Universal Orlando will base Halloween Horror Nights attraction on Cabin in the Woods

They funny thing about these slow leak announcements is that I could care less what the houses are. My wife and I already planned to go this year the day after we left last year. :)

Assuming they're using the "cabin" that's back by the Fear Factor amphitheatre and the (extinct) Jaws attraction...

BTW, I don't think I've spent enough time celebrating the LONG-awaited demise of Jaws...

They used that structure two years ago but didn't last year. I think this will be in one of the sound stages.

As much as I think Universal could do a really great job with CitW, I'm surprised they are using a movie that didn't do all that well at the box office and is not that talked about. Walking Dead is HUGE, and the follow up is THIS? Of course, what else really had even THAT amount of popularity and would make a good haunted attraction? As crappy as the Silent Hill movies were, they had a great look to them that translated well to a haunt. CitW has that potential, and it's not like they could do a Paranormal Activity house.

I would absolutely kill to see the unicorn though. I almost peed myself I laughed so hard at the unicorn.

Simple solution:

More cowbell. More zombies.

I think Cabin in the Woods has a big following with their core audience.

Yea. Everyone I talk to loved Cabin in the Woods. I didn't "get" it. It was kind of like if Tho Onion collaborated with a bunch of science fiction nerds to make a horror movie.

I really just didn't understand who the bad guys were or what their motivation was, now that I think about it.

And thinking about it on topic, I have no idea how that movie could translate to a haunted attraction in an interesting way. Themeing it to all the monsters in the film? Maybe allowing guests to choose their own adventure as far as which monster they get while they are in the cellar? I'm sure Universal has a few better ideas about how to make this haunt great than I do.

You know what would make a great franchise to theme a haunted attraction after? The new Evil Dead movie. It's very similar to Cabin in the woods, as far as setting goes, but the story is much more interesting, and the "Deadites" are way scarier than any of the monsters in CitW, in my opinion.

I kinda wish they don't go all out on zombies and have houses that represent movies like Jaws and Jurassic Park. Sure, it might not have the same blood-chilling effect on guests, but IMO it would be so much more interesting. Imagine walking into a room and being attacked by T-Rex and then being saved by King Kong or if you're surrounded by a shark tank or something along those lines. You don't always need zombies, vampires, and mutant murderers for emphasizing a scare factor.

In my experience with designing haunts, all you really need is darkness and loud noises sometimes for an effective scare. What is in a persons imagination can be much worse than anything you can show them.

Can I object to the use of the word "scare"?

I know it's the accepted term and in this context a verb meaning to startle someone.

But there's a big difference between being scared, or frightened, and being startled, or surprised.

Never been to a haunt that delivered real scares - that'd be tremendous. They all rely on startling people. Whoever figures out a way to do a haunt and actually induce fear - they're golden. Problem is, I don't think people tend to appreciate the subtlely that would have to be involved.

I also think most people are too oblivious/ignorant/stupid to be scared for real.

I heard of a haunt somewhere (St. Louis?) where they dropped them through a trap door of some sort, and down a slide, alone. The room where they landed was pitch dark. They had to find their way out while sounds and other presences tormented them.

I say "them" because there'd be no way in hell I'd do that. I'd STILL be laying there. That scenario, to me, seems genuinely frightening in a deep psychological way.

The startling kind of frights get me too, but I'm a big weenie that way. I'd love to experience Universal at Halloween but I'd probably faint.

For Gonch.

Blackout Haunted House was exactly what I was thinking of when Gonch commented about wanting to go through a haunt with real scares.

The word scare is just another was of saying startled in the haunt industry.

The setting and back story is supposed to get the creep factor going. That's what relied on to get someone to have the feeling of being scared. If that is effective, than the startles (scares) are more effective.

I love talking and/or reading about this stuff. I linger around some haunted attraction message boards sometimes.

It's actually a pet peeve of mine when I'm at trade shows and other events, the fact that people interchange "scare" for "startle." I think this one definitely goes a step beyond startle.

Lord Gonchar said:

. . . . . Never been to a haunt that delivered real scares - that'd be tremendous. They all rely on startling people. Whoever figures out a way to do a haunt and actually induce fear - they're golden

Haunted Hospital at Fujikyu Highlands. That's the first walk though I've experienced where they have chicken exits throughout the course. As we were on line we saw scores of people running out not being able to go thru the whole thing. After that, horror nights seems like an episode of the smurfs.

kpjb said:
For Gonch.

Gotta love a haunt where you're essentially waterboarded.

Other than the vomit and tampon, which are gross and not scary, that sounds like fun.

I have an irrational fear that one of the actors will go crazy one night and really stab me or chainsaw me, so haunts are pretty intense for me, and way beyond startle. Of course, I think that's why these things are so popular, because they play into that little nagging fear in the back of your mind that this time it COULD be real.

And some people are just wusses. Like me. Hehehe!