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THE THING And HOSTEL Getting Themed Mazes At Universal Studios HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS

Halloween is nearly upon is and word coming from Universal Studios Hollywood is two brand new "themed" mazes based on John Carpenter's THE THING and Eli Roth's HOSTEL. The park will be haunting starting September 23rd and ending on October 31st, Halloween night.

Below is the official press release on what to expect as the fright season approaches.



The Thing: Asmilation: An abandoned scientific research facility in the midst of a vast and frozen Antarctica will set the stage for “The Thing,” an all-new horror maze inspired by Universal Pictures’ upcoming film, at both Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights events, which begins on September 23 and continues on select nights through October 31. In the thriller “The Thing,” paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they’re infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet.

The new haunted house will offer guests an unprecedented first-hand preview of the much-anticipated thriller in advance of its October 14 release. Guests will find themselves in a series of face-to-face encounters with “The Thing,” an alien creature that can transform itself into an exact replica of any living being. “The Thing” maze will recreate the spine-chilling suspense from the film, confronting guests with the paranoia and fear that comes from being trapped inde the film’s Antarctic Thule station. The shape-shifting alien could be anywhere or anything. Will they survive?

Eerily authentic, “The Thing” maze will feature elaborately degned and disturbingly real alien creatures and sets. They will match the film’s terrifying intenty and provoke both a memorable and disturbing experience. Universal’s theme parks have partnered with the film’s producers, Strike Entertainment’s Marc Abraham and Eric Newman (Dawn of the Dead) to create an experience that is authentic to the film. The sets, audio, mucal score, creature and character references are all based on the thriller.“We want people to live the film and experience the same terror that affects the film’s characters,” said Newman. “Our collaboration with Universal’s creative teams brought the vion of the film to life. We’re excited for Halloween Horror Nights guests to experience ‘The Thing’ in this frighteningly real way.”

Eli Roth’s Hostel: Hunting Season: Eli Roth, the multi-talented director, writer, producer and actor, will adapt his enormously successful “Hostel” film franchise to create “Eli Roth’s Hostel: Hunting Season,” a twisted new “Halloween Horror Nights maze at Universal Studios Hollywood. The event begins on September 23 and continues on select nights through October 31.

“Hostel:

Hunting Season,” for which Universal will build elaborate sets re-creating locations in Slovakia, will mark the horror auteur and star’s first effort at transforming his screen work into a live theme park experience.

The maze will re-imagine the film’s dehumanizing torture chambers and send guests on a spiraling journey through the corrupt halls of Elite Hunting’s torture factory.

Elite Hunting, a secret society that tortures and kills American youth for sport in exchange for large sums of money, will prowl the factory and prey on its many maze vitors.

Eli Roth, said: “Creating a maze for ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ is a horror fan’s dream come true. I’ve been viting ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ for years, and still remember the heart-pounding terror of going through the mazes for the first time.

For me it was like going inde the world of a movie and experiencing it in a visceral environment that mply cannot be replicated, and in subsequent years I’ve found I’m just as scared as I was the first time.

“I am so happy to join forces with the creative team at Universal.

Our collaborative vion to bring ‘Hostel’ to life will give both fans of my movie and horror fans a scare they could never have imagined.

People will have a chance to experience some exact moments from their favorite ‘Hostel’ scenes, along with some new surprises.

While walking around an abandoned Antarctic research facility with The Thing running around sounds terrifying, the fact that Eli Roth himself is helping with the Hostel maze seems scarier. Especially nce, to me, the power of the first film in that series was how much time it spent familiarizing the audience with a seemingly mundane environment before it got nuts.

Source: SlashFilm.com
Shakelford, J. Rusty Saturday 7/30/2011 at 05:14 AM | 79581
This is awesome news!

The Thing is one of my all time favorite Horror films...

I'm a huge Eli Roth fan and having him be a part of Halloween Horror Nights is beyond cool!
NightShape Saturday 7/30/2011 at 07:31 AM | 79582
I just got back from universal Orlando it was amazing and saw this announcement there. Great Post!
TheShape1188 Saturday 7/30/2011 at 06:30 PM | 79598