Not only do we get to admire the subtle detail put into each maze, but we have the chance to feed on the vibe without being rushed through in a frantic pace. Its nice to be able to take a little time within, especially with this weeks presentation which was for a franchise that holds a special place in my heart. Im talking about The Evil Dead.
Creative director John Murdy gave Shock a tour of their new and most ambitious maze yet.
We start out front and what were gonna create is the woods. Youre gonna go into the woods before you get to the cabin,” says John. He led us into the maze proper and I was instantly teleported to the woods that you do not want to go to ever.
The darkness will be nicely paced and leads to a beautiful reveal and the center piece of the maze action the cabin. Lots of the effects and techniques have never been done before in a maze environment. I really wanted to find out more, and luckily, I got the chance to pick his brain a little.
John Murdy: Technically, its probably the most complicated. Certainly, theyre all complicated in their own way, they all have huge challenges, huge scenes. This one, because the movie relies so heavily on practical effects and we really want to pull that off, we have to do it live. So trying to figure out what you do on the set of a movie and bring it to this repeatedly every 10 seconds is a huge challenge.
Shock: So are you reinventing the effect in a sense?
Murdy: Often, with some of these, we literally went in and said I have no idea how Im gonna do this. Everything we do is pretty much prototype. No ones ever done this before. You have to create it for the first time so its a lot of trial and error.
As we walked through the cabin, John explained some of the extreme and very physical parts that the scare actors will be asked to endure.
Shock: Do you have parts that actors fight over no matter how extreme it is?
Murdy: Yeah, there are parts. It depends on the scare actor. Theyre all kind of different.
Shock: Do some prefer to mix it up?
As we finished our walk through we were assured that all the beats that we expect to see will be present. Every room is painstakingly recreated with the help of hundreds of actual set photos, each chosen to help bring the film to life for us. Many times they actually bring the film actors down to allow them to experience the maze they helped inspire. Have no doubt: This years Halloween Horror Nights is going to be something special from a creative standpoint, once again pushing the limits of what can be accomplished for the audience. Universal created the horror film as we know it and now they are doing it again, only this time, we all get to be part of the magic.
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