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The ‘Poltergeist’ Maze at Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights Is One of the Best Ever

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There is only one way to welcome fall and begin the countdown until Halloween, and that’s with Universal Hollywood and Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights, which takes over both parks straight into November. I’m a Halloween Horror Nights veteran who has been going for well over a decade and while I frequented Hollywood’s event, the past two years I traveled down to Orlando to experience it from another perspective. While they’re both outstanding in their own way, I much prefer the atmosphere in Orlando (although suffering through the humidity will test anyone’s patience). The Florida-based theme park is massive and offers more space for “Scare Zones” and original mazes, while also boasting a fan base that treats the annual event with the same kind of love and admiration as they would a horror film.

Calling it an “experience” is an understatement; Horror Nights consumes you. It’s where I want to live and breathe. If there’s a heaven, I’ve already been there.

This year’s Horror Nights in Orlando introduced some huge franchises; The Shape was resurrected in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers; the “Stranger Things” maze took everyone to the Upside Down; and Trick ‘r Treat got the haunt it deserved after last year’s ridiculously badass “Scare Zone”. All were incredible, but none as mindblowing as the Poltergeist maze, based on Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg‘s 1982 masterpiece.

ALSO READ: With the ‘Killer Klowns’ Taking Over Halloween Horror Nights, the Chiodo Brothers Talk Sequel

I was seven when my family moved to the Chicago suburbs. That year, I went to a new friend’s house to spend the night, one that would traumatize me for a long time after. They rented Poltergeist because, well, it was rated PG. The clown scene scared me so badly that my parents had to come and pick me up – and even had to make sure that my new bed frame touched the ground. I had this same bed until I moved out, which was a nightly reminder as to when my horror roots truly were planted. There is no Bloody Disgusting without Poltergeist.

Digressing, to say I was excited for the Poltergeist maze at Horror Nights is an understatement. To literally enter your childhood nightmare is an out-of-body kind of experience. While I (obviously) have already moved past this and become a horror fan, I couldn’t help but feel like that character in the movie who finally faces their fears. What made this maze even cooler was that it wasn’t just a recreation of the 1982 horror classic, but a new interpretation in which guests would be taken into the light!

The entrance is pure genius, opening with a walk through the muddied aftermath of the film’s grand finale. As we walked through the open graves, we found ourselves under the Freeling family house that’s built atop a cemetery. After entering, many familiar scenes and haunts presented themselves; the one that scared the shit out of me was a recreation of the infamous bathroom mirror scene in which a man tears his face apart. In the maze, the designers used the mirror as a way to draw in guest’s attention and then deliver a scare for the ages. I nearly shit myself right then and there. In another room, Robbie is being attacked by the clown and screaming, all while the tree monster is roaring from the room’s open window. It’s an assault on the senses that leads guests through the closet and into the light. Utilizing techniques from last year’s awesome The Shining maze, this is where the designers surround guests with a surreal landscape of vanishing walls and floating furniture.

ALSO READ: The “Revenge of Chucky” Scare Zone at Halloween Horror Nights Brings to Life a Sequel We’d Love to See

I thought last year’s Shining maze was going to be tough to beat, but the team behind this year’s Horror Nights truly outdid themselves yet again. The Poltergeist maze alone was worth the price of admission with each and every other attraction just being icing on the cake. And while you may be tempted to ride your bike directly over to the “Stranger Things” maze or go trick or treating with Sam, I also urge you to check out this year’s original haunts, especially the “Dead Exposure: Patient Zero” maze that blasts guests with strobe effects and wild blacklight scares. There is no shortage of frights at this year’s Horror Nights, which is so massive it will probably take more than one visit to get through everything. Thankfully, Halloween Horror Nights 2018 runs select nights through November 3.

For more information, and to book select tickets and vacation packages, visit www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com.

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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