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Celebrities bring a different atmosphere to Horror Nights at Universal Hollywood

Access to Hollywood's talent in the horror genre, from directors to actors to make-up artists, drives the intensity of Horror Nights.

LOS ANGELES – It’s Universal Studios. It's Halloween Horror Nights. But there's a different vibe at the Southern California theme park, nestled within the legendary film studio and packed with horror genre talent from the global entertainment capital.

“This is the studio where the American horror film was invented since the dawn of cinema in the 1920s,” said John Murdy, creative director for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. “That’s where the whole thing started.”

But it's more than just the story, including the “Terror Tram” tour, which takes visitors along a walking path past the house where Alfred Hitchcock filmed “Psycho” and the plane crash scene from the remake of “War of the Worlds.” with Tom from 2005 cruise.

The nearly two-month-long Halloween Horror Nights event in Southern California provides direct access to Hollywood's talent in the horror genre, from directors to extras to makeup artists.

“We know everyone is in horror. We've been at it so long that we know every filmmaker,” Murdy said, shortly after John Carpenter – the creator of the “Halloween” franchise and its enduring villain Michael Myers – stopped by. “It’s these connections to the film industry that are so valuable to us.”

Actors go through their films, producers can promote their work at Horror Nights

The parks in Hollywood and Orlando often have the same themed areas, but California has special touches like musician Slash's music for this year's Universal Monsters house.

Actors in films selected for Horror Nights' house mazes say they enjoy the experience as much as their fans.

“I have no idea what they did or what it looks like, although I probably have some ideas if they want them,” Lin Shaye, who portrays protagonist Elise Rainier in the “Insidious” film series, said of this year’s home movie to the films. “But I’m looking forward to walking through the house and seeing how they tell the story.”

For producers, the event is an opportunity to provide fans with an immersive experience and promote their intellectual property – namely their most popular franchises.

At this year's HHN, the Terror Tram ride and walking tour showcases Blumhouse Productions' franchises ahead of a big release year that will see the studio release seven films, including The Black Phone 2, M3gan 2.0 and Five Nights. at Freddy's 2” and “The Woman in the Yard”.

“We have a big year next year,” Jason Blum said.

Director and screenwriter Eli Roth mentioned his previous work on “hostel” houses and a terror tram and would particularly enjoy creating a house based on his 2023 horror film “Thanksgiving.”

“Growing up, I always wanted to celebrate Halloween on Thanksgiving,” he said. “I would love that and they know I’m always up for it.”

Horror Nights utilizes makeup and music talent in the Hollywood film empire

Special effects and makeup guru Greg Nicotero, who worked on “The Green Mile” and “Vanilla Sky,” said all haunted house attractions share a common challenge in designing masks, costumes and makeup – they need constant Can withstand repetitions without showing signs of wear and tear. Nicotero said that when designing the look, makeup artists had to consider everything that could go wrong with use over one shift, let alone two months of consistent appearances.

“You have to think about all of this. “It’s really more scientific to create something that’s more repeatable,” he said. “It’s very challenging.”

The advantage, he said, is that haunted house designers in Hollywood can go directly to the people who made the movie and created the special effects for assistance. He said that was the case after he worked on “The Walking Dead.”

“On 'Walking Dead,' we consulted on all these mazes,” he said. “It made a big difference because I was able to give them access to the things we had on the show.”

Even when parks on both coasts present the same themes for a home, the ambience is very different. One example is this year's Universal Monsters House, where Hollywood and Orlando are offering “Eternal Bloodlines,” about a superhero-like battle between Dracula's daughter and the Bride of Frankenstein and Saskia Van Helsing.

The Hollywood House is accompanied by a musical score written and performed by Slash of Guns N' Roses.

“I actually did it differently,” Slash said. “I always do something atmospheric. But this one is all feminine, so I tried to make it a little more optimistic. It starts out scary at the beginning and then at a certain point it starts to pick up speed. It is composed completely differently.”

Differences between Hollywood and Orlando Horror Night features

Beyond the special features, the parks offer a different selection of homes. This year, Orlando presents 10 homes and five fear zones. Hollywood, a smaller park, includes eight houses plus the tram attraction and three scare zones.

But the parks only overlap at five houses this fall — “A Quiet Place,” “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” “Insidious: The Further,” “Universal Monsters Eternal Bloodlines” and a house based on Latin American ghouls and nightmare legends .

One of the big differences is that Universal Hollywood chose a “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” house this year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking film.

Bill Moseley, who starred in the 1986 sequel to the film, said that the Texas Chainsaw's iconic status was determined more by the machinery than the iconic characters.

“It comes down to the power tool, you know, the chainsaw,” Moseley said, adding he looks forward to selecting homes in 2024. “I’m up for anything.”

Actors Kathy Baker and Emilie Bierre from the new “Teacup” series on the Peacock channel said they were looking forward to being on the other side of a jump scare.

“I’m looking forward to the moment when everyone comes out and everyone acts like they’re coming for you,” Bierre said. “That’s the most exciting and scary part for me.”

Baker, whose son worked as a horror actor at Horror Nights at Universal Hollywood, said she was somewhat prepared for scares even though it was her first time at Horror Nights.

“I heard about it and knew it existed, but I wasn’t sure I could take it,” Baker said. “That would be me, grandma, jumping on you. That would be very scary.”

The popularity of Horror Nights also reflects the growth of the holiday season

Halloween Horror Nights not only involves the industry, but also the general population.

This month, Backyard Oasis, a patio and outdoor furniture and accessories company, analyzed online search data on everything Halloween-related, from costumes to candy, and found that California is the most “Halloween-obsessed” U.S. state . Texas and Florida followed with 14.7 million costume searches and 55 haunted houses.

Murdy, Universal Hollywood's creative director, noted that Halloween's popularity as a whole has exploded.

“I built haunted houses in my parents’ garage and you couldn’t go to the store to buy a fake rubber knife,” Murdy remembers. “It didn’t exist.”

When the first Halloween Horror Nights were held in the California park in the 1980s, he found that they were compressed into seven nights that only overlapped two weekends. Now the attraction starts after Labor Day and ends on Halloween night.

And it includes similar attractions not only in Florida, but also at Universal Studios parks in Singapore and Japan.

“To me, it’s amazing how Halloween has grown as an event, as a holiday, over the years,” he said. “And our horror community, which is well represented here, has also grown and is so passionate about Halloween and horror films in general that it just keeps getting bigger every year. And if you've noticed, the season is being extended, and that shows you the strength of Halloween as an event.”

Antonio Fins is political and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Support our journalism. Subscribe today.

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