, not much to see

[Glitch]

I know this is using HHN as an example but if they can get sets anything remotely close to this I will be happy but I don't think it will happen.

This is the walking dead maze at HHN

Edited August 25, 2013 by Dominic Franczak

[JD81]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but Thorpe events have tweeted a corporate events poster which appears to confirm four mazes only.

[pluk]

Good spot, link.

[JoshC.]

Isn't that last year's one though?

It has last year's logo and park-wide theme (which doesn't make sense for this year), and last year 4 mazes were included in admission, as Passing was a paid extra.

[Marc]

Yeah I'm pretty sure that's last years poster!

[FrightNights04]

Yeah I'm pretty sure that's last years poster!

I agree, with the new theme why would they have the old theme and old logo?

[SteveJ]

Because it is obviously from last year?

Thorpe Park would have just reposted it because they haven't got one for this year yet - the package is probably the same. It doesn't confirm anything new about this year's event.

The massive give-away is the URL "corporate/2012".

[TPBrandon]

Yeah, as soon as I saw Thorpe park penitentiary I knew it was old.