It’s fascinating to see how Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights can transport guests to other worlds within the confines of seasonal experienced nestled in the nooks and crannies of the theme park. Tucked along the familiar stretch of space behind the Revenge of the Mummy coaster, is the all-new Universal Monsters: Legends Collide haunted house. We met Creative Director John Murdy in front of the new walkthrough for a preview of what’s in store for guests when Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights kicks off Thursday, September 8th. What we saw was impressive.
Approaching the two-story faux-brick façade we are struck by the detail before us. As we stare at the weathered shipping warehouse before us Murdy explains the setup for the attraction. We arrived at an American shipping and receiving company, Alucard Trading Co. on a rather interesting night. It seems that The Wolfman has ended up here in pursuit of a relic that could end his lycanthropic curse. Meanwhile, a nefarious trader from Egypt has arrived with a means to unleash The Mummy and his army of the undead. Did you notice the name, Alucard? Cute. In a weird coincidence, Dracula has also landed at the dock, having attacked those on his ship, and well, hell’s about to break loose.
But why these three monsters, Dracula, The Wolfman, and The Mummy? Murdy points out that while many Universal Monsters have enjoyed crossover movies, appearing in one another’s films, these three iconic characters have never appeared in the same film together. When Legends Collide was a way to remedy that. Developing the idea with Universal Orlando’s HHN Creative team, we see the idea come to fruition. The interesting thing is that while Orlando chose to tell one story with their house, Murdy and crew opted to pick up at the end of Orlando’s house and deliver a second half to the story that show’s what happens when the three legends make it to New York.
We enter the first room and it is an expansive warehouse with high celings and massive crates in various stages of unveiling. Bodies are strewn about as life-size relics jut from crates. Incidentally, may of the set pieces were borrowed from the Brian Sommers Mummy films.
The final warehouse room is the shipping office where chaos has, understandably erupted with the three monsters leaving a wake of disaster. Again we are struck by the detail on display. We can only imagine what this sill look like with the proper theatrical lighting.
The battle will continue as we venture through a New York cemetery, past crypts and tombstones under a full moon. Murdy points to one crypt that pays homage to Dracula director Todd Browning.
We have arrived at the final sequence, the museum. Here all of the stolen relics are on display as the villain in our story begins to release the curse of the Mummy and raise the undead. Of course, the curse is called a curse for a reason and things don’t go as planned.
Spot the reference to Slash and win a prize.
Didn’t your Mummy ever tell you NOT to play with curses?
The finale scares, yes plural, hit guests with the usual boo boxes. But what’s fun is that they have considered the new information of the Egyptian god RA who has been discovered to be not a jackal, but a wolf. Suffice it to say we are excited to see this in action.
After seeing the work in The Horrors of Blumhouse and now the look and feel of Universal Monsters: When Legends Collide, we are excited. The bar has been raised top to bottom in storytelling and execution and we can’t wait to see this in the proper lighting, teeming with actors, and filled with another original score by legendary guitarist SLASH.
Universal Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights kicks off Thursday, September 8th. See you there!
