Review by Rick West

It's easy to write maze reviews when the focus of the article is as kick-ass as Slaughterhouse at Knott's Halloween Haunt.  2009 marked Slaughterhouse's second year at Haunt, and since it had such a strong debut in '08, we were very concerned that it would lose its momentum quickly like so many other mazes have in recent history.

Not Slaughterhouse.

The 2009 crew came out swinging and didn't stop until Halloween Haunt ended.  Night after night, this group absolutely brought it and brought it hard to carry on the tradition of maintaining this maze's status as one of the most intense and violent mazes in Scary Farm history.

Slaughterhouse's design is just as its name indicates... a big ol' mess of meat in various stages of "harvesting".  And then comes the twist - these workers are skinning and packaging more than Porky and pals... yessir, they're including humans in the mix!  Talk about "finger food" and "rump roast"!  Think some backwoods hick nightmare combined with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, and you start to get the idea.  This maze is one big, bloody gore fest of the worst kind; purely disgusting evil mixed with just the right amount of disorienting panic and a dash of dark humor.

Forget the humor - to most Haunt visitors, Slaughterhouse is an absolutely intense, terrifying experience that never lets up.  And it doesn't - from the very beginning where you're "weighed" as you enter the maze to the very last room where you're free to buy "canned goods" and delicious samples, Slaughterhouse has become one of the most dreadful, intense experiences Halloween Haunt has ever offered its visitors.  In many ways, Slaughterhouse follows closely in the footsteps of The Asylum, which also became quickly heralded as a terribly heavy maze.  Fans love that.

Like The Asylum before it, Slaughterhouse has all of the key elements in place to make it one of Halloween Haunt's greats that will go down huge in the history books... a very dark, foreboding design; a perfect musical soundtrack; a large footprint, making for a long maze experience; and kick-ass talent that gets it and knows that they are the heart and soul of Slaughterhouse and are determined to bring it hard every single night, all night long.

The design of Slaughterhouse is fantastic.  The moment you enter the maze, you feel as though you have been cut off from civilization and are magically somehow in the deep South, in some forgotten rural backwoods county.  The irony is, when you're in Slaughterhouse, you're literally just feet from the Main Entrance of Knott's Berry Farm, as well as the jam-packed lanes of Beach Boulevard!

There are gruesome props to be found throughout Slaughterhouse - and gross scenes depicting unspeakable carnage - mostly of women.  Walking past ladies in cages waiting to be auctioned off and smoked up for BBQ is very distrubing - and as these victims wail and scream at you to help them as you walk past... it is actually very unnerving.  If it's possible to feel badly about leaving someone for dead within a Haunt maze, this is the place!

The violent nature of Slaughterhouse is somewhat masked by the dim show lighting used throughout - which is a smart move (and let's face it - dim lighting also covers up a lot of flaws and aspects of a maze that otherwise would look like crap in brighter situations) and very effective.  In writing this though, I can't stop thinking about how startling and horrible having a very brightly-lit room somehow incorporated into Slaughterhouse... an almost dream-like sequence depicting the victims' last moments alive as they are chained up like cattle and dispatched by chainsaw-wielding madmen.  I envision a very brightly-lit room; almost too bright, all white (the last moments and ultimately, redemption, perhaps) except by a vile amount of intestines and rich red blood and various body parts strewn about and in piles.  The only sounds would be the chainsaw, the last whimpers of the victims and perhaps a monotone ringing... like when you've been clocked in the head really hard or get a ringing in your ear... just one continuous tone, drowning everything out... no music... no screaming... just sobbing and the revving of the chainsaw.

Hmmm.

Anyway.

The Slaughterhouse incorporates a water spray gag - which normally, we hate in mazes.  Hate it, hate it, hate it.  There is NOTHING scary usually about being sprayed by monsters or props; it messes up your glasses, it can ruin clothing, it can make it miserable if it's cold outside, and it can seriously screw people carrying cameras or camcorders.  Theme Park Adventure absolutely is not a fan of water gags.

However... there are exceptions to the rule, although very, very, very few.  Slaughterhouse is one of those exceptions because it is effective and unexpected.  Unlike Universal, which opts to use water-based gags non-stop throughout Halloween Horror Nights, Knott's rarely uses water in its mazes.  When it happens, it is a shocker and very effective because the audience isn't desensitized to it.  I actually took a huge blast of H2O right to the side as I walked through Slaughterhouse - and it startled me, even though I knew it was coming!  It was fun and I used my magic TPA powers to tuck myself into a corner for about 15 minutes one night and watch guests get rocked by this particular effect.  Good fun, kids!  So props to Knott's designers who don't go crazy with water gags and understand the power of using it strategically and not blatantly everywhere there is a bloody prop or scene at Haunt.

There are great, fun visuals throughout Slaughterhouse - from the auction barker to the over-sized meat grinder and the poor corpse stretched over a huge cauldron screaming, "OH NO!  NOT AGAIN!  SOMEBODY HELLLLLLLLP!"  The funny thing is, the guy's practically a skeleton, would have been deal long before and couldn't possibly be screaming - yet people take it, hook, line and sinker!  They either laugh as they pass, or bury their faces into the back of the person in front of them as they do the Conga Line of Terror through the maze as quickly as possible.  It's hilarious, and one of my personal favorite scenes at Haunt because it's so ridiculous and yet, works.  Good job!

Another awesome design element in Slaughterhouse is the "wind/grinder rooms", where you walk through a wall of hanging black plastic, are surrounded by metal grinders whirring and spinning just inches away from your face, and there are large fans in place, really whipping the air up so that it feels absolutely dangerous and completely disorienting.  Not to mention, on hot Indian Summer nights, these are THE rooms to be in - the air feels SO good!  I know where I would be hiding and scaring if I was a talent in Slaughterhouse!  I'm no fool!

The soundtrack to Slaughterhouse is also very key to its success.  Set to Charlie Clouser's (SAW) track titled, "Just Begun", the driving, intense music of Slaughterhouse could not be more appropriate in setting the tone of absolute dread and panic.  Kudos to the folks deciding on the Clouser track for choosing the perfect musical counterpart for this particular maze.

When all is said and done, it's all about the talent to make or break a maze experience.  The men and women of Slaughterhouse truly understand this and get it that they have a world-class maze to play in.  They know that if they are all going off for Haunt guests every night, the level of intensity of Slaughterhouse skyrockets.  They get it.  They bring it.  Period.  We are so very proud of them - from our beloved walker-wielding Grandma to the pleading victims in cages to the madmen in blood-stained aprons lurking at every turn from beginning to end of the maze.  Major, major respect and love going out to the Slaughterhouse 2009 crew.  Once again, you have left quite the impression - and have absolutely carried on the tradition of those before you, perhaps even offering 2009 guests an even more intense experience than during Slaughter's debut season.

Theme Park Adventure loves Slaughterhouse.  It's just about as perfect as a Haunt maze can get.  We anticipate it being around for years to come.

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