Review by Rick West

In the quiet, industrial section of Brea, California, something really unsettling has taken place. Under the cover of darkness, Jeff Schiefelbein moved in and brought along a huge assortment of body parts, buckets of blood and a dash of insanity; Sinister Pointe has a new home.

And it's not just any home - this location is long-term; just minutes away from bustling Downtown Brea and the Brea Mall. The best part - Jeff plans on opening the attraction year-round for holiday haunts, special events and VIP parties and gatherings! It's the first permanent SoCal haunt to begin part-time operation throughout the calendar year, and we couldn't be more excited about it!

Jeff's first season in the new digs was very well-received, getting Sinister Pointe's new chapter in life - er, death - off to a great start. With a skeleton crew (pun kinda intended) that included his long-time girlfriend, Taylor Gorup, Jeff worked his ass off this summer preparing Sinister Pointe for its Halloween 2011 re-debut. And, it was gorgeous.

You'd never know driving past that one of SoCal's greatest haunts resides out of sight inside a very large warehouse building on a quiet street of commercial/industrial buildings except for the menacing large black "SINISTER POINTE" lettering on its exterior. However, inside is one of the most creative and kick-ass haunted attractions we've ever experienced. This year, the theme was whacked-out inbred hillbilly types - not terribly original, but hell, it works.

The facade of the haunt is absolutely stunning - a two-story country-style home, complete with a basement with glowing window, indicating a furnace within. This sets the bar - and sets it nicely - for the rest of the attraction, which is long, very detailed and absolutely a buffet of creativity and nastiness!

One of Jeff's signature characteristics that we have come to love at Sinister Pointe is the "choose your own path" leeway he gives guests; at several points in the attraction, guests are given the option of which path they wish to choose. And better than multiple paths through the attraction - guests enter various rooms that they have to find their way out of by engaging in Saw-like activities (such as shoving your hand into a sink all the way down to the blades of a garbage disposal). It's not for the faint of heart, but it is damn good fun!

The soundtrack used in Sinister Pointe is original, by musician Jon Autopsy, who has made quite a name for himself of late creating unique haunted attraction scores for various entities throughout California, including Knott's Halloween Haunt! Needless to say, Jon's music is awesome - and we're very proud of him; he's been a long-time TPAer and member of the Knott's Scary Farm Haunt family for ages. It truly is awesome to see major haunts such as Sinister Pointe working with Jon - it's a win-win situation for all involved, as it brings yet another level of creative genius and originality to the attraction.

Sinister Pointe is a large haunt. In fact, the flow-through video that we have prepared for you below is almost 15 minutes in length - that's a whole lot of terror! While you experience the attraction, it feels big - which isn't a bad thing at all, because there's nothing worse than paying for a haunt (or any attraction) and feeling ripped-off half way through. Not the case here, as Sinister Pointe is spot-on when it comes to thematic elements and scares.

Jeff's team puts together special effects that absolutely wow guests, and that is another signature of the Sinister Pointe/Jeff Schiefelbein "stamp". They do a lot of special effects/digital work in-house, so you won't see the same effects used over and over again in other haunts dominating Sinister Pointe. In fact, one of our favorite visuals of the season was at Sinister Pointe (and can be seen in the video at 9:55). The effect is a long hallway with a video projection of a doorway at the opposite end. The door opens to reveal different apparitions, and then slams shut. What guests don't see is a long, sloping clear surface that comes down from the ceiling to about the half-way point of the hall - it's completely transparent, and strong enough for an adult monster to run/slide down! While looking at the imagery at the end of the hall, suddenly, you're toe-to-toe with a monster; it works perfectly and is absolutely genius!

There are many other nasty surprises waiting within the twisted halls of Sinister Pointe, including talent that is second-to-none. The group that populates the Pointe are seasoned haunters that know what they're doing - many of them have been with Jeff for years, and it shows. The quality of their performance matches the high level of detail of the haunt, which in turn takes everything up a notch - it is truly an awesome attraction that we highly recommend to TPAers everywhere.

Much thanks to Jeff and the Sinister Pointe crew for having us out this season - the first time ever with our video camera! It was wonderful and we're more than excited to share our pictures and flow-through with the haunt fan community world-wide! Major props and love to you guys!

For more information on Sinister Pointe, visit their official website at: SinisterPointe.com

Story by Rick West

TPA's Johanna Atilano takes pictures of Jeff Schiefelbein as he shows us around the new Sinister Pointe digs.

Nestled inconspicuously in a quiet business park, Sinister Pointe appears to be just another company workplace. But behind the bolted doors and tinted glass, something horrible and menacing is taking place. Jeff and his team are hard at work, creating this year's massive first maze in its new, long-term location! The haunted house structure itself is done, and the Sinister Pointe team is beginning to spook-tify it, and make it look like a grim ol' haunted attraction.

Situated within a 14,000 square-foot space at 195 Arovista Circle in Brea, Sinister Pointe will launch this year with one large-scale walk-through attraction and a number of vendors outside, in a really big parking lot space also leased by Jeff as part of the location.

The great thing about Sinister Point is that the entire maze area is indoors, which gives Jeff complete creative control over lighting, temperature and sound conditions. That is really critical when it comes to haunted attractions - especially in places such as Southern California, where October temperatures can climb well into the "hotter than Hell" digits one week, and pour rain the next. With the bulk of Sinister Pointe's operation indoors, there will be no stopping Jeff and his crew regardless of what Mother Nature may wish to inflict on us this Halloween season.

In the not-too-distant future, Sinister Pointe will also be made available for special events and gatherings. There are big plans in store for the company - but first, Jeff is focused on getting the 2011 haunt up and running. Once that happens, Sinister Pointe's maze (or mazes - the facility is easily big enough for two, perhaps even three) will remain in place year-round, where it will constantly be tweaked and changed, opening for holidays such as Christmas and Valentine's Day, which has become the latest craze in the haunted attraction industry.

With the success of Queen Mary Dark Harbor 2010 notched into his belt, Jeff is working on a handful of other haunted attractions this year in addition to Sinister Pointe, including a highly-anticipated maze at the iconic Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. Make no mistake however; Jeff's totally focused on raining terror down on Brea, and he's bringing it hard this year.

Jeff is well-known for past Sinister Pointe presentations such as the industry's first official SAW maze in 2008, as well as an awesome recreation of Silent Hill in 2009. His expertise in the dark industry has grown by leaps and bounds, and this season, he promises fans that he and his crew are going to raise the bar yet again and terrorize Orange County like never before!

This is the first of several visits Theme Park Adventure will be paying to Sinister Point as the haunting season draws near. We know that a lot of you are very excited to experience Sinister Pointe in its new home; rest assured, you won't be disappointed!

For more information on Sinister Pointe, visit their official website at: SinisterPointe.com

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