Halloween Horror Nights 27: The Deadliest rise

As Summer turns to Fall, Universal Orlando transforms Universal Studios Florida into the world-class Halloween event Halloween Horror Nights. This year Universal brings a collection of popular horror media, as well as original concepts, to once again lay claim to best Halloween event in the country.

Houses

Saw: The Games of Jigsaw- Step once more into Jigsaw's workshop, where you have only one goal, escape without falling victim to any trap. This is a best of house, showcasing many fan favorite traps from throughout the series, as well as offering a sneak peak of traps from the newest films. As with every Universal house, the theming is well done. However, the scares seem kind of lackluster at times. The horror happening in the house is mostly towards others, with typically only the Pigmen attacking occasionally. Still it is a fun house as a fan of the franchise, serving as a trip down memory lane. A non-fan can probably pass.

3/5

Ash Vs. Evil Dead- A fun walkthrough of the current Evil Dead television series. The comedic house for the year, this house does a good job balancing gore, hilarity and scares. As someone who has not watched the show, it was still easy to follow along to. Longtime Evil Dead fans will appreciate little details scattered throughout the house. Definitely not the scariest house of the year by any means, but a fun house to enjoy.

3.5/5

Scarecrow: The Reaping: Wow. Just Wow. This house is an instant classic. From the cornfield outside, leading to entering through the burnt down farm, this house casts an imposing figure from the start. Once inside, it does not let up, scares come from locations that just don't seem possible, and seem to come every 5 seconds. Going through this run down farm, being attacked from everywhere, it is easy to forget you are in a theme park for this one. This is quite simply one of the great HHN houses of all time, and in my top 5 I've done in my 9 years going. Kudos to the actors and the set designers for creating a masterpiece.

5/5

The Hive- Based on the style of 80's cult horror, venture into a hive of vampires. This was just not that good. Confusing set design and a runs with almost no scares, this is the weakest house of the event. Lack of lighting is not used well in this house, and almost seems to be there just to hide the costumes. This felt very rushed and incomplete.

2/5

Horrors of Blumhouse- This is billed as being a house featuring the Sinister, Purge, and Insidious franchises, but it honestly feels more like Insidious, and two other series too. The is very unbalanced towards Insidious. However scares are there throughout each section, and the actors do a great job, being possibly the strongest actors of the event.

3/5

Dead Waters- Step into the Voodoo Queen's world. The facade for this may be the greatest I've ever seen. Enter through a large riverboat stuck in the swamp. The house does an amazing job transitioning from scene to scene, using great elevation changes to throw off your balance. The theming for this one is absolutely as good as the event does. It is easy to be distracted by how good everything looks, only to be startled by one of the actors. This is another standout house for the year.

4.5/5

The Fallen- Walk into the battleground between the light and the dark, and try to survive in the crossfire. This house starts in what looks like a fort straight out of Hell. With grotesque creatures attacking from everywhere. Actors even fly overhead, meaning scares will come from anywhere you look. My only drawback to this house is it kind of came off as confusing to me. However, this was one of our last runs of the night, and tiredness could have played a factor in that. Still, another good original concept house for the year.

3/5

The Shining- Step into the nightmarish world of the Overlook, based on the classic Stanley Kubrick movie. From a snow storm in the maze, through the winding hallways to meet the twins, to the ballroom to get a drink from Lloyd, to seeing the elevators bleed, this house is a fan's dream. Scares are good in this one, with Jack coming from a lot of directions, and the ending maze scene is a standout scene of misdirection. Must be noted that the headpiece for the actors playing Jack, do come off as a bit silly. However, as a fan, this house is an absolute treat. If not a fan, this could be highly confusing.

4/5

American Horror Story: Volume 2- Enter the world of three of the hit show's seasons, Roanoke, Coven, and Asylum. This house felt very weird to me. As someone who doesn't watch the show, most of this was spent being utterly confused as to what was going on around me. This just did not connect at all, however a fan would probably be in heaven. Set design is very good, and actors are good, just had no clue why anything was happening. Still I can see it being an enjoyable house for many.

3/5

Scarezones

Altars of Horror- Visit some of the stars of the various houses in a zone near the front of the park. Photo-op zone, and that is pretty much it. Theming is minimal, with nothing interesting to grab your attention. Scares are pretty much non-existent as well. Good place to get pictures with characters though.

1.5/5

Festival of the Deadliest- Come visit a Halloween party thrown by the dead. A zone designed to celebrate the central theme of the event. Still very much a photo-op zone, this one does manage to get scares too. It uses the old trick of using beautiful women on stage to distract, while someone comes out from behind to get you. Simple enough zone that is enjoyable enough.

2.5/5

Trick 'R Treat- Based on the cult classic horror film, come visit Sam, and don't forget to follow the proper Halloween etiquette. A powerhouse of a zone. Hundred's of jack-o-lanterns line the trees, while houses and decorations crowd the street. The mood and theming of this zone are incredible, and the actors send it onto another level. Good animatronic and gore use just add to the enjoyment of this zone, which is the best of this year.

5/5

Invasion!- A UFO has crashed onto the wharf, and the inhabitants want to rule our planet. The UFO prop is amazing, rising out of the concrete with debris all around. This has potential to be a great zone, unfortunately it was pretty much rained out on the nights we visited, so we did not get to see too much. However from what we saw, this appeared to be a very fun, campy zone.

3/5

The Purge- It's time for the annual anything goes crime spree, and you are stuck on the streets of New York during it. This is a great zone, featuring so many details. From projections in windows showing murders within, to store windows showing news footage of the mayhem, it is easy to believe you have gone out on the worst night possible. Purgers and victims both wander the streets, while an auction of victims goes on in the background on bus, while vehicles roam looking for the next person to capture. This zone is perfectly chaotic, and it is easy to tell that the actors love their roles. This one is a joy to do.

4.5/5

Shows

Academy of Villains: Afterlife- This dance and performance troupe return for another high energy performance. Due to the damage of Irma, this show has unfortunately had to run a shortened version. However, the Villains make the best of it. This show is not as good as last years, however it is quite understandable due to their limitations. It is quite nice to see an increased amount of crowd participation. A great show to see, and hopefully at some point the full performance gets to be seen.

4/5

Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure- After 26 years at HHN, the Wyld Stallyns take their final bow. A fantastic farewell to this beloved show. Quite hilarious, and poignant, this show makes great callback to the history of the event, while still lampooning the state of current pop culture. Finishing with an emotional final act, this is a great send off to a long standing HHN tradition.

5/5

Halloween Horror Nights 27 again shows Universal Orlando's unparalleled ability to create a Halloween event. This is another very successful year. For recent times, I would rank this as slightly better than last year's event, but still behind the incredible HHN 25. If you go to one theme park's Halloween event, this is still the one to do.

Overall 4/5