Halloween Horror Festival at Movie Park
Germany 2023
Movie Park Germany throws an event just as good as anything in the American theme parks, with scare zones throughout the park containing acid rain maniacs with chainsaws, vampires and cannibal hillbillies. Add in all the fog galore, lasers; projection’s and lighting effects, the atmosphere within the park is electric, from the moment the actor processing starts off the evening
Many of the mazes have returned and were all as good as last year. The secret of St Elmo took us down the mine-shafts of a red neck town with grave yards and human remains; Circus of Freaks takes place on a pier, containing outside scares and even a tugboat ride run by two sadistic clowns. The Curse of the Chupacabra took us to Mexico into pitch black where all we could see was the small lights on the actor's infrared goggles, The Slaughterhouse took us on a tour of a meat factory with body parts, blood and rooms filled with fog that we couldn't see in-front of our face!
Our favourites from the returning mazes were “Project Ningyo”, that all starts off clinical until we were shut into a room and evacuated past ripped up bodies, actors with eyes hanging out, cages of dead animals and half human half dog experiments. Hell House has also returned with the ominous bus ride to an abandoned house; boarded up, and with a team of urban explorers who were quickly killed by the inhabitants, we were forced through several memorable moments including crawling under a bed and down a slide to escape back to the bus!
The first new maze is “Murder Museum” which was a great modern twist, starting off as a walk and talk museum tour showing the murder weapons and featuring the sounds of many a Netflix murder show from John Wayne Gacey to Jeffrey Dahmer; when suddenly our museum our guide was abducted, and we literally had to go down into a pipe and through some air ducts just to escape. This maze was quite hands on and it was shocking and scary just how much they grabbed and poked us!
Finally, there was “Final Stop” where we entered the sewers of New York, with a hi-viz vest and a hard hat and had to crawl through large sewer pipes (we were warned that we might get dirty!) We were soon confronted with the smells,sounds and sights of what lives underground including an elaborate pool of water and sewage; crawling through more pipes and over scaffolding, before a giant rat bursts out of a pipe towards us. This really was the most immersive maze of the night and a real highlight of the event
Elsewhere, the park had also changed over its normal showing of Wile Coyote & Roadrunner 4D film into a “The Conjuring” 4D special.
All in - we had a fantastic time at Movie Park Germany and enjoyed all the mazes, shows and entertainment across the park. We also loved the fact that non scare fans can enjoy the atmosphere by buying red flashing badges which show all performers not to scare! With a load of rides too including Van Helsing and Star Trek, this really is a great event to visit during Halloween!
Many of the mazes have returned and were all as good as last year. The secret of St Elmo took us down the mine-shafts of a red neck town with grave yards and human remains; Circus of Freaks takes place on a pier, containing outside scares and even a tugboat ride run by two sadistic clowns. The Curse of the Chupacabra took us to Mexico into pitch black where all we could see was the small lights on the actor's infrared goggles, The Slaughterhouse took us on a tour of a meat factory with body parts, blood and rooms filled with fog that we couldn't see in-front of our face!
Our favourites from the returning mazes were “Project Ningyo”, that all starts off clinical until we were shut into a room and evacuated past ripped up bodies, actors with eyes hanging out, cages of dead animals and half human half dog experiments. Hell House has also returned with the ominous bus ride to an abandoned house; boarded up, and with a team of urban explorers who were quickly killed by the inhabitants, we were forced through several memorable moments including crawling under a bed and down a slide to escape back to the bus!
The first new maze is “Murder Museum” which was a great modern twist, starting off as a walk and talk museum tour showing the murder weapons and featuring the sounds of many a Netflix murder show from John Wayne Gacey to Jeffrey Dahmer; when suddenly our museum our guide was abducted, and we literally had to go down into a pipe and through some air ducts just to escape. This maze was quite hands on and it was shocking and scary just how much they grabbed and poked us!
Finally, there was “Final Stop” where we entered the sewers of New York, with a hi-viz vest and a hard hat and had to crawl through large sewer pipes (we were warned that we might get dirty!) We were soon confronted with the smells,sounds and sights of what lives underground including an elaborate pool of water and sewage; crawling through more pipes and over scaffolding, before a giant rat bursts out of a pipe towards us. This really was the most immersive maze of the night and a real highlight of the event
Elsewhere, the park had also changed over its normal showing of Wile Coyote & Roadrunner 4D film into a “The Conjuring” 4D special.
All in - we had a fantastic time at Movie Park Germany and enjoyed all the mazes, shows and entertainment across the park. We also loved the fact that non scare fans can enjoy the atmosphere by buying red flashing badges which show all performers not to scare! With a load of rides too including Van Helsing and Star Trek, this really is a great event to visit during Halloween!
Halloween Horror Festival at Movie Park
Germany 2022
Movie Park Germany ‘s Halloween Horror Festival is one of the biggest Halloween events in Europe with an impressive line-up of mazes, scare zones shows and more.
Our visit to the park started during the day where we took advantage of their paid reserve and ride system to quickly knock out some of the main rollercoasters around the park. We must give a big shout out to Van Helsing, which is a horror themed coaster we have wanted to ride for ages. Although not the largest of rides – it has some incredibly tight transitions along its route as well as several great effects throughout.
We also tried out their new Movie Park Studio Tour ride, as a comparison for when we tried the Halloween makeover later that night. The attraction had some great effects along the way and is a fun family ride. We were intrigued as to how scary they would make it after dark!
As the Halloween witching hour neared, park wide announcements were made advising that the monsters were soon to be let out. Guests with small children, or those who didn’t want to be scared were advised to move to safe areas in the park (the Nickelodeon family area) and avoid the main streets.
And it isn’t hard to see why, as very soon an ominous drumbeat started and a group of old-fashioned movies hands started to conjure up a massive procession, including the scare actors. It's worth checking out the video below for the sheer spectacle of this piece especially as the two different parades meet at the T junction and present a final routine before running in to the crowds to start the scares. This whole opening presentation really kicked the event off with a bang and we would love to see more experiences like this in other parks. So, with the monsters now talk back in the darkness of their homes, it was time to go and get scared properly with our first maze of the night.
We started with Slaughterhouse a classic butcher style attraction as a number of cannibalistic characters tried to take our body parts as human flesh is now a valuable commodity. The maze was a great traditional mix of lively scares, noisy actors and some foggy rooms filled with chainsaws! It was a great start to our night.
Hostel was a maze we had been looking forward to for a while as it is based on the classic gory movie of the same name. What we liked especially is that scenes from the film such as the backpacker’s hotel and the nightclub the guests get picked up in – start the attraction, and soon quests are plunged into the dark and gory underworld with lively protagonists in the iconic aprons and head ware from the films. The maze had some great scares throughout and felt very true to the film.
Having not experienced the park beforehand we’re not sure which attraction's queue line has been taken over for the Curse of Chupacabra, but the elaborately Mexican style theming really suited the experience. Of course, like any Day of the Dead style attraction it was full of Sugar Skull makeup effects, some mysterious Mayan creatures and an impressive fire effect with a towering Mexican deity commanding a massive temple set.
Circus of Freaks is one of the events oldest attractions and to be totally honest – it feels it. The attraction is built in a large open air courtyard area with the walls predominately consisting of Heras fences clad in colourful material, and pop up marquees. The set and design really felt out of place in such an elaborately themed park as Movie Park. But saying that – the actors were really making up for the lack of theming with some exceptionally live scares throughout this long experience.
Secrets of St Elmo is a western themed experience through and abandoned ghost town and accompanying mine. Trying to find out the mystery of St Elmo’s fire, we were handed some very unreliable handheld lanterns which of course (utilising Haunted Lantern technology) would suddenly start flashing or would turn off at inappropriate times. It wasn’t the scariest of the mazes of the night – but we enjoyed the story and the concept.
Based in some woodland at the back of the park, Fear Forest was a tour through a dark and foreboding village where the witches are clearly up to mischief. For an outdoor experience it wasnn't the most detailed maze in terms of theming but we had lots of fun jump scares throughout.
On the night we visited, Project Ningyo seemed very light on actors which is a shame. The attraction is built in one of the massive sound stages at the back of the park and uses the concept that if you want to be beautiful – you have to suffer. The maze started off very bright and optimistic but through a sudden switch and a “hidden escape route” we soon learned the horrific nature of what the project was about. The sets and design throughout were incredible (although a roof could have made the maze feel a bit more closed in) but as we said – it seemed light on actors which was a real shame.
New for 2022 was Hell House, a brand-new maze built on the outskirts of the park. After queuing to get in, we were treated to a blindfolded bus tour that eventually took us to an impressive looking facade in the woods. Clearly the blindfolds were just to hide the backstage areas we were being driven through, but we kind of expected something else to happen on the bus
Once off the bus – there was another short wait as we were batched into smaller groups to enter the house as part of a paranormal investigation team.
From here on – this maze pulled several unique tricks and scenes at us including climbing through an open window to enter, some great scares, and a frankly unnerving experience as we crawled under a bed at the best of a little ghost child. The maze was beautifully designed with incredible sets and live actors throughout. The use of a multi-story layout just made the house feel more real and we enjoyed our time within. Our only complaint? The bus trip felt a bit unnecessary and despite enjoying the slide escape from the house, the final felt a bit anticlimactic compared to what we had experienced throughout.
The final Halloween “attraction” was the makeover of the Movie Park Studio Tour. The ride itself remained pretty much unchanged but queue line additions included a new horror themed pre-show, some extra props in the parks and screens depicting zombies trying to get to us while we were waiting. We specifically like the fact that the ride operators had been quickly made-up to match the theming!
As we moved around between the attractions, we spent some time through each of the three scare zones - Acid rain, Dead West and Horror wood Boulevard. There were some lively characters throughout with the Acid rain area having the biggest festival feel with loud music pumping out throughout.
Also, on the main crossroads – there was a regular project mapping show that added a great kinetic energy to the area. In the dark with the music blaring and scare actors roaming it added a great atmosphere to the event.
The final extra element to the event is a massive stage show called Madhouse. Using a horror themed storyline – this show was a cornucopia of gruesome cabaret acts including contortionists, illusions and more. It was a well produced and executed show with a massive cast of talented performers throughout.
As you can see – there really was a lot to Halloween Horror Fest at Movie Prak Germany and it definitely lives up to its claim as the biggest in Europe. Although the quality of the experience difference throughout the night, we had a fantastic time with some great scares and experiences across the night.
Our visit to the park started during the day where we took advantage of their paid reserve and ride system to quickly knock out some of the main rollercoasters around the park. We must give a big shout out to Van Helsing, which is a horror themed coaster we have wanted to ride for ages. Although not the largest of rides – it has some incredibly tight transitions along its route as well as several great effects throughout.
We also tried out their new Movie Park Studio Tour ride, as a comparison for when we tried the Halloween makeover later that night. The attraction had some great effects along the way and is a fun family ride. We were intrigued as to how scary they would make it after dark!
As the Halloween witching hour neared, park wide announcements were made advising that the monsters were soon to be let out. Guests with small children, or those who didn’t want to be scared were advised to move to safe areas in the park (the Nickelodeon family area) and avoid the main streets.
And it isn’t hard to see why, as very soon an ominous drumbeat started and a group of old-fashioned movies hands started to conjure up a massive procession, including the scare actors. It's worth checking out the video below for the sheer spectacle of this piece especially as the two different parades meet at the T junction and present a final routine before running in to the crowds to start the scares. This whole opening presentation really kicked the event off with a bang and we would love to see more experiences like this in other parks. So, with the monsters now talk back in the darkness of their homes, it was time to go and get scared properly with our first maze of the night.
We started with Slaughterhouse a classic butcher style attraction as a number of cannibalistic characters tried to take our body parts as human flesh is now a valuable commodity. The maze was a great traditional mix of lively scares, noisy actors and some foggy rooms filled with chainsaws! It was a great start to our night.
Hostel was a maze we had been looking forward to for a while as it is based on the classic gory movie of the same name. What we liked especially is that scenes from the film such as the backpacker’s hotel and the nightclub the guests get picked up in – start the attraction, and soon quests are plunged into the dark and gory underworld with lively protagonists in the iconic aprons and head ware from the films. The maze had some great scares throughout and felt very true to the film.
Having not experienced the park beforehand we’re not sure which attraction's queue line has been taken over for the Curse of Chupacabra, but the elaborately Mexican style theming really suited the experience. Of course, like any Day of the Dead style attraction it was full of Sugar Skull makeup effects, some mysterious Mayan creatures and an impressive fire effect with a towering Mexican deity commanding a massive temple set.
Circus of Freaks is one of the events oldest attractions and to be totally honest – it feels it. The attraction is built in a large open air courtyard area with the walls predominately consisting of Heras fences clad in colourful material, and pop up marquees. The set and design really felt out of place in such an elaborately themed park as Movie Park. But saying that – the actors were really making up for the lack of theming with some exceptionally live scares throughout this long experience.
Secrets of St Elmo is a western themed experience through and abandoned ghost town and accompanying mine. Trying to find out the mystery of St Elmo’s fire, we were handed some very unreliable handheld lanterns which of course (utilising Haunted Lantern technology) would suddenly start flashing or would turn off at inappropriate times. It wasn’t the scariest of the mazes of the night – but we enjoyed the story and the concept.
Based in some woodland at the back of the park, Fear Forest was a tour through a dark and foreboding village where the witches are clearly up to mischief. For an outdoor experience it wasnn't the most detailed maze in terms of theming but we had lots of fun jump scares throughout.
On the night we visited, Project Ningyo seemed very light on actors which is a shame. The attraction is built in one of the massive sound stages at the back of the park and uses the concept that if you want to be beautiful – you have to suffer. The maze started off very bright and optimistic but through a sudden switch and a “hidden escape route” we soon learned the horrific nature of what the project was about. The sets and design throughout were incredible (although a roof could have made the maze feel a bit more closed in) but as we said – it seemed light on actors which was a real shame.
New for 2022 was Hell House, a brand-new maze built on the outskirts of the park. After queuing to get in, we were treated to a blindfolded bus tour that eventually took us to an impressive looking facade in the woods. Clearly the blindfolds were just to hide the backstage areas we were being driven through, but we kind of expected something else to happen on the bus
Once off the bus – there was another short wait as we were batched into smaller groups to enter the house as part of a paranormal investigation team.
From here on – this maze pulled several unique tricks and scenes at us including climbing through an open window to enter, some great scares, and a frankly unnerving experience as we crawled under a bed at the best of a little ghost child. The maze was beautifully designed with incredible sets and live actors throughout. The use of a multi-story layout just made the house feel more real and we enjoyed our time within. Our only complaint? The bus trip felt a bit unnecessary and despite enjoying the slide escape from the house, the final felt a bit anticlimactic compared to what we had experienced throughout.
The final Halloween “attraction” was the makeover of the Movie Park Studio Tour. The ride itself remained pretty much unchanged but queue line additions included a new horror themed pre-show, some extra props in the parks and screens depicting zombies trying to get to us while we were waiting. We specifically like the fact that the ride operators had been quickly made-up to match the theming!
As we moved around between the attractions, we spent some time through each of the three scare zones - Acid rain, Dead West and Horror wood Boulevard. There were some lively characters throughout with the Acid rain area having the biggest festival feel with loud music pumping out throughout.
Also, on the main crossroads – there was a regular project mapping show that added a great kinetic energy to the area. In the dark with the music blaring and scare actors roaming it added a great atmosphere to the event.
The final extra element to the event is a massive stage show called Madhouse. Using a horror themed storyline – this show was a cornucopia of gruesome cabaret acts including contortionists, illusions and more. It was a well produced and executed show with a massive cast of talented performers throughout.
As you can see – there really was a lot to Halloween Horror Fest at Movie Prak Germany and it definitely lives up to its claim as the biggest in Europe. Although the quality of the experience difference throughout the night, we had a fantastic time with some great scares and experiences across the night.
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