The Slasher Review
This was a first-time event for us and what a great event it was. The park contains 4 scare attractions, some roaming actors and a small food area. There is a bar too but this can only be accessed once you have completed all 4 mazes. Killer Clowns in Ibiza was our strongest maze of the night with Yokai Temple being the weakest.
Top Tip for the event - Arrive early as queues can get long fast, this includes for food and toilets.
Things that Bite - Be aware the indoor queue pens can get quite hot and stuffy and batching was around 20/30 seconds which means you might run into the group ahead.
Value for money- Yes
Scare Rating 4/5
Do we recommend - In a heartbeat
FOR A MORE IN-DEPTH REVIEW PLEASE READ BELOW
The Stalker Review
This was the first time we have been to Dr Frights Halloween Nights after many years of recommendations from others. We had always heard fantastic things about the event yet due to distance were never able to go. This year however our luck changed and we were able to visit. Dr Frights is built over the space of 4 weeks so a lot can be forgiven for any drops in detail in the mazes of which there are 4 off but this rarely happened. Dr Frights is constructed across several tents with each maze leading off the central hub where the music and bar area resides. The food and toilet area are on another route from the main tent. It has to be said though that the toilet and food area seems a little small for the size of the event as there were some hefty queues for both but that being said this was a sell out night so on a quieter night this might not be such an issue. Now onto the mazes.
Our first maze of the night was the Japanese themed Yokai Temple. It was themed around a paranormal investigation where we had the role to try and entice the spirits out of hiding. After about half an hour of waiting in a hot cattle pen we entered as a group of 6. Yokai Temple has a very interesting use of theming including long corridors and paintings that come to life before your eyes, but not the cheesy ones you find in most ghost trains. The maze featured a good amount of actors with scares coming from some very unexpected locations. The downside however is that a lot of the scares were very repetitive, mainly just screams and growls. Yokai Temple's theme did seem to fit the Japanese narrative however the costumes didn't seem to fit as well but as a first start to Dr Frights we can still say it started strong. Although the maze might not have hit our expectations the scares that did hit were well-timed and made many of the group jump.
Leaving Yokai Temple we headed to our second maze of the night Hollywood Horror:The Final Chapter. After another long cattle-pen we entered into Hollywood Horror or rather Devilsgate Studios. There was an audio briefing like in Yokai Temple however the audio was quite low so sadly the narrative was a little lost but we gathered we were here for a studio tour. Hollywood Horror takes you through many sets and scenes from well-known horror flics Hollywood has produced. From classics such as Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday 13th and The Shining to newer movies notably The Purge which is highly featured. Hollywood Horror uses a great selection of simple, classic scares and some psychological ones. Scream/Ghostface prop room we are looking at you which we have to mention that although the small space the actors in that section really used the closeness to their advantage. The maze also features great use of drop down scares alongside sustained intimidation. One actor in the Purge section took great delight to have Dane as a personal victim to terrorise. It is a shame we didn't get to see the cinema scene we had heard about from previous years but all in all a great attraction that had us ready for a food stop afterwards.
After a quick bite it was time to face the elephant in the room or rather the rave in the corner. Killer Clowns in Ibiza. The reason we state it as such is simple, right from the get-go of being in the car park you can hear a combination of screams and 90s club classic being boomed with all bass-filled glory over into the night sky. Although, strangely when in the hub the music didn't bleed into other areas as we expected. Queuing for Killer Clowns is a masterpiece, with the UV backdrop of an airport departure board, lasers and the music pumping, the atmosphere was insane and built the anticipation for what was to come. Once our time to enter the attraction had come we soon realised why Dr Fright's Killer Clown mazes have critical acclaim. Straight off the bat we were taken through "Check-in" including a security arch which was soon followed by a departure lounge and even a plane all whilst being bombarded with the likes of Tiesto and Zombie Nation. What follows after your landing at the club is a chaotic, insane and an over the top explosion of smoke, lasers, sounds, lights and some of the best clown actors we have ever seen. You honestly don't know whether to cheer or scream? Dance or RUN?! But once you do make it to the exit one thing is for sure, you want to go round and do it all over again. If only we could.
That leads us to our final maze of the night The Grindhouse-Down in Mexico. After practically a "walk on" line, we entered The Grindhouse. Again the audio on the preshow was a little low so the story was somewhat lost but what we pieced together was that a murderous hillbilly cannibal family had moved south to Mexico and we happened to be right in their path. The Grindhouse had a great number of actors throughout that were more than happy to improv and banter with the guests. Apparently I'm pretty! The Grindhouse also features some of the more impressive gory theming of all the mazes. One thing that did surprise us was the addition of indoor corn maze sections which added to the theme. The attraction also features a few chainsaw moments. Now maybe this was due to being close to closing but the energy from the chainsaws was not the best we had seen however the actors wielding them were surely intimidating and looked like you had just kicked their mother, luckily though we managed to escape being made into Taco's and left our final maze of the night unscathed.
So for the first time we had ever experienced Dr Frights we were highly impressed and all vowed to return next year. The food area and toilets could be improved as would the introduction of some aircon in the queue pens but for an event completely constructed from the ground up in 4 weeks you have to marvel at the show that they put on and for that, we congratulate the entire team.
Dr Frights Halloween Nights have now ended its season but for more info please go to the Dr Frights website.