Me, Greg, Marissa, Laura, Toad and Nikki went to KSF opening night this year. I haven't done opening night since 2011, so I was excited for this. The GTS monsters working our side of the rope were on point. They were clever, picked the right marks and were entertaining, so first off kudos to them.
Then rope dropped! We missed the opening skit. I'm sure I'll watch it on Youtube later, so I'll give my opinion then, but our night started with rope drop and a beeline to Trick Or Treat. Great set, as it was last year. Doesn't feel stale like other multi year mazes (which I'll get to later), which is good. Before I go on, I should note that YES, there were down points, but since it's opening night when we went, I'm cutting slack to everyone to a great degree. TOT was a good maze again. The talent was good, especially the Witches and that creepy ass bird lady in the beginning. Other than that, it was basically on par with last year. I'd prefer they maintain rather than trying new stuff and failing... but I digress! I'm gonna give TOT a 7 out of 10 for maintaining more or less. Plus the chandolier hitting the table so hard was pretty startling!
Next up was Endgames! Didn't feel uncomfortably loud like in the past, and again, it was basically the same as last year. Good or bad, take that as you will. It did feel a bit sparse, talent wise, at times. No "Dark Harbor sucks" instances this year at all, which was nice. Not much more to say about Endgames... I'd give it a respectable 6.5 out of 10.
Then comes the conjoined twins, Dominion and Delirium. Last year Dominion was my favorite so they set the bar REAL high. One complaint (and it's a general complaint) is that the photo ops can get kinda annoying. First time through they weren't running so it wasn't a problem. First off, the darker tone was personally not as good. Not that it was bad, just the lighter tone last year was SO different, I found it refreshing. The design was good, but felt a little more cut and dry 'haunt' compared to last year. The scare spots were pretty standard, and not nearly as creative, where as last year at least 2-3 monsters startled/spooked me because the spots were SO well designed and they chose the right people for it. I loved the crypt area and the church area. Overall, last year still flowed better, though this year it had a bit more of a story to it. Over all, I'm giving it a 8.5 out of 10. Good sets, good talent.
Delirium... I love the theme. The costuming, make up, and set are all awesome. Same as last year more or less, but that's not a bad thing. In f act, the talent this year was on point. Many were doing very subtle things that I REALLY liked to push the madness aspect, such as a monster who kept chattering on to themselves about "HE'S coming. Start praying. He knows, he's coming, he's coming". That kind of detail is not lost on me and I am SO glad that so many of them really tried to do things like that. Also, that giant... skull thing creeps me out. 7/10 for this one.
Pinocchio Unstrung was up next after a jaunt through GTS. GTS, by the way, was on point. Lots of good scares, lots of good angles being used, not too many monsters just cruising or hanging out. 9/10 for GTS.
Pinocchio... Still find the concept kinda "eh", but the maze delivered again. Bush guys got me, and while Laura was laughing at ME, SHE got scared by a bush guy. Good work by MOST of the monsters, especially the donkeys. They all interacted pretty well... except the guy in the room with the big ass anamatronic. HE was apparently on his phone. Explains why he barely gave a glance when I entered the room... 6.5/10. It was alright, but nothing amazing.
Forevermore was after that. First off, it was nice to see Allison and Alec! Second, the maze initially had a good set but not too many scares and felt sparse, but that was remedied. I LOVED THE SETS. It felt like walking through a movie. I was really impressed. The talent was pretty good. This maze, along with Gunslinger's, has a TON of potential. I hope they stick with it for a few years and develop it. The low point of the maze was the Red Death part, but DAMN that had catchy music. If you don't start dancing in that scene, you're an awful person. 7.5/10 if for nothing else the sets were amazing, and I LOVED the victim chick with wings in the Raven area.
We then took a slight breather to try to find monster crack only to discover that it no longer exists. Someone told a member of our group it was because it blew out monster's voices because of the coldness or some malarky? First off, that issue is there for ALL soda. That's why singers and other vocalists drink WATER. I seriously doubt Mountain Dew is particularly worse than any other soda...
Okay, moving on from THAT rant, we moved on to Coasters to grab drinks after wandering through Carnevil and then hit Black Magic.Great sets, good talent. Slight design issues, including a poorly placed pipe that made Greg almost trip. The maze overall was good though.some good costume design, good detailing. AND NO UV! Yay! Overall a 7/10. Good potential for the future.
Also, before I move on, Carnevil was dope. On our second visit I'd really like to spend a bit more time there to watch the clowns work more. 9/10
Next up was something I was looking forward to and was sorely disappointed. The Dia De Los Muertos scarezone... WHAT THE F~? 5 monsters at most? Only THREE when we went through? Really Knott's? That's all I'll say. I'm sure those monsters did their best, but it was shameful on Knott's part...
Mirror Mirror... we didn't even bother. Dead standstill line and we weren't gonna make it through before the second hanging so we said fuck that. I heard we didn't miss anything special. Maybe we'll try again on our second visit.
Uncle Willy's... Great cast over all. Y'all did your best, and a special shout out to the homie Chikn. Good sets, but the concept is staaaaaaaaaaale if you ask me. I'm over the hillbilly shit man. Way over done. I don't know about anyone else, but when so little ever changes, and the concept is so overdone, I just sour on the whole concept... I have to break this down into more detail for this rating, so here goes...: Talent - 7.5/10 as an average, the sets get 7/10, but the overall rating only gets a 4.5/10 because I'm SO over this one. I think the utter lack of ANY line whatsoever all night said it all.
Gunslingers Grave... I love the theme. SO much. The sets were great. Even being mortal.characters, it was surprisingly full of scares/potential scares. This one has a TON of potential. One suggestion (though Knott's creative team will likely never read this) is that the collodian scars were good but you couldn't see them easily. Using a dark make up under or over it (I don't know what would work better) would have made them noticeable. Over all, it was a great maze and the talents were great over all. Also, shout out to Tony Rodriguez and Mizu! I'm giving it a 7/10, because it's not QUITE there yet, but I hope next year and after that, that it becomes one of the legendary mazes.
And finally Necropolis. I feel like this scarezone gets the short end of the stick. Great talent, great costumes but I feel like they dont give them much to work with. They work the ever loving hell out of the area though... 9/10.
Okay... Now to the shows. Caught a bit of Blood Drums who are awesome as always, but I won't rate their show since we only caught maybe 3 minutes. Red Moon Dance Company were legit. Those girls have mad skills! 9/10. The Hanging... not as good as last year, IMHO but the good parts were MUCH better. Over all, when they work out the wrinkles and technical problems by mid run, it'll be pretty good. The lines and such were on point for the most part, which was good. 7/10. Elvira... IT'S F'N ELVIRA. I was impressed that it was the REAL Elvira. I personally liked her show better than Ed Alonzo's, but that's just me. Her dancers were way better than the past, but I miss some of the girls from the past (What? I'm a dude!) that were in the show in the Schultz theater. 10/10 because ELVIRA!
So let's recap:
Trick or Treat - 7/10
Endgames - 6.5/10
Dominion - 8.5/10
Delirium - 7/10
GTS - 9/10
Pinocchio - 6.5/10
Forevermore - 7.5/10
Carnevil - 9/10
Black Magic - 7/10
Fiesta De Los Muertos - N/A
Mirror Mirror - N/A (TBD)
Uncle Willy's - Monsters: 7.5/10, Sets: 7/10, Overall 4.5/10
Gunslinger's Grave - 7/10
Necropolis - 9/10
OVERALL - 8/10
I had fun, and while I feel last year was technically better, I think they did a good job this year maintaining the fixes they brought in while doing new things that they mostly pulled off well. Kudos to my Knott's friends, and the entire cast and crew there. Especially for opening night, you did a bang up job!
Keep an eye out for a review of Dark Harbor coming as soon as their opening day happens!
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