Thorpe Park Fright Nights 2006
Thorpe Park have been holding Fright Nights for 5 years, introducing people to a brand of sheer terror, blind panic and truly horrifying experiences that take them way beyond their comfort zone – and leaves them there! Changes to existing mazes and the show line up have been implemented as well as a new maze, which up until opening night has been shrouded in mystery.
Se7en
Very little was known about Se7en before entering and we don’t plan to give anything away here. Designing a maze around the 7 deadly sins was an ingenious one and Thorpe turned to Hollywood special effects experts, Weird and Wonderful to fully realise their ideas. The main designers of the attraction have worked on a number of famous characters including Yoda and Jabba the Hut from Star Wars, Pinhead from Hellraiser, Candyman, Dog Soldiers and the Alien movies. These guys KNOW horror and they specialise in detailed special effects. This is clearly evident when you witness the attraction. Built in a large marquee in the arena, the attraction very quickly drags you into a very different dimension of darkness, sound, smell and pure fear as you travel through seven rooms each depicting one of the sins.
We were invited to be the first visitors through the maze on opening and were accompanied by Jonathan Sands one of the key designers of the maze. It was the first time he had walked through with actors inside and was shocked at how much extra this added to his vision. Afterwards he stood outside, listening to the screams and yells from inside and remarked that he “loved hearing it breathe”. It was obvious that he was very passionate about his maze even though he had never designed anything like this before.
The maze proves to be a bit less linear that the other 2 offerings and this would make for amusing situations with groups of people going round and round a room trying all the doors searching for the way out. There is also a place where visitors may get detained whilst others behind them get out quicker. These little touches are refreshing to see and help create a deeper atmosphere of dread.
Asylum
Also returning is Asylum, which still feels like The Freezer but in reverse (and less scary). More detailed theming around the queue area makes for a better experience and some changes inside including a new laundry room with sheets hanging down everywhere blocking the path. The actors were working hard to get their scares BUT were being rewarded with the constant sound of screaming. In some places, there would be 3 or 4 actors making visitors bounce backwards and forward between them in a bid to escape.
Hellgate
Returning this year is Hellgate, which has had a lot of work on scenery and effects to make a more cohesive story along with more effective scares. In 2006 this has become a true attraction to be proud of and Thorpe should be praised for making the required changes from its debut in 2005. The scares were really effective and the talent worked really hard to scare up and down the line continuously. Unfortunately the detailed back- story created for 2005 has been removed, but the house remains scary and nerve-wracking throughout.
Circus of Horrors
These evil looking freaks have been released from their incarceration in the Pirates 4D cinema and the strategically placed cages (with performing characters) around the park, really help to create a true Fright Nights atmosphere. Thorpe have been accused before of the park lacking any special atmosphere and this is a good start to creating a total immersive scary but fun feel across the whole park.
At the end of the day, Thorpe have been doing Fright Nights for the last 5 years and each year sees something changed or something new. The event continues to go from strength to strength and its run becomes longer and longer. Maybe at last, here in the UK, we are getting the sort of detailed Halloween event that our US cousins have been enjoying for years
Se7en
Very little was known about Se7en before entering and we don’t plan to give anything away here. Designing a maze around the 7 deadly sins was an ingenious one and Thorpe turned to Hollywood special effects experts, Weird and Wonderful to fully realise their ideas. The main designers of the attraction have worked on a number of famous characters including Yoda and Jabba the Hut from Star Wars, Pinhead from Hellraiser, Candyman, Dog Soldiers and the Alien movies. These guys KNOW horror and they specialise in detailed special effects. This is clearly evident when you witness the attraction. Built in a large marquee in the arena, the attraction very quickly drags you into a very different dimension of darkness, sound, smell and pure fear as you travel through seven rooms each depicting one of the sins.
We were invited to be the first visitors through the maze on opening and were accompanied by Jonathan Sands one of the key designers of the maze. It was the first time he had walked through with actors inside and was shocked at how much extra this added to his vision. Afterwards he stood outside, listening to the screams and yells from inside and remarked that he “loved hearing it breathe”. It was obvious that he was very passionate about his maze even though he had never designed anything like this before.
The maze proves to be a bit less linear that the other 2 offerings and this would make for amusing situations with groups of people going round and round a room trying all the doors searching for the way out. There is also a place where visitors may get detained whilst others behind them get out quicker. These little touches are refreshing to see and help create a deeper atmosphere of dread.
Asylum
Also returning is Asylum, which still feels like The Freezer but in reverse (and less scary). More detailed theming around the queue area makes for a better experience and some changes inside including a new laundry room with sheets hanging down everywhere blocking the path. The actors were working hard to get their scares BUT were being rewarded with the constant sound of screaming. In some places, there would be 3 or 4 actors making visitors bounce backwards and forward between them in a bid to escape.
Hellgate
Returning this year is Hellgate, which has had a lot of work on scenery and effects to make a more cohesive story along with more effective scares. In 2006 this has become a true attraction to be proud of and Thorpe should be praised for making the required changes from its debut in 2005. The scares were really effective and the talent worked really hard to scare up and down the line continuously. Unfortunately the detailed back- story created for 2005 has been removed, but the house remains scary and nerve-wracking throughout.
Circus of Horrors
These evil looking freaks have been released from their incarceration in the Pirates 4D cinema and the strategically placed cages (with performing characters) around the park, really help to create a true Fright Nights atmosphere. Thorpe have been accused before of the park lacking any special atmosphere and this is a good start to creating a total immersive scary but fun feel across the whole park.
At the end of the day, Thorpe have been doing Fright Nights for the last 5 years and each year sees something changed or something new. The event continues to go from strength to strength and its run becomes longer and longer. Maybe at last, here in the UK, we are getting the sort of detailed Halloween event that our US cousins have been enjoying for years
This review was written by Michael Bolton and originally appeared on Haunted Attractions UK.
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