Scream Machine: Just a little experimentation
The doctor is in. Stepping through the door and up to the ticket booth, you see the lights flicker. You look to your left and spot the queue. A twisted trip though chain link fences, in a dark grungy confined space that makes you feel like a patient trapped in a sick experiment. Maybe that is pretty close to the truth? Soon you get ushered into a small waiting room, and you find out your fate from an informational video. You are to be the doctor’s plaything, finding what fear does to the human body. A door slides open. You enter the reception area, there is no going back now. It is time to step into the machine.
The house’s first major set piece is their classic Hellevator, which has been around now as long as I can remember. It is a great starter that gets the adrenaline going early. It is also the first of many well thought out sets that tend to flow together well. The storyline of being in an experiment that is trying to find the fear that best gets you allows for the switching of themes to make sense. Going from an ominous church with many mourners that may or may not be real, to a backwaters house makes sense based on the story. The storyline allows for this transition and overall pacing of the house to make sense. This is nice to see, as I can’t even begin to count the houses over the years that don’t even try to make sense. The aforementioned church scene is a highlight. Not knowing who in the room is real builds up tension that is broken when the real monsters attack. The set design is well done this year, allowing for some good misdirection. There were some scenes where it was obvious where the scare would be coming from, which diminishes the effect. There are also some serious bleed-through sound issues, where actors would be trying to talk to us, and it would be hard to hear them over sounds from other scenes. Overall, a small issue, but it does affect the experience at times.
The actors in the house are as enthusiastic as it gets. They will rush out of doors at high speed, get right in your face, using everything from screams to quiet whispers to get the scare. Many of them managed to not only get the scare but also kept a witty conversation going with us afterwards. This house has had great actors for many years, but this year just takes it to a new level. It’s like they all bought into the storyline, they are here to extract your fear by any means necessary. Even the actors that come out of areas where the scare is obviously coming from do it with such a ferocity and purpose that your heart rate will still go up. One actor that must be singled out is the doctor himself. He not only relays the story well, setting up what is to come and what to expect, he does it all with a sinister attitude and voice that creeps you out. There is a genuine sound of please and anxiousness to his tone that makes you believe in the story.
Something that needs to be touched on for this house is the lighting. It is really well done throughout the house and does a lot towards making every setting feel realistic. The church is light by candlelight making the room feel moody and quiet. A kitchen is well lit, showing off the disgusting items strung about. Every room has its own distinct feel, and the lighting goes a great way towards this.
On the opposite end of the scale is the sound. If there was the use of music or ambient sound, I can not recall it. If it was there, it was either too subtle, or possibly the bleed through from the other areas made it hard to hear. A good usage of sound could’ve helped make the sets even better, and the immersion would have been complete. Despite this issue, the overall design is still good.
The Scream Machine is on the rise. Compared to our visit last year, this is a marked improvement. The storyline allows for the flow of the house to feel better this year. The actors are intense this year and give this house an intense feel. There may be some room for improvement, but overall this is a good house that looks like it will keep improving. I can’t wait to see what is in store for the future.
3.75 / 5
