It's been a long time since there was so much buzz about a new Haunt maze months before it was even announced.

The funny thing is, the running joke throughout Halloween Haunt 2003 was that there was a hidden pirate maze near the exit of GhostRider.  Many guests went looking for a beast that didn't exist.  However, what a difference a year makes; not only was the queue for The Asylum located at the exit of GhostRider, the most anticipated new maze of 2004 was... a pirate maze.

How's that for craziness?  This year, the joke is a yeti-themed maze.  Who knows?  The Timber Mountain Log Ride could easily be transformed into a Matterhorn from Hell attraction for next year's Scary Farm!

Theme Park Adventure followed Red Beard's Revenge closely throughout the build process this summer with great curiosity and interest.  It's no secret that we love piratey things around here; the thought of a Haunt maze married with pirates - it was sheer excitement for us!

The anticipation came to a boiling point when we started receiving email from folks working on construction, etc. saying how gorgeous the maze was and that they'd never seen anything so detailed and awesome at Haunt.

As soon as the Opening Night of Haunt 2004 kicked off, we made our way into Camp Snoopy toward Red Beard's Revenge.  Our approach is always the same - we try not to have any pre-conceived notions of what to expect.  However, it was impossible not to go into Red Beard's without high expectations.

And why not?  We'd been told that Red Beard's Revenge was stunning aesthetically.  We'd also been told that it was supposed to be the maze to work and that it had been staffed with oodles of Scary Farm vets.  In our minds, the maze was not only to be drop-dead gorgeous; it would be wall-to-wall terrifying with the most kick-ass maze talent on the Farm.

As we ventured into the darkness of the maze, it seemed very promising.  A tavern, dead wenches flirting with us and as we boarded the ship, the most awesome effect anywhere at the Haunt - a floor that actually rose and fell to give the impression of a moving ship!

The soundtrack was perfect - lots of music from Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World as well as some great sound effects - screams, snoring pirates, dripping caverns.  Good stuff; props to those responsible for the maze's soundtracks.

What we noticed immediately was the lack of talent within and throughout the maze.  Not only were there too few pirates throughout Red Beard's Revenge - the majority of monsters that we did encounter were lackluster and distant - not at all the in-your-face monsters we'd expected.

Now, understand that not all of the talent in Red Beard's Revenge was mediocre.  As always, there were some folks who went over-the-top and did a fantastic job.  However, as we've discussed over the years, a few great monsters quickly get dragged down by two things - lack of talent in a maze as well as unenthusiastic talent.  Sadly, it seems that the great monsters in Red Beard's were hit with a double-whammy of poor talent as counterparts as well as not enough talent.

There were important, scary sections of Red Beard's Revenge where we were praying for monsters - only to encounter nothing.  That is a killer for any maze, let alone a maze with so much built-up anticipation.

If you're wanting specifics, the entire crew's quarters - where monsters could of and should have been lurking under covers, under beds and above in the rafters - there was nothing most of the time (we went through this maze several times during opening week of Haunt with the same result each time).  Only once - while we were shooting the flow-through video for our coverage - did a pirate make an appearance in this section of the maze.  We found ourselves not only disappointed by this, we also felt very frustrated by what should have been a home run of a Haunt maze in all aspects.  It's our opinion that Red Beard's Revenge fell very short of all the hype and build-up.  What happened?  We have some thoughts...

Now more than ever, it's painfully obvious that strong buzz about a new maze is very dangerous.  It sets everyone up for disappointment if the maze doesn't completely deliver.

It's also possible that those chosen to work Red Beard's Revenge felt that they were automatically the top dogs at Haunt; the sure-fire talent kings and queens.  That could have led to folks being more relaxed than they should have been; who knows?  There's never any coherent or straight reason for a talent crew that doesn't completely fire as one team; everyone has a reason and everyone has a theory, TPA included.  It's one of the big mysteries each year of Haunt - monsters who hire in and then don't go for the gusto.  We'll never understand that and we know it drives other Haunt monsters completely nuts.

The overall design of the maze was strong - not outstanding, but strong.  As we've said, the moving floor was kick-ass; the highlight of the maze even though it was so simple of an effect.  What would be nice would be a lot of these floors throughout the ship for Haunt 2005 so the "floating" effect is felt throughout, keeping the illusion strong.  Granted, it's probably not a cheap effect - but Knott's has a good thing going here; they should spend the money and really do it up next year.  Bring the ship to life, guys!  Make it creak and groan as the floor rises and falls in the darkness.  That could help send Red Beard's Revenge over the top, for sure.

One of the things we noticed was how dark most of the maze was.  It would have been nice to have a mix - dark, scary caverns as well as pitch-black bowels of the ship and then brightly-lit treasure rooms, taverns or whatever.  Too much dark is... well, too much dark.  It loses its impact after a while, which is why in our opinion, mazes such as Curse of the Spider, Lore of the Vampire and even TerrorVision work so well - there is a balance of brightly-lit elements and dark, disorienting spaces to get guests into a panic.  Change is good; mixing it up is essential.

We feel that Red Beard's Revenge is off to a good start - but it certainly wasn't the great start that we were expecting.  After reading and hearing many comments from other fans and monsters alike, the general feeling is that the maze could have been much better.  And that's a shame.  First impressions are hard to overcome, which means that the Red Beard's 2005 crew has to work twice as hard to kick ass if they are to overcome the stigma of this year's so-so debut.

Don't get us wrong - we desperately wanted Red Beard's Revenge to blow us out of the water.  We wanted to review the maze and say that it kicked our butts all over the place and back.  Unfortunately, we're too damned honest for our own good even though it's gonna bite us in the ass with certain die-hard Haunt fans.

Hopefully, we'll get the pirate maze we want next year.  Just add more talent, fire it up several notches and let the enthusiasm and piratey goodness flow!  The sets and layout are just fine - get the team in sync and it will be the one.

Kudos to those who worked hard each night - we appreciate your talent and effort and only wish that it is more contagious next year.  Until then, Red Beard's Revenge will have to settle for three out of five stARRRRRs...

Home