I went in there with low expectations due to Bloodshot and memories of Monster Manor. I walked out annoyed because it was close to being a great house. Spoilers ahead, if you care about spoilers from a low-tier maze.
The pacing gave strong first impressions with an at dude yelling at us to get in. It’s reminiscent of the principal character at Zombie High at KD, which I thought was a highlight of that maze. Things slowly escalate to show more and more chaos, which is a great sign. This continues through until we see the werewolf.
To the park’s credit, the wolf is not just a person on a costume. What they have though, is most likely a puppet, but could be an animatronic as the movements weren’t very fluid like a puppet would be. It’s blatantly clear that expenses were, in fact, spared. It looked like a deflated balloon attached to a slab that’s covered by a black sheet. Props to the scare actor there because she was doing her best trying to be scared of it. Imagine the Temu version of a visual gag from Beetlejuice. The parked should have invested more in a better puppet.
From there, the environmental chaos has peaked. It’s a secret military base so it’s not like some elaborate set like a manor or something, but most of the rooms just have enough to tell you “this is the mess hall” or “this is an operating room”. The chaos also seems minimal. The mess hall had some trays scattered with a dented fridge with blood spattered.
That being said, some of the room are well done like a command center with actors yelling at each other. Loved this touch. Some of the other aspects about the maze were great like good use of signage for Easter eggs, small details, ect. These are great.
From there, we proceed to the end and the big climax is the same werewolf just kind of standing there……..menacingly without triggering audio or visual effect to maybe surprise the guests. Then you walk out of the maze.
Actors outfit choice here was good. It’s either military or nurse with nurses wearing masks indicating that their face has been ripped off. These are effectively the monsters, which is the first major issue. Victims are great for building atmosphere. It doesn’t work if the only actors are victims. That makes the maze comprised of victims and two werewolves doing their best Wizard of Oz impression. You do not feel like you’re in danger of the only things jumping out at you are nurses and there’s minimal damage. I have to wonder if there was a staffing issue as there were plenty of holes in the walls designed for actors but didn’t see one be used. Maybe someone can put on just the hand and sleeve of a werewolf? Would certainly make it feel like you’re being stalked.
The maze is too bright for the most part. There are places where it makes sense to be well lit, it’s not dark enough in a majority of the maze so the issues with the lack of carnage are visible. I’d go in there, (metaphorically) fuck shit up, to make it look more like things are happening.
Regarding the wacky waving inflatable arm tube lycans , I’d also hide them better. The first one, put plastic chains around the enclosure and put a slow strobe light on it. This will have the effect of giving the guests a taste of what’s stalking them and reducing the visible jank of it. The second one I’d add an audio and visual que while trying to keep it hidden until the very end. It could benefit from a strobe light as well.
To sum it up: Close to being great, some tweaking could save the maze, and yes, I am autistic.
