Chainsaws - Yes or No?

[RJ Productions]

Chainsaws....love 'em....hate 'em!!! I personally do not like them, I think i is a cheesy scare and it costs me a lot of money each year in broken chainsaws.

However... you do need to be responsive to your audience, and like it or not they LOVE the chainsaw!! IF you don't think so,, run a chainsaw for a few groups and watch their reaction. Then skip a couple groups NOT using the chainsaw.

People will have a great time in your attraction, the chainsaw is not realy a surprise (they have been listening to it for two hours in line) but if it misfires and they don't get the saw they want their money back!!!

I looked into the sound chip ones, but my actors break several REAL chainsaws, they would destroy the electronic one in less than an hour!!!

[Jim Warfield]

If I can not or have not impressed my customers with everything I have done here , a chainsaw "ballet" wouldn't make any difference.
Impressing the customer has always been my main concern/mission since so many of them drive specifically to come see my house spending many hours over the road, often in the dark.
Impressing people need not require hours of constructing something, although I do have many such items like that here as a part of the tour.
Someone could load my main props into a car trunk and there would still be plenty of room for a few real cadavors.
The total cost of those props would average out to less than $1.00 each and none of them use electricity or gasoline..yet people are jumping, screaming, twitching, reacting!
What is my amazing secret with all of this? How can these things possibly be that effective?
I operate on human speed. Communicating (usually) to be understood and comprehended, allowing the time for the customer's ears and mind to contemplate what they have just heard and seen giving their imaginations the opportunity to weigh in and wonder and anticipate...THEN the real fun and possibilitys can happen.
Of course groups of screamy, shrieky 14 yr. old girls fight this process of comprehension, that's why I prefer the older crowd, usually.

[SiouxFallsHaunt]

When it was used outside, it worked most of the time, but what killed it is that our exit dumps directly into the parking, so people heard and already saw me go after others with the saw and they expected me when they reached the end.

I really like the leaf blower Idea, and If im correct a have seen a few haunts use pneumatic drills to cause loud noises against walls and such.

I had the same problem, due to fire code our gas chainsaw (electric one sucked) had to be ran outside or right by the back door. Our back door also dumps into the parking lot so everyone seen it. This year we didn't use it and then customers started asking about it so we used it. We then decided to scratch the idea and I am not sure we will be using it next year...
I too like the leaf blower idea and due to the fact we are considering a haunted school theme next year we may have the maintence man try the leaf blower out

[Raycliff Manor]

I mentioned this on the thread about clowns, but yes we do use chainsaws. We have one in each attraction. We got rid of the chainsaw at one point and the patrons let us know their feelings on it! They were very disappointed when it was not there. In the Raycliff Manor attraction, this is the one area that doesn't stay true to the time period represented in the storyline and character back-stories. We use the chainsaw (Spookyprops) in the last scene in Raycliff Manor, which is made to look like you are outdoors and walking past a mausoleum. The Actor gives chase with the chainsaw and the guests usually run screaming out the exit right past the guests waiting in line. I learned the hard way that it's not about satisfying my purist tendencies when it comes to the theme, it's about delivering what the guests want. Of course there are always a few purists who visit the attraction and make sure to point out that the chainsaw doesn't fit the theme and time period, but I try to satisfy the majority of guests overall.

Kel

[Don_OfThe_Dead]

BTW lawn mowers work pretty good too

Never use a pull start mower. We tried this variation and in the excitement people got snagged fingers and cracked knuckles (myself included.) Push start is the way to go on anything motorized.

[monsterwax]

We have real good luck with those older air plane engines. You can buy them cheap when they have run over 100,000 hours and the body is rusted out. But the trick is to wire them to run backwards, so instead of sucking the customers in and cutting them into chunks, it blows them away and only startles them. Remember, "Clockwise=NOT wise. Counter clockwise= SCARES, not TEARS"

[Jim Warfield]

Do you give them eye protection first?
Or is the place constantly blown clean of debris, maybe?
I could use one of these in my parking lot to "sweep" with.
It might make one heck of a ceiling fan too, I betcha!

[newhorror2010]

I too think that chainsaws are over used, UNLESS there can be found a new way or ways to use them. I believe chainsaws themselves don't scare people, the noise they make...different story!

[PAT MATTHEWS/HOUSE OF WAX]

On the topic of chainsaws I will add my say as im a self appointed expert. If you want major wow factor and something new do a chaisaw duel in the que line. Have a killer come out with a victim as if hes gonna execut him and then at the last second have the victim break free and find a hidden chainsaw in the que line. All hell breaks loose as the 2 fight to the death with 2 saws. Think of it as a combination of a gun fight and sword fight with chainsaws. The crowd gos nuts for this

[Jim Warfield]

Especially if some of them are wearing hats or coats that say, "STIHL" on them!
(It could be like Race Day!)