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  • Best scare for EXIT scene?

    Just putting the last touches on our "House" plans and wanted a little input. Went to forty haunted attractions this past season and pretty much the SAME exit scene of the chainsaw was utilized in 98% of them. Anyone using or have seen a proven EXIT scene ,besides the chainsaw, that still gives the audience that BANG for their buck, that they so much are craving? The 2% exit scenes not using the chainsaw were a let down to the customers interviewed on their way out. Just curious?
    Ken

  • #2
    Exit strategy

    We can't use chain saws indoors and outside our exit is not really an option.

    So, we may buy one of those electric saws we have drooled over for a few years finally this year. But, what we are going to do as our exit scare is to have the clowns hit them, then have some hanging clowns to wade through as they exit through a claustrophobia style set up. It will trun 180 degrees as well. Yes, we will have an alternative route to allow the chickens and our staff to get around it quickly.

    Brett Molitor
    JamBam/Huntington Jaycees Haunted Hotel-13th Floor
    www.HauntedHuntington.com
    www.myspace.com/the_haunted_hotel
    .
    .
    .
    Brett Molitor (aka ~ JamBam) Member of HAA

    Haunted Hotel-13th Floor (est by Huntington Jaycees in 1968 8) )
    Longest running Haunted House in the WORLD!!

    Hysterium Haunted Asylum (old Haunted Cave), Fort Wayne Indiana

    Hysterium Escapes - 4 rooms with 3 themes


    www.HauntedHuntington.com

    www.facebook.com/hauntedhotel

    www.Hysterium.com

    www.facebook.com/HysteriumFtWayne

    www.hysteriumescapes.com

    www.facebook.com/hysteriumescapes


    sigpic

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    • #3
      Sign up for my seminar, buy my book! Buy my dvdvdvdvd!
      "What exit strategy would there be to avoid the customers being let down or disappointed?
      It is so simple, really, don't allow them to leave! No exit= no exit disappointment!
      See how incredibly simple it is!
      Create a mind-boggling array of ever changing situational rooms and obstacles and make them have to escape, they won't be leaving then, instead the thrill and challenges of figuring out the escape will be a great full-bodied substitute for any old saw with chains hanging from it.
      Then suddenly, surprisingly, they are out in the parking lot!?
      What was the last thing in the tour? Them becoming a struggling survivor and winning!
      Of course the ones that can't figure it out and are still rambling around in circles can be part of the mad asylum acting crew for next season.

      You're Welcome.
      hauntedravensgrin.com

      Comment


      • #4
        im very rarely impressed by chainsaw use in haunts... its so redundant, everyone does it, everyone has seen it... think of something new already, or at least utilize the chainsaw in an exciting, NEW, way... ya know?

        a few years back i saw a fairly impressive exit scene that DID use a chainsaw, but it was very creatively done. (this was WAY before i became involved in haunting so i really have yet to figure out all of the logistics...)

        pretty much, it was a corridor of jaggedly-askew, almost maze-like, slat walling (cant think of the actual term for it...) plenty of fog, and TONS of bodies slamming against the walls.... most were props, but a few were actors... anywho... the room was set up so that you felt you were always one step behind the chainsaw maniac on the other side of the wall (who wasnt really even there)... they had bodies that popped down out of the cieling (also slats of various sized boards) and a few walls with (im guessing) prop chainsaws that appeared to be cutting their way through the walls. the whole corridor was back-lit by very dim red lighting until something slammed violently against the wall, or there was a chainsaw coming at you, and then things were lit by strobe. Finnally you reach the end of the corridor and you come face to face with the maniac that has been "chasing" you through the maze... idk if this sounds more complex than it was, but all in all i have to award these people with a "best creative use of a chanisaw maniac" award... the room was AWESOME, and scary as hell, even if it used a tired staple of the haunt industry.

        probably not much help here, but if you dont find anything else, its always a fun idea to take what others have done and "super-size" it.... think of how many patrons will be dicussing your "super" chainsaw room vs. the competitions.
        -Mat

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        • #5
          last year we

          had several members of local dance troop, work in a graveyard....dead zombies break into a Thriller dance. Not scary , but everyone liked it.
          Whoa.........that was spooky!:twisted::evil::shock:

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          • #6
            I end my tours with me opening the exit door and saying:"Thank you very much, I hope that you had a good time here, It gives you something to talk about when you are locked up in the nursing home someday."
            Gregg thought this was hysterical when he was here. Of course what made it funnier was the group I was saying this to were all little boys 8 to 10 years old.
            hauntedravensgrin.com

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            • #7
              We are a no-chainsaw haunt as well. I have thought about incorporating one into the show, but every time I even mention it one of my creative team screams “NO CHAINSAW!”. And, I’m glad they do. We have avoided it for this long, so it would be sad to ruin the trend.
              Endings, of all sorts, can be difficult. I’ve noticed that by the end of most haunts, mine and others, that most patrons are pretty desensitized to most scares. One of the best things you can do is to make them think it is over, so they drop their guard, and then hit them with a scare.
              To be honest, we have been hit and miss in the ending department the last few years. We’ve had a narrow cave passage at the end of our haunt for the past two years. That has limited our options on scares. This year we are transforming the end into a larger room where we can put on a little more of a show. I think that will help, but if we can’t scare them at least we will entertain them.
              sigpic
              Louis Brown
              Owner, operator, and dish washer
              at
              DarkWood Manor

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              • #8
                That is sort of sad that so many become desensitized . I really feel that the way I present my house does the opposite with most people, except for 13 to 15 year old squealy girls who can't stop screaming or talking about boyfriend "Biff" in study hall.
                I do not have any sound track(s) playing in my place , this might help the growth of rational thought? My distractions are usually more verbal , allowing them the time to comprehend what I am attempting to communicate to them, THEN I scare them!
                Then I re-engage their thinking process with some new goofy concept, then I scare them again, over and over it plays........
                As I have said here before, some laugh the entire time they are here, often begging for me to "Stop" because they can't breath or their stomach hurts.
                This is all a good distraction from the supernatural events here, which are not regular, dependable events.
                We almost have completed a new E-book telling all about this house's Haunted History, as told room by room. I still can't believe how much typing this has taken so far!
                hauntedravensgrin.com

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                • #9
                  We have also used the chainsaws at the end of our events but the thing that has worked best for us is to use an air cannon machine gun hidden in the bushes. They think they are finished and start to sigh and talk with each other about their experience and then we hit them with it. The sound of the cannon plus the large bursts of air startle EVERYONE! It works great for us so you might try it for yours. No actor is needed just use a sensor. Greg
                  Greg Allen
                  scarygreg@andersonfarms.com
                  www.andersonfarms.com

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                  • #10
                    My large bursts of startling air usually drag some stainers with them.
                    hauntedravensgrin.com

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Thank God and Stihl!!!!

                      "not impressed with chainsaws" (what!?!?!) I can see not using a saw at the end if you are trying to be different, but if you don't have a saw on the property simply because you are "not impressed" or don't want to be a "cliche" then you're cheating your public. (my opinion) You can't beat the look on the faces of the next group to walk in when they all hear the Chainsaw roar inside the house. (I think I just pee'd a little with excitement). As far as a last room, for a couple of years we had a chalkboard drop. It was a good sized drop window with chalkboard spray coating on it. We also had a sign above it that said " Did The Shadow's Edge......" and on the chalkboard we spilt it down the middle and had "Rocked" on one side and "Sucked" on the other. We even had already marked up the board and had chalk sticks glued down in a tray in front of it. When the "tough guy" of the group reached for the chalk to mark his own opinion we would drop the chalkboard for one last blast. It worked great, but i think we went back to a chainsaw. I guess we are just predictable scum.
                      Scott Murphy- Owner/Operator www.theshadowsedge.com KICKING & SCREAMING!!!

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                      • #12
                        what im NOT impressed about ARE the cliche uses of chainsaws... party city masks on teenage boys weilding a chainsaw at the exit door is just BORING to me... and thats what i've encountered at 98% of the haunts ive been to that use a chainsaw ending scene. Last season, actually, i went to a haunt that has a GREAT reputation in the area, and i was severely let down... no themeing, no scenes, just tent after tent of party-city-mask-wearing-chainsaw-maniacs (6 of them to be exact... spaced throughout the haunt) and they didnt even move really... just started up the chainsaw and moved their arms around a little, then shut it off...

                        its just sad. Chainsaws can be an excellent prop, but thats what they are... a prop... give the scene that utilizes that prop a little more substance, and you've got a winner.... Don't avoid using them for fear of becoming a cliche, use them in ways that others havent... (AKA DONT BE THE CLICHE IF YOU USE THEM!)

                        thats all im getting at.
                        -Mat

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                        • #13
                          Ravens Grin Inn !

                          Hey Warfield,
                          I would have to say that the year you and Leonard put the TW tour together, the exit from the Ravens Grin Inn out of the trunk of the Hudson suddenly onto the street was great. Just when we were expecting, heck I don't know, we were climbing out of the trunk from the cool tunnel onto the cold street, and wham, it was over.

                          Of course, your idea of no exit at all has occurred to me a few times, especially the one time we came through and one of our friends made a comment when we were in the sub-basement. She told you you were WIERD!!!. And you came back with a true Warfield comment, while we wondered if she had sealed our fate, our car to disappear, and no one know where we really were. And we become part of the future of the Inn.


                          Three time visitor... pondering a fourth.. nah.. not just yet.

                          Brett Molitor
                          JamBam/Huntington Jaycees Haunted Hotel-13th Floor
                          www.HauntedHuntington.com
                          www.MySpace.com/the_haunted_hotel
                          .
                          .
                          .
                          Brett Molitor (aka ~ JamBam) Member of HAA

                          Haunted Hotel-13th Floor (est by Huntington Jaycees in 1968 8) )
                          Longest running Haunted House in the WORLD!!

                          Hysterium Haunted Asylum (old Haunted Cave), Fort Wayne Indiana

                          Hysterium Escapes - 4 rooms with 3 themes


                          www.HauntedHuntington.com

                          www.facebook.com/hauntedhotel

                          www.Hysterium.com

                          www.facebook.com/HysteriumFtWayne

                          www.hysteriumescapes.com

                          www.facebook.com/hysteriumescapes


                          sigpic

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            We went into last year not wanting to use chainsaws or clowns. We didn't use chainsaws. A clown somehow snuck onto the property and stayed for the entire month. Oh well.

                            For our final scene the customers walk down a dark hallway and make a 90 degree turn at the end into a brightly lit room with the stairs to the exit. We didn't do anything to the room, in fact we stored extra equipment in the corner. Everyone assumed it was over, then an actor in a SPFX zombie mask came out of a doorway behind them and chased them upstairs.

                            We had a hidey hole with a view on this room so management could watch the fun. The best was listening to people when they walked into the lighted nonscary room. You could actually hear some people sigh, like it was finally over and they could relax. You knew you had them when everyone in the group would start gabbering about everything they had just scene and what they liked and what scared them.

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                            • #15
                              Who are your customers?
                              I think if they are 13 to 17 year olds many of which have never been to haunted attractions or have been to only one or two of them them the chainsaw attack is fine. .
                              I'm not kidding when I tell you that even slightly older customers really do not appreciate a chainsaw at all, not the noise, nor smell nor potential for someone to trip and hit you with a possibly hot , heavy metal device.
                              I decided long ago that I would pander to the older groups and it has worked out for me and what I do here. Bottom line:Whatever works for you...works.
                              I just love the little subtle things I do here that creates sometimes massive reactions, as last night, the first slight , small thing that I did to the people as they were walking up to my house had very loud screams coming out of them, echoing across the parking lot all the way over to the city graveyard on the opposite hill.
                              I wonder if my dead relatives heard them?
                              Could Have! (insert evil laugh ~here)
                              hauntedravensgrin.com

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