Porky's Fear Factory
Last year, Tom Swift impressed us on so many levels with his Pitch Black Scare Attraction. Built in a small theatre in Kent, the attraction mixed together crawling sections, pitch black sections and a massive maze like structure that left us wandering around for ages trying to find a way out. It was one of our highlights of 2013, so we were looking forward to seeing what devious new tricks Tom had in store for us this year.
Despite the name change to Porky's Pie Factory, the attraction is pretty much the same as Pitch Black but with a shuffle around of the scenes and a couple of extra additions along the way. One of those additions is the lift that is used to take us down to the lowest levels of the factory. Utilising the sort of effects you would usually expect in a theme park style attraction, the opening scene is an amusing diversion with the knowing humour of the lift attendant just ramping up the tension for the scares coming up.
Once out the lift though, the mood (and indeed the lighting) darkens rapidly and very soon we were struggling to find our way along with just a rope to guide us in the dark. The pitch darkness of this section and the sudden appearance of actors throughout left us screaming and we were all keen to see some glimmer of light ahead of us. When it does come - it's unfortunately in the shape of a small hatch. It was time to get on our knees!
Following the first two sections, we finally made our way into the main maze, with just one simple mission - find a way out! The layout of the maze has changed significantly, and so despite thinking we knew what to do, we ended up wandering aimlessly through the gloom, stalked by creatures. The maze section is so confusing and it's easy to see why people have been stuck in there for so long. It didn't help that we could see a shadow of a character looking down on us, which turned out to be Tom Swift directing the action and taunting us from above.. When controlling this part of the maze, Tom has quite a responsibility to ensure that people stay in the maze for a reasonable time. Too long and it could be genuinely terrifying for an easily scared person, or in the case of us - just a period of frustration where the creatures had become less scary and were just annoying. By the time the door was opened and we were let out, we had definitely had enough!
Of course - the attraction still has one final trick up its sleeve and it still takes a while for us to finally emerge back into the bar. Without giving anything away we must just announce that one simple scare trick in a UV room was probably the most impressive jump scare we have had this year - a great idea that had everyone talking about afterwards.
When we visited Pitch Black in 2013 we were completely blown away by the incredible design and the concepts used throughout. 2014 takes those elements and juggles them around to create a more immersive story. This is helped by the pre-recorded voice-over that explains what each room is (otherwise we may have wondered why the mirror maze existed),
Since his work at Hop Farm Freak Week, Tom Swift has proven that he knows how to scare the public and Porky's Fear Factory is the culmination of everything he has done before. The attraction mixes humour, horror, confusion and darkness effectively, so if you are looking for something unique compared to other attractions, why not check yourself in for a factory tour today?
Despite the name change to Porky's Pie Factory, the attraction is pretty much the same as Pitch Black but with a shuffle around of the scenes and a couple of extra additions along the way. One of those additions is the lift that is used to take us down to the lowest levels of the factory. Utilising the sort of effects you would usually expect in a theme park style attraction, the opening scene is an amusing diversion with the knowing humour of the lift attendant just ramping up the tension for the scares coming up.
Once out the lift though, the mood (and indeed the lighting) darkens rapidly and very soon we were struggling to find our way along with just a rope to guide us in the dark. The pitch darkness of this section and the sudden appearance of actors throughout left us screaming and we were all keen to see some glimmer of light ahead of us. When it does come - it's unfortunately in the shape of a small hatch. It was time to get on our knees!
Following the first two sections, we finally made our way into the main maze, with just one simple mission - find a way out! The layout of the maze has changed significantly, and so despite thinking we knew what to do, we ended up wandering aimlessly through the gloom, stalked by creatures. The maze section is so confusing and it's easy to see why people have been stuck in there for so long. It didn't help that we could see a shadow of a character looking down on us, which turned out to be Tom Swift directing the action and taunting us from above.. When controlling this part of the maze, Tom has quite a responsibility to ensure that people stay in the maze for a reasonable time. Too long and it could be genuinely terrifying for an easily scared person, or in the case of us - just a period of frustration where the creatures had become less scary and were just annoying. By the time the door was opened and we were let out, we had definitely had enough!
Of course - the attraction still has one final trick up its sleeve and it still takes a while for us to finally emerge back into the bar. Without giving anything away we must just announce that one simple scare trick in a UV room was probably the most impressive jump scare we have had this year - a great idea that had everyone talking about afterwards.
When we visited Pitch Black in 2013 we were completely blown away by the incredible design and the concepts used throughout. 2014 takes those elements and juggles them around to create a more immersive story. This is helped by the pre-recorded voice-over that explains what each room is (otherwise we may have wondered why the mirror maze existed),
Since his work at Hop Farm Freak Week, Tom Swift has proven that he knows how to scare the public and Porky's Fear Factory is the culmination of everything he has done before. The attraction mixes humour, horror, confusion and darkness effectively, so if you are looking for something unique compared to other attractions, why not check yourself in for a factory tour today?
Links
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You Review
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We entered the attraction on what looked like a quiet night and were greeted by a rather cheesy 'butcher'. He introduced the back story and made us giggle at his antics before abandoning us in the dark with only a rope to guide us. I don't want to spoil what happens next but I have to mention the guide top doesn't last long. We were in the maze for an hour struggling to find our way out and being terrorised by monsters. It was claustrophobic and terrifying and by the end even the men in the group were starting to panic. This was a million miles better than anything thorpe park fright night had to offer (where we went the day before). Excellent value for money because of the length of time and the intensity of the scares
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