IT: Chapter 2
When IT Chapter 1 opened a couple of years ago, Warner Bros created a massive immersive walk through experience in Hollywood. It looked like fun (if not really that scary), but IT fans in the UK bemoaned the fact that we didn't have anything like it.
Jump forward two years, and with anticipation already building for Chapter 2, it was suddenly announced that we would get our own immersive pop up The Vaults in London. This news was followed by a crazy rush for tickets that basically crashed the website on each release. Tickets "sold out" within seconds and many people were left wanting more. On the day we visited there was a stand by line running, just in case anyone one dropped out or couldn't make it. We expect it was a long wait, as during the time we were there we didn't see anyone plucked from the line. We hope all those in the queue managed to get in.
So what actually happened inside? Obviously you can see the start of the show in the video below but in summary, we were invited to participate in the Derry Canal Days Festival and Funhouse. In front of a giant gaping mouth, the room was filled with detailed posters and a couple of fun sideshow games, but we were soon invited to step into the fun house itself.
The two main rooms inside including a spinning tunnel and a fun house style room lifted directly from the movie. With no scares, these rooms were just designed to set the mood but as we turned the corner, the mood really changed as we approached the house on Niebolt St. As you can see from the pictures and the video, the design and attention to detail in this house was stunning. It was genuinely like a real movie set - it's hard to believe that this had been built for just 4 days!
So, because of the fact this was a temporary pop-up, and won't return, we will break our usual rules about spoilers and cover what happened once we were asked to turn our cameras off.
Our journey started through the front door of the house and the atmosphere inside was suitably creepy. The attention to detail and theming were top notch as we made our way down the dilapidated corridors. Following a brief but sudden appearance from little Georgie (the kid in the yellow mac from the film) we were faced with three doors each marked as Scary, Very Scary and Not Scary at All. No -one seemed to want to make a decision so the guide started to pick us off bit by bit and this reviewer was sent through "scary" on his own. Inside the room I was waist waist deep in red balloons of all sizes, but clearly I wasn't the only one in the room! Something was underneath the balloons and I could see them moving around me. I had been instructed to keep moving forward and as the room plunged into darkness to the sounds of Pennywise the clown's laughter, I was left to fight my way past little Georgie and exit through the door at the end!
Several of our group had to go through Not Scary at All, and in this room they had to wind a Jack in the Box toy up. The tension was palpable as a slow version of Pop Goes the Weasle played, and as the toy popped up, all the dolls and toys on the shelves moved as an actor dressed as a Poiret clown lunged at them!
It turns out that the Very Scary door was the least scary of the three (neat trick they pulled there) with a fun house hall of mirrors that cleverly reflected back the visitors images from mutiple angles all accompanied by flashing lights and sounds.
After each room we were escorted into a beautifully themed Chinese restaurant, and invited to take a seat to wait for our group. In front of us, in Chinese pancake baskets were 80s style Walkman tape players and we were soon asked to don these for our tour of the sewer tunnels. We are assuming the restaurant is a key location in the latest movie.
With just 5 torches between the ten of us, and movie music and effects pumped directly into our ears, we followed our guide as he explained more about the sewers and what had happened within them. Not being able to hear each other made it feel really oppressive and with the attention to detail, aided by the atmospheric tunnels of the venue, we were genuinely nervous as we made our way through. Not surprisingly, our torches soon started to pack up and using just the one beam of our guide, we were startled by another appearance of Georgie, until we suddenly heard something behind us. It seemed that Pennywise knew we were there!
The final few minutes of the experience, will stay with us for quite a while. Stood cowering in the darkness, we were treated to an audio visual display that you wouldn't expect in such a temporary attraction. The sound, and lighting all worked perfectly to make us think that Pennywise was all around us. Sometimes his shadow would be on one side, and then the other, his voice and laughter echoing around us until everything went silent and the guide got his torch to work. It wouldn't take a genius to realise what we saw next as the torch beam panned round the room. On first pass, Pennywise was there staring at us in the distance. On second pass he was closer! When the guide finally managed to stop shaking and focus the beam properly he picked up Pennywise running straight towards us!
In the brief flash of the torch - his make up and costume, looked impeccable. His mouth full of pointed teeth, seemed to glisten and drool with saliva. It was enough to get us running out the sewers back to the surface!
Once out of the attraction, we were asked to leave our torches and Walkmen in the lockers provided. Fooled into thinking the show was over, they managed to get one final big scare out of us, as one last creature lunged at us from the lockers!
All in, from start to end (including the sideshow games etc) we were in the experience for about 25 minutes. Clearly the real scares came in the last few scenes, and they were presented so well, that we all came out raving about how much we had enjoyed it. But as we have said with many of these promotional type of events, it is such a shame that more people cant see them. We are sure more people would love to float with Pennywise too!
It Chapter 2 opens in the UK on September 6th
Jump forward two years, and with anticipation already building for Chapter 2, it was suddenly announced that we would get our own immersive pop up The Vaults in London. This news was followed by a crazy rush for tickets that basically crashed the website on each release. Tickets "sold out" within seconds and many people were left wanting more. On the day we visited there was a stand by line running, just in case anyone one dropped out or couldn't make it. We expect it was a long wait, as during the time we were there we didn't see anyone plucked from the line. We hope all those in the queue managed to get in.
So what actually happened inside? Obviously you can see the start of the show in the video below but in summary, we were invited to participate in the Derry Canal Days Festival and Funhouse. In front of a giant gaping mouth, the room was filled with detailed posters and a couple of fun sideshow games, but we were soon invited to step into the fun house itself.
The two main rooms inside including a spinning tunnel and a fun house style room lifted directly from the movie. With no scares, these rooms were just designed to set the mood but as we turned the corner, the mood really changed as we approached the house on Niebolt St. As you can see from the pictures and the video, the design and attention to detail in this house was stunning. It was genuinely like a real movie set - it's hard to believe that this had been built for just 4 days!
So, because of the fact this was a temporary pop-up, and won't return, we will break our usual rules about spoilers and cover what happened once we were asked to turn our cameras off.
Our journey started through the front door of the house and the atmosphere inside was suitably creepy. The attention to detail and theming were top notch as we made our way down the dilapidated corridors. Following a brief but sudden appearance from little Georgie (the kid in the yellow mac from the film) we were faced with three doors each marked as Scary, Very Scary and Not Scary at All. No -one seemed to want to make a decision so the guide started to pick us off bit by bit and this reviewer was sent through "scary" on his own. Inside the room I was waist waist deep in red balloons of all sizes, but clearly I wasn't the only one in the room! Something was underneath the balloons and I could see them moving around me. I had been instructed to keep moving forward and as the room plunged into darkness to the sounds of Pennywise the clown's laughter, I was left to fight my way past little Georgie and exit through the door at the end!
Several of our group had to go through Not Scary at All, and in this room they had to wind a Jack in the Box toy up. The tension was palpable as a slow version of Pop Goes the Weasle played, and as the toy popped up, all the dolls and toys on the shelves moved as an actor dressed as a Poiret clown lunged at them!
It turns out that the Very Scary door was the least scary of the three (neat trick they pulled there) with a fun house hall of mirrors that cleverly reflected back the visitors images from mutiple angles all accompanied by flashing lights and sounds.
After each room we were escorted into a beautifully themed Chinese restaurant, and invited to take a seat to wait for our group. In front of us, in Chinese pancake baskets were 80s style Walkman tape players and we were soon asked to don these for our tour of the sewer tunnels. We are assuming the restaurant is a key location in the latest movie.
With just 5 torches between the ten of us, and movie music and effects pumped directly into our ears, we followed our guide as he explained more about the sewers and what had happened within them. Not being able to hear each other made it feel really oppressive and with the attention to detail, aided by the atmospheric tunnels of the venue, we were genuinely nervous as we made our way through. Not surprisingly, our torches soon started to pack up and using just the one beam of our guide, we were startled by another appearance of Georgie, until we suddenly heard something behind us. It seemed that Pennywise knew we were there!
The final few minutes of the experience, will stay with us for quite a while. Stood cowering in the darkness, we were treated to an audio visual display that you wouldn't expect in such a temporary attraction. The sound, and lighting all worked perfectly to make us think that Pennywise was all around us. Sometimes his shadow would be on one side, and then the other, his voice and laughter echoing around us until everything went silent and the guide got his torch to work. It wouldn't take a genius to realise what we saw next as the torch beam panned round the room. On first pass, Pennywise was there staring at us in the distance. On second pass he was closer! When the guide finally managed to stop shaking and focus the beam properly he picked up Pennywise running straight towards us!
In the brief flash of the torch - his make up and costume, looked impeccable. His mouth full of pointed teeth, seemed to glisten and drool with saliva. It was enough to get us running out the sewers back to the surface!
Once out of the attraction, we were asked to leave our torches and Walkmen in the lockers provided. Fooled into thinking the show was over, they managed to get one final big scare out of us, as one last creature lunged at us from the lockers!
All in, from start to end (including the sideshow games etc) we were in the experience for about 25 minutes. Clearly the real scares came in the last few scenes, and they were presented so well, that we all came out raving about how much we had enjoyed it. But as we have said with many of these promotional type of events, it is such a shame that more people cant see them. We are sure more people would love to float with Pennywise too!
It Chapter 2 opens in the UK on September 6th
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is the latest Blockbuster movie from Guillermo del Toro, the visionary producer and director of fantastical movies such as Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Water. To launch the movie, CBS Movies held an immersive pop up screening in London, and we were fortunate enough to be amongst the select few invited to the event.
On arrival we were offered a couple of complimentary alcoholic drinks, and shown to our seats where bags of popcorn awaited us. Within a few minutes the film started and our quick review of the movie itself can be found in the video below. It's a fun production, with some good scares, but the real fun was highlighted to come afterwards!
Led into a highly themed bar, we had the chance to experience two different elements, all accompanied by a few more complimentary drinks. Videos of both can be found below but we really loved our encounter with Harold the scarecrow. On entering the scene, we thought the scarecrow was just a model, so when it moved, it genuinely scared all of us. We were still trying to work out how it worked as we left and you can hear our reaction in the video below, when the scarecrow actually responded to us!
Following the scare from Harold we were really hoping that the hospital corridor experience would be just as scary. Sadly we felt that the final pay off wasn't as impactful as it should have been, and we feel that the team missed the opportunity to scare us with another character from the movie.
But, for such a small audience of under 200 people, we have to commend the promotion company for making such an effort across the whole event and we are pleased that we got to experience these fun add ons to a great movie experience.
On arrival we were offered a couple of complimentary alcoholic drinks, and shown to our seats where bags of popcorn awaited us. Within a few minutes the film started and our quick review of the movie itself can be found in the video below. It's a fun production, with some good scares, but the real fun was highlighted to come afterwards!
Led into a highly themed bar, we had the chance to experience two different elements, all accompanied by a few more complimentary drinks. Videos of both can be found below but we really loved our encounter with Harold the scarecrow. On entering the scene, we thought the scarecrow was just a model, so when it moved, it genuinely scared all of us. We were still trying to work out how it worked as we left and you can hear our reaction in the video below, when the scarecrow actually responded to us!
Following the scare from Harold we were really hoping that the hospital corridor experience would be just as scary. Sadly we felt that the final pay off wasn't as impactful as it should have been, and we feel that the team missed the opportunity to scare us with another character from the movie.
But, for such a small audience of under 200 people, we have to commend the promotion company for making such an effort across the whole event and we are pleased that we got to experience these fun add ons to a great movie experience.
Video review including footage inside the attraction:
Official movie site - www.scarystoriestotellinthedark.com
Review - Annabelle's House
One of the biggest film franchises of recent years has been the Conjuring, which recounts the stories of Ed and Lorraine Warren – renowned ghost hunters, who have been involved with such wide known poltergeist hauntings such as The Amityville Horror and The Enfield Haunting.
Although the films take obvious artistic license with the characters and situations – there are elements of potential truth in the stories, including that of the possessed Annabelle doll. The doll was supposedly possessed with the spirit of a dead child Annabelle Higgins, and was believed to be benevolent – it just wanted to stay and play with Donna, the child of the house.
Over time, more and more mysterious things started happening round the doll, and when the Warrens investigated, they discovered that there was actually a demon controlling the situation as it tried to possess Donna herself.
The doll was taken in by the Warrens, and following a number of freaky circumstances, was finally exorcised, and now sits in a locked cupboard in their house, with a warning to strictly never open the case.
The doll itself is just a classic Raggedy Ann style, BUT when James Wan came to make the first Conjuring movie, he decided on something a lot creepier. Hence, the much more hideous look that we see in the movies. Obviously, Annabelle became an iconic element to the movies, so it was no surprise that she soon got her own spin off movie - Annabelle.
The film itself was pretty awful, so it was a big surprise to find out that a sequel (well in effect – a prequel) was on the cards, but as the movie prepares to open at the cinemas this week, Warner Bros decided to crank up the publicity with a live action experience – Annabelle’s House. Tickets were extremely limited via a public competition and a few select media invites, and we are pleased to confirm that ScareTOUR were invited along to see how we would get on babysitting Annabelle…
The attraction was built in a secret East London location and on first impression, was a stunningly designed and built “house” that resembled a key location from the new movie. The house looked run down and with a scarecrow stood outside – was genuinely spooky. However, it was what went on inside that really affected us. We were introduced to the story and invited to look around the house, where we were expected to look after Janey for a short time. We were encouraged to explore on our own, and soon met the girl in her bedroom, and she asked us if we wanted to play. We settled ourselves on the bed and then the fun really started!
What followed was a master class in short sharp scare tactics. The room itself was wired for multiple effects and as the tension built up, things flew off the shelves, faces appeared in the mirror, draws slammed open and shut, demons stretched out of paintings and in a terrifying twist, the girl disappeared to be replaced by a maniacally grinning Annabelle doll starting back at us!
In fact, so much happened so quickly in such a short time – it’s almost difficult to remember every single element. Certainly, as we sat on the bed, it seemed that all hell had broken out in the room and the effects were genuinely terrifying. Things happened when we didn’t expect them, and the tension just built up to fever pitch, until we were suddenly forced to get out, in a massive live scare that had us screaming. Even as we ran out the door, there was one last scare as the scarecrow came back to life!
Out in the daylight again, it was hard to believe how much was packed into such a short experience. For a one off short event we were impressed with the level of theming and attention to detail throughout Annabelle’s House. It is clear that a lot of time and effort had gone into building it, which is why it is such a shame that only a select few people have been able to experience it.
In this respect, it is a lot like the two-day Resident Evil event a few months back. These events managed to create a huge buzz when announced but their very restricted run, cause a lot of frustration for those who just aren’t lucky enough to get tickets. We would love to see events such as this run on a proper-ticketed basis for perhaps a couple of weeks, which would at least give people a better chance of experiencing them. Both this and Resident Evil were genuinely great fun, and we are just honoured that we got invited to try them both for ourselves.
The new Annabelle move comes out in UK cinemas on August 11th
Although the films take obvious artistic license with the characters and situations – there are elements of potential truth in the stories, including that of the possessed Annabelle doll. The doll was supposedly possessed with the spirit of a dead child Annabelle Higgins, and was believed to be benevolent – it just wanted to stay and play with Donna, the child of the house.
Over time, more and more mysterious things started happening round the doll, and when the Warrens investigated, they discovered that there was actually a demon controlling the situation as it tried to possess Donna herself.
The doll was taken in by the Warrens, and following a number of freaky circumstances, was finally exorcised, and now sits in a locked cupboard in their house, with a warning to strictly never open the case.
The doll itself is just a classic Raggedy Ann style, BUT when James Wan came to make the first Conjuring movie, he decided on something a lot creepier. Hence, the much more hideous look that we see in the movies. Obviously, Annabelle became an iconic element to the movies, so it was no surprise that she soon got her own spin off movie - Annabelle.
The film itself was pretty awful, so it was a big surprise to find out that a sequel (well in effect – a prequel) was on the cards, but as the movie prepares to open at the cinemas this week, Warner Bros decided to crank up the publicity with a live action experience – Annabelle’s House. Tickets were extremely limited via a public competition and a few select media invites, and we are pleased to confirm that ScareTOUR were invited along to see how we would get on babysitting Annabelle…
The attraction was built in a secret East London location and on first impression, was a stunningly designed and built “house” that resembled a key location from the new movie. The house looked run down and with a scarecrow stood outside – was genuinely spooky. However, it was what went on inside that really affected us. We were introduced to the story and invited to look around the house, where we were expected to look after Janey for a short time. We were encouraged to explore on our own, and soon met the girl in her bedroom, and she asked us if we wanted to play. We settled ourselves on the bed and then the fun really started!
What followed was a master class in short sharp scare tactics. The room itself was wired for multiple effects and as the tension built up, things flew off the shelves, faces appeared in the mirror, draws slammed open and shut, demons stretched out of paintings and in a terrifying twist, the girl disappeared to be replaced by a maniacally grinning Annabelle doll starting back at us!
In fact, so much happened so quickly in such a short time – it’s almost difficult to remember every single element. Certainly, as we sat on the bed, it seemed that all hell had broken out in the room and the effects were genuinely terrifying. Things happened when we didn’t expect them, and the tension just built up to fever pitch, until we were suddenly forced to get out, in a massive live scare that had us screaming. Even as we ran out the door, there was one last scare as the scarecrow came back to life!
Out in the daylight again, it was hard to believe how much was packed into such a short experience. For a one off short event we were impressed with the level of theming and attention to detail throughout Annabelle’s House. It is clear that a lot of time and effort had gone into building it, which is why it is such a shame that only a select few people have been able to experience it.
In this respect, it is a lot like the two-day Resident Evil event a few months back. These events managed to create a huge buzz when announced but their very restricted run, cause a lot of frustration for those who just aren’t lucky enough to get tickets. We would love to see events such as this run on a proper-ticketed basis for perhaps a couple of weeks, which would at least give people a better chance of experiencing them. Both this and Resident Evil were genuinely great fun, and we are just honoured that we got invited to try them both for ourselves.
The new Annabelle move comes out in UK cinemas on August 11th
All other pictures copyright Warner Bros from the film Annabelle: Creation
Links:
Official Website - Annabelle
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