Since its announcement at San Diego’s Comic Con earlier this year, Crimson Peak Maze of Madness has been a much speculated on and a highly anticipated experience for the annual Halloween Haunt.  The new maze, exclusive to Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights in California, is an original creation between Creative Director John Murdy and legendary Writer, Director, Guillermo Del Toro.  Based on the upcoming film, Crimson Peak, the maze traces the story beats of the upcoming film in chilling, often graphic detail.

Still under construction, we were given a tour by Mr. Murdy through the walk-through attraction.  We were repeatedly reminded that what we were seeing was still under construction.  Props were being placed, lights were being set, and even sets were being finalized.  Despite this fact the maze is already a stunning piece of work.

The marque and entrance to the maze under construction

“Whenever you see a movie that Guillermo Del Toro has had anything to do with,” explained Murdy, “You immediately know it’s one of his.”  Noting the filmmaker’s impeccable visual style and eye for detail, he explained that the maze had to meet those same visual marks.

The maze begins in a graveyard which was still being constructed outside. Entering the maze we come upon a long hallway and enter into the first main scene.  Here a young Edith lies in bed, haunted by the ghost of her dead mother.  We are immediately struck with the rich visual detail and lighting.

The figure of young Edith is wrapped in protective plastic here, awaiting final placement for the employee previews.

Murdy explains how the use of projections will show the hands of her mother’s ghost reaching for her.

Drapperies in the child’s room.

John Murdy explained that working with Guillermo Del Toro was amazing.  “We were given access to everything.” John explains, “I was handed over 38,000 pictures from production, some were still photography, others were for continuity, but we were given, literally, everything that they had to get everything just right.”

Murdy stands at the entrance to Allerdale Hall, the crumbling estate atop the hill known as Crimson Peak.

In the film, our protagonist Edith, marries a mysterious man from England and is whisked away to his family estate in a remote town in the northern end of England.  Allerdale Hall is a once opulent home that has fallen into disrepair as the family fortune has crumbled.  Sitting on a deposit of shifting blood red clay, the house creaks and moans as it sinks into the clay below. Speaking of the house and its importance, Murdy explains, “The house is treated as a character, a living breathing thing. It even seems to bleed as the clay from below leaches up into the foundation, into the walls, and into the water supply”

Another interesting fact is that visitors will be experiencing Crimson Peak Maze of Madness a full month before the film is actually released on October 16th. “We’ve done that before,” Murdy explains, “Where we have featured a maze based on a film that releases after we begin Halloween Horror Nights. We did it with The Thing, and a few others.”  The trick here in this case is that the film is very much a mystery that contains spoilers.  In creating the maze, Murdy had to be very careful to create an attraction that was engaging, scary, yet didn’t reveal any spoilers. “We kind of serve as a living trailer for the movie” Murdy wryly suggests.

Moths, a crucial motif in the film, make appearances throughout the maze. This wallpaper actually appears in the film.

There is also a disturbing scene in which a bathtub will appear to be overflowing with blood.  This was actually a scene suggested by Del Toro himself.  The trick was to get this to work, non-stop, for fans who would be brewing through every 10 seconds. “We had to do it in such a way to where our guests weren’t in danger of getting this stuff on their clothes, and that it could work, continuously.”  Murdy explains.

Another key scene in the film is the hallway scene.  Here our heroin, Edith encounters several more ghosts as they crawl and grovel toward her.  The scenery is key here with its symmetry and ominous shapes.  The hallway below is still in production as it will feature spikes in the arches.  It gives it the at homey feel, ya know?

Production art released by Del Toro

A creature to be featured in an effect.

We enter another room and skeleton molds are drying on a bed.  They don’t belong there, but somehow they look right at home.  This happens to be the bedroom of Lady Lucille Sharpe.  She is the shabby type so we are warned to be on our guard.

We soon enter an attic scene.  Here there will be very particular special effects used to really set the mood.  “Guillermo was very insistent that we have certain elements.  In this scene he wanted to make sure we could see the night sky past the crumbling walls and snow falling outside.”

We enter the finale room of the maze, the Clay pits chamber.  In the film this is where the family harvested clay that welled up from below.  It is also where they hid plenty of dark secrets that were still floating around.  The final scares will be coming from everywhere in this scene.  We could tell you where, but that would ruin the surprise then wouldn’t it?

The scares in this maze will be in contrast to the other haunted house/ghost story maze that is featured this year.  Insidious Return to the Further is a more aggressive, in-your-face, style maze with a different feel.  Crimson Peak Maze of Madness very much reflects the feel of the upcoming film in looks and style.  “Guillermo is very insistent that Crimson Peak is a gothic romance.” Murdy explains,” It is a very different type of horror film that feels very much in the vein of the classic Hammer films from England.” Explaining how this will even effect the actor performances, Murdy goes further saying, “Here we have made sure that the actresses playing Lucille don’t just poke at you or come at you with their knives.  Here they will have these bugged out eyes and big swooping gestures.  Very dramatic in style and tone.”

After seeing the new maze in a raw form, we can honestly say that we are excited.  the detail is spot on and the mood seems to already be set.

There you have it for Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights new Crimson Peak maze.  This is shaping up to be pretty exciting. We are still unsure about a possible HorrorBuzz event at Universal Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights this year.  We ARE however holding two amazing events with Knott’s Scary Farm for Saturday the 26th and another with Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor on Saturday October 3rd.  Buy your tickets now for both of those.  They are selling out fast.

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