Last week we visited the famous horror studio for an up-close vampire dance audition and some exciting news from John Murdy, the Creative Director of Universal Studios Hollywood’s annual Halloween Horror Nights.
Most people this time of year are saying goodbye to summer with camping trips, barbecue’s, and last minute tanning sessions. But here at Creepy L.A. we are eagerly anticipating blood, guts, and gore! With 5 weeks until Universal Studios Hollywood opens up it’s gates to hell, we catch up with creative director John Murdy as he auditions Vampire dancers and announces a new maze!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf_DOXgIUfY[/youtube]
The park early Wednesday morning was buzzing with excitement over preparations for Horror Nights. The park’s entertainment staff held an open call and auditioned 60 male and female dancers in hopes they would find the perfect group of dancing vampires. Theme park officials were looking for two sexy, fang bearing vampires to strut their stuff and dance nightly for a coveted spot in Horror Nights and guys to dance with the females during the park’s daytime festivities. With only 2 female and 3 male dancers being chosen – you would think tensions would be high, but the dancers all seemed like they were in good spirits and came with a ‘have fun’ attitude. Dancers where given roughly 30 min to learn a 45 second choreographed routine to the song ‘Supermassive Black Hole ‘ by the band MUSE.
At roughly 11 am dancers were asked to perform in groups of 5 for the park execs including Mr. Murdy. Some struggled, and some fell flat. But with a hiss and a sinister grin, most high-kicked their way through the intricate routine impressing the judges.
Last years event was themed ‘Welcome to Hell ‘ and female dancers were billed as ‘Lust and Vanity ‘ . They appeared to be naked covered in blood, so we’ll have to wait till opening night to see how Universal transforms the final dancers. Damn. Press were only invited to watch the first round so we’ll have to wait to see who made the final cut- pun intended.
Also in ‘Maze’ news, Murdy gave us some awesome info on this years event. He announced a second maze, . “Vampyre: Castle of the Undead,” based on an original concept created by Universal Studios Hollywood, it will make its debut at this year’s Halloween event located inside the House of Horror’s which is open year round and will be transformed into ‘Vampyre’. Along with a new version of “House of 1000 Corpses” maze created by Rob Zombie. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of HO1C’s exterior as it was visible to the press .a It was being constructed in the queue for the terminator ride which may or may not be used again for Rocky Horror. Not much was visible other then one key prop located near the end of the maze. Yep, it was Dr. Satan’s chair! Murdy revealed to Creepy L.A. that the house will use a new state of the art LED technology to create an entirely new 3d experience without the use of any black light! Also expect to hear more about the new “La Llorona” scare zone and three other new mazes as news breaks over the next 5 weeks. Yep! In less than 5 weekswe begin another amazing season. Stay Tuned…
UPDATE 9/20/10 : John Murdy announced via twitter ( www.twitter.com/horrornights ) that the 3rd maze in this years line up will be “A Nightmare on Elm Street: Never Sleep Again,” based off the most recent theatrical release. Universal explains the attraction will bring guests back on a nightmare journey to the town of Springwood, the scene of Freddy Krueger’s unspeakable crimes. They’ll wind through the ominously twisting corridors of the Barham Day Care Center, glimpse ghastly scenes of carnage among the young people of Springwood and face the ultimate showdown with Freddy in his infamous boiler room lair. Freddy is back by popular demand and that he will also serve as year’s icon. Murdy also assured fans that the maze will be a entirely new expierience from prior use of the legendery New Line icon, Murdy explained this year will have a darker undertone then the more comedic version 2 years back . Only two more mazes left to be announced! Any guesses?
