Thorpe Park Fright Nights - 2010 review by Michael Bolton
Many of you will already know that I have been personally reviewing the Thorpe Park Fright Night events EVERY year since 2002. In this time I have seen new mazes, changes to existing mazes and a variety of different shows come and go. In all these years though, the park has mostly provided some good scares and some fun along the way.
Well that was until 2009. The year where it seemed to be generally accepted, that Thorpe had dropped the ball on the event. Nothing about 2009 seemed to work properly and my review at the time might as well have said “must try harder.”
So it was with a lot of trepidation that I went back to the park in 2010 to see if I was just being unfair, or had maybe had a bad night, or maybe worse – was I actually getting BORED with Fright Nights? Gladly, I am pleased to report that this years event is back with a bang and although I can find a few areas to fault, it generally created a fun and scary atmosphere that gave us all some great scares throughout the night.
Well that was until 2009. The year where it seemed to be generally accepted, that Thorpe had dropped the ball on the event. Nothing about 2009 seemed to work properly and my review at the time might as well have said “must try harder.”
So it was with a lot of trepidation that I went back to the park in 2010 to see if I was just being unfair, or had maybe had a bad night, or maybe worse – was I actually getting BORED with Fright Nights? Gladly, I am pleased to report that this years event is back with a bang and although I can find a few areas to fault, it generally created a fun and scary atmosphere that gave us all some great scares throughout the night.
Dead End: Terror Zone
I am one of many people that have been saying that the park should introduce an American style scare zone. Every year I used to mention in my reviews that a scare zone would be fun and THEN I actually experienced one properly in Florida in 2008 and realised that, actually, they aren’t that scary! They are a fun and interesting diversion but cant compete with the intensity and closeness of the mazes so as we walked into Dead End I was expecting the worst.
This scare zone is slightly tighter packed than it’s US cousins and feels actually more like a real attraction than just a wandering path. On each trip through the scare actors were making the most of the copious fog and impressive lighting effects and I have to admit that I jumped several times on each trip! I am not so sure on the theming (I loved the old ride vehicles and props but didn’t really understand the “virus that has devastated all in its path”). But we shouldn’t really argue about that . As an immediate short sharp shock (with no queue) it works, and certainly most people we saw on the night were enjoying the experience. Hopefully it proves successful for Thorpe and next year they realise an even bigger pathway and actually do a little more. BUT as a starter – it’s not bad! It's not bad at all!  Dare you enter the Terror Zone? Saw Alive
I’ve never been a fan of Saw Alive since opening night. It’s always been more about the sets and the people in traps as opposed to the scares and the acting. Not sure if the scares would be amplified for Fright Nights I visited during daylight and again during night time hours, but generally the attraction is the same. Saying that though – there were a number of good scares amongst the story which kept us all guessing.
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The Asylum
The Asylum always used to be one of my all time favourite attractions. The noise, the lights, the crazy actors etc all helped to create a confusing and chaotic attraction that would leave you desperate to get out. It was VERY tame in 2009 and it is clear that some more direction has been given to animate the characters and get them to engage with guests more. We all jumped a number of times throughout and the actors were clearly having fun throwing themselves around the set. One final thing though – if you are going to have a chainsaw WHY hold it at ankle height?
Hellgate
Maybe it’s time for Hellgate to move on or be upgraded but once again this just felt a bit dull. This year it really didn’t do much for me with too many corridors feeling the same with identical scares and listless actors. There were certainly some good jumps but for this review, tonight Hellgate was definitely the weakest of the 5 mazes.
The Curse
Wow! The Curse was crazy tonight! It seemed that wherever we went or whatever we did, there was someone or something waiting to attack us. Compared to other years the Curse seemed more chaotic and confusing and dark. VERY VERY dark (I must apologise to the poor scare actor I walked straight into!). Being in the lead I struggled many times to see where I needed to go. Great acting talent and high energy in here tonight – well done (although the cheap LED torches under the face does slightly cheapen the effect)
Se7en
Like last year – Se7en has shaken off its dull exterior and is proving to be one of the highlights of the event. Crazy, sick scenes, some diverse acting talent and a population of monsters who seem hell bent on tormenting you! It’s still really hard to tell which sin is which but the maze delivers so many fun characters ( and they are characters- not just boo scares) that you just dont care.
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So there in summary is the 2010 review of Fright Nights. It’s clear that there are some small rough edges but all in all it does its job well. There is a range of different scares across the park and as night falls and the spooky lights go on, Thorpe has a great atmosphere.
I do think that perhaps it might be time to retire or refresh some of the older mazes and replace with new and more diverse attractions. But while they keep adding new things and experimenting with the line up - we can't really complain! This year alone the park has 5 stand alone scare attractions and a scarezone, making it the biggest Halloween event in the UK.
Thorpe are clearly the king of theme park Halloween and while rivals such as Alton continue to open with just one attraction on park, Thorpe offer a whole lot more for your dollar.
And finally - 2011 will see the park celebrate 10 years of fear . Lets hope they recognise this fact and go out with a bang!
I do think that perhaps it might be time to retire or refresh some of the older mazes and replace with new and more diverse attractions. But while they keep adding new things and experimenting with the line up - we can't really complain! This year alone the park has 5 stand alone scare attractions and a scarezone, making it the biggest Halloween event in the UK.
Thorpe are clearly the king of theme park Halloween and while rivals such as Alton continue to open with just one attraction on park, Thorpe offer a whole lot more for your dollar.
And finally - 2011 will see the park celebrate 10 years of fear . Lets hope they recognise this fact and go out with a bang!
You Review - click here to add your comments
Asylum - Always the top attraction at the event. It's a high energy and high action maze.
The intense strobes, loud sirens and mirrors do a great job at disorientating
you. Some years the actors seem less energetic but even so it's a good maze over
all. The chainsaw finale is always good and it's fun to stand at the exit and
watch people come running out.
Hellgate - This maze is the opposite to Asylum. It's very dark, creepy and is lit by torches on the walls. It's built inside part of the old X:NWO queue so has a winding path and a revolving tunnel. The scares are a bit limited here because there's not many places for actors to hide. It's good fun because it's always funny but it's not always scary and you'll be lucky if you jump once or twice.
Se7en - The first year I did this was probably my favourite. This is more of a visual maze and has some good props. Some bits are gross to look at and the maze aims to disgust you in places. There's some clever effects in here as well. There's one part where the group almost always gets stuck.The finale is quite intense as well when they do it right. Sometimes it's a bit rushed though to get the groups through quickly.
The Curse - From the outside it looks a bit plain. Inside however the maze is well themed and sets the atmosphere nicely. Some of the scares here are good and the ropes and the portholes provide some good scares. It's lacking a major scare at the end though to get people running out the exit.
Hellgate - This maze is the opposite to Asylum. It's very dark, creepy and is lit by torches on the walls. It's built inside part of the old X:NWO queue so has a winding path and a revolving tunnel. The scares are a bit limited here because there's not many places for actors to hide. It's good fun because it's always funny but it's not always scary and you'll be lucky if you jump once or twice.
Se7en - The first year I did this was probably my favourite. This is more of a visual maze and has some good props. Some bits are gross to look at and the maze aims to disgust you in places. There's some clever effects in here as well. There's one part where the group almost always gets stuck.The finale is quite intense as well when they do it right. Sometimes it's a bit rushed though to get the groups through quickly.
The Curse - From the outside it looks a bit plain. Inside however the maze is well themed and sets the atmosphere nicely. Some of the scares here are good and the ropes and the portholes provide some good scares. It's lacking a major scare at the end though to get people running out the exit.
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