Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
REVIEW: Blackout Haunted House
Blackout Haunted House
115 West 27th Street
New York, NY
Blackout Haunted House has upped the ante this year. No matter what you've read. No matter what you've heard. Everything you think you know is wrong. There's no way to prepare for this.
Blackout Haunted House is an immersive theatre experience that draws on the horror scenarios of real life. It will test your limits and push you to your breaking point. If it becomes too much for you, uttering the safe word will abruptly end your experience and bring you back to safety.
This is the fifth Blackout event (formerly NYC Halloween Haunted House) that I have attended and while every experience is like starring in your own horror movie, it's getting progressively more intense.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Upon arrival you sign the infamous waiver and are assigned a number. There is a convenient coat check system this year to store your belongings.
Fog circulates through the dimly lit waiting area. Three chairs face a roped off section of the room that glows with light. There is even some cleverly devised entertainment to enjoy, while you nervously wait to enter the house.
When they call my number ( #35) I feel myself go to a place of calm acceptance. I'm in their hands now...
...and I mean that quite literally.
From the moment it begins, it is disturbing and artful. I spend the first part of the haunt giggling with delight beneath my protective mask. Then without warning, I find myself pushed to the edge of my rather extensive comfort zone.
This barrage of bizarre images and horrifying situations is mixed with masterfully employed sensory deprivation. Then they bring it to a boil and add a heaping tablespoon of WTF.
Blackout Haunted House is the ultimate adrenaline rush. It is unlike anything you've ever experienced. Don't miss it.
A detailed walk-through of my experience will be posted in mid-November.
Blackout Haunted House Runs
September 27th - November 4th
Ticket Information
- General Admission (NYC): $45.00 - $50.00
Age Requirements
No one under 18 admitted.
Additional Information
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500.0"]
Blackout Haunted House/Waiting Area[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2500.0"]
Blackout Haunted House[/caption] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHF01wJRg-Y?fs=1&feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&enablejsapi=1&w=640&h=360]
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
REVIEW: Blood Manor
Blood Manor
163 Varick Street
New York, NY
Blood Manor is dishing out a hot serving of gore-filled mayhem this October. The Varick Street haunt opens its doors this Friday, but we caught a sneak-peak at their Media Preview event last Wednesday.
Is It Scary?
According to their Official Website: "Yes. BLOOD MANOR is designed to be intense, creepy, and "scream inducing."
The Raven & Black Cat says: Fear is subjective, but if you're looking for a gory walk-through style haunted house full of murderous monsters and 3-D effects then Blood Manor will seem like a home away from home
What We Loved
Blood Manor gets high marks for its fun startle scares and gruesome sets. Marion Le Coguic is a stand out as an artfully real member of the undead. Other highlights are the black sensory deprivation maze, the crazed nursery-rhyme singing surgeon, and the loud surprise ending. It's a grotesquely blood-drenched tribute to your favorite B-movie slasher films.
What Could Be Better
We would love to see the order of the rooms change completely, so that returning victims don't know what's ahead. If the layout must remain the same from year-to-year, then finding more extreme ways to startle or disorient will make the experience feel completely new. In addition, a stronger focus on character development would really take things to the next level. I can only imagine what the experience would be like if everyone inside was as scary as Marion Le Coguic's undead monster.
WTF
The Media Preview Bacardi-sponsored cocktail reception was hosted at W.i.P, where an enthusiastic actor escorted guests around the corner to Blood Manor. His performance and costume were so convincing that someone on the street called the police and reported a monster running down Varick Street with an axe! When we left the bar the poor actor was surrounded by police officers.
Final Thoughts
A visit to Blood Manor guarantees that you'll get your annual dose of blood, guts and gore this Halloween season.
Blood Manor Runs
October 5 - November 3
Ticket Information
- General Admission (Online): $28.50
- General Admission (At the door): $35.00
- RIP Express Entry (Online): $43.50 (Oct. 5- 14)
- RIP Express Entry (Online): $48.50 (Oct. 18 -Nov 3)
- RIP Express Entry (At the door): $50.00
Discount Tickets
- 50% Off General Admisison & RIP Tickets - Click Here
Age Requirements
Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Additional Information
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="960.0"]
The very creepy Marion Le Coguic. - Blood Manor Media Preview [/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640.0"]
The Monster on Varick Street with an Axe. - Blood Manor Media Preview[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640.0"]
Blood Manor Media Preview[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640.0"]
Blood Manor Media Preview[/caption] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5gNxmSWoK8?fs=1&feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&enablejsapi=1&w=640&h=360]
Saturday, June 2, 2012
WALK-THROUGH & REVIEW: Blackout Haunted House Off-Season Event (2012)
Blackout Haunted House Off-Season Event (2012)
Secret Location
New York, NY
Manhattan's Blackout Haunted House is infamous for its unconventional scare tactics. It has reached cult status among its fans and given birth to crazy urban legend hoax theories. Their exclusive off-season events are always the most extreme.
This will be my second off-season event and I'm feeling anxious, but focusing all of my energy on arriving exactly on time. Tardiness is not tolerated.
I'm dressed in old clothes that I don't care about. A lesson I learned last year the hard way.
I arrive at the secret location exactly on time and a peaceful feeling comes over me as I relinquish control to Blackout Haunted House. I am in their hands now.
I have no idea that in 40 minutes I'll be lying naked on a hotel floor wrapped in industrial plastic.
A man wearing a Blackout Elipsis t-shirt walks over to me. I am instructed to read and sign a waiver. I must read the last paragraph out loud for a video waiver.
I am instructed to walk down the street. I walk cautiously, afraid I will miss something, when Blackout co-creator Josh Randall appears at my side and in his intense way gives instructions and hands me a cell phone and an envelope. I follow the instructions and when I reach the specified intersection the phone rings. I answer. I open the envelope as instructed. Inside are directions and a key card. The voice tells me to look to my left. Then I see my destination. It's a hotel.
I focus on following the directions printed on the small sheet of paper I found in the envelope. Enter the hotel. Take the right elevator. Find the right room. I take a deep breath and enter the warm balmy room the hotel AC is working tirelessly to counteract.
I follow instructions. Take my shoes off and place them by the bed. The "gift" I can accept or refuse sits on the desk in front of the bed. It is a shot of whiskey. I figure I can use all the help I can get and toss it back quickly before I follow the final instructions. "Get into bed, turn off the light, and go to sleep."
I try to relax. I listen to the hum of the AC. Then I realize I can hear movement coming from the far side of the room. It continues and I can feel it growing nearer.
I am surprised when I suddenly feel weight on the bed in two different places. The weight moves until I am sandwiched between two bodies audibly breathing at the same pace. The warmth and deep breathing feels sensual at first but quickly grows hostile and claustrophobic as the breathing gets increasingly faster and closer until there is simultaneous hyperventilating on each side of my face. The breathers quickly rush in closer to my face and then out. The breather on my right accidentally clocks me in the head.
Disoriented, I am lifted up and held in a seated position. Then a pillow presses over my face.
I inhale deeply as the pillow moves from my face. Arms pull me from the bed and I am standing on the floor moving toward the other side of the room. A bag goes over my head and my hands are bound. I am led into what I assume is a corner of the bathroom and a voice tells me not to move.
I stand perfectly still for a few moments and then I hear a sickly voice. "Take off the hood."
I remove the hood and turn. "Pull back the curtain," the voice says. I follow the instructions and pull back the shower curtain revealing a dirty and naked young woman lying in the tub. She mumbles additional instructions to give her a pill (Tic Tac) from a pill bottle and a swig of water. The (Tic Tac) pill brings her back to life. She climbs out of the tub and corners me. Then she begins removing all of my clothes.
I'm standing naked in the bathroom with the dirty naked girl and notice the infrared camera on the ceiling.
Great... Video footage of me naked.
I'm starting to feel really creeped out and then the naked girl starts touching herself and it's ruined.
Watching another girl masturbate isn't scary. It just makes the bathroom smell like vagina.
I'm feeling underwhelmed by the bathroom/naked girl section when the bathroom door opens and I am led back into the bedroom. I am completely naked except for a pair of night vision goggles that have been placed on my head.
Still completely naked, I am ordered to sit in the hotel desk chair (and the germaphobe in me dies a little thinking of all the germs.) They mention something about a phone, but nothing happens and I can't find it. (I learned that other victims received a phone call and had to write their home address on a piece of paper.)
I am pulled up from the chair and the night vision goggles are removed. My captor demands that I lie face down on the 'X' on a sheet of plastic that now covers the floor beside the bed.
Instantly visions of Showtime's Dexter and a million horror movie scenarios run through my head. My brain calculates: Naked Body + Industrial Plastic = Dead.
I follow instructions and lay down on the sheet of plastic. Then I'm being rolled in the plastic like a big naked burrito. I have plastic over my head and I can't breathe. My head is lifted up and I am instructed to open my mouth and two fingers press through the plastic allowing me to breathe. Then there is a face very close to mine and it says in a hurried and intense way, "It's Never Over! You have exactly 60 seconds to get dressed and get the f*ck out of here."
I am released from the plastic and frantically grab my clothes, which are laid out on the bed. I dress as quickly as my arms will allow and stumble out the door clutching my socks in my hand. Then I make my way back onto the warm NYC street and try to wrap my head around what just happened.
Final Thoughts
I have really mixed feelings about this event. I really liked the interactive opening, but I could have done without the entire naked girl/bathroom section. I understand how that could be effective for male participants who are afraid of becoming aroused in front of a camera, but from a female perspective it was a bit boring. "Scary Vaginas" seem to be a recurring theme for Blackout and it's one that I would like to see them retire.
My favorite moments were lying on the bed in the dark and trying to determine whether there was someone else in the room (or if it was just my imagination) and then the claustrophobic dispay that answered the question.
I am not a fan of being completely nude during my haunted house experiences, but I have to admit that there is something quite chilling about being naked and wrapped in plastic. Blackout Haunted House delivers another shocking 45 minutes that would make my mother cry.
Additional Information
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
John Cusack is Edgar Allan Poe?
The Raven, a Victorian thriller starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe will open in theaters April 27, 2012. I love the time period. I love the subject matter. I even like John Cusack...but as Edgar Allan Poe!? This sounds like a terrible idea and judging from the trailer I just watched it will be an even worse film. A film about Edgar Allan Poe should be dark, creepy, and macabre. It should not be a blockbuster action thriller.
Watch the trailer below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJcPD1d5d3c?fs=1&feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&w=640&h=360]
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Bloody Valentine's Weekend Discount Tickets
Blood Manor: Bloody Valentine's Weekend
163 Varick Street
New York, NY
The Bloody Valentine's Weekend is less than a month away. Get your tickets now!
The Bloody Valentine's Weekend is February 11th & 12th. Full Price General admission tickets are $25 online or $30 at the door. Full Price RIP Express Entry tickets are $40 online or $45 at the door.
Click Here for a 50% discount on tickets!!
Check out the teaser photos and video below. We are definitely in for a treat.
*Sigh* I love Off-Season Haunts...
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jReR2uJHTNs&w=560&h=315]
Saturday, December 31, 2011
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