OVERALL RATING:

Scare Factor

Actors

Set Design

Length

RAW SCORE : 6.563

RATING

REVIEW

I had my hopes up for this haunt this year. I was glad to hear they changed it back to the 25th Hour. This used to be one of my favorite haunts in years past. However, all they did was change the name back.

The set the last few years was changed as they changed the name and theme. This year, some things were changed but not for the better. I felt like everything had black glow paint. This is not scary at all and should not be used. It is cool to look at but is not scary. NO NO black walls with glow paint. Things have been covered up and are plain. Not much has changed, not even the walk through.

This haunt needs to focus again on detail and if you are going to have a theme, stick to it. Invest into actors and scaring people. The actors this year were in predictable places. I was not scared in this haunt and it was disappointing. I felt like I was walking through a fun house, not a haunted house. I would not go back to this haunt this year and hope they do improve for next year.

PROS

Potential for a good haunt

CONS

Set is very lacking, actors need to step it up

RATING

REVIEW

I like some of the different effects that are used in this haunt. The classic bookcase-hiding-a-passageway is a classic concept that I've never seen used anywhere else. I was a little confused over the storyline, though. It was explained to us that the mansion was up for sale, but there were rumors the place had been taken over by escapees from the asylum nearby. I liked that concept, but don't think it was played out consistently. I think the cage was the one part where I felt like my life just might be in the hands of the lunatics. The elevator effect here is pretty cool.

I found the acting to be pretty average, with a few actors really into their roles. The sets were detailed and I felt like I had traveled to many different levels of a mansion by the time we were done. The room with the heat was a good effect, though I'm not sure what it represented...someone set on of the rooms on fire perhaps? The red glow and the heat combine to make a nice effect.

I felt like there was a little bit too much glow paint. I like things to be much more 3-D and tactile. With the right lighting, gluing a bunch of assorted hardware bits and pieces to the walls can give them some much-needed depth.

I still don't understand what the 25th Hour is a reference to, but overall this is a decent haunt with a few good scares and a decent atmosphere. The chainsaw at the end, however, is just out of place and so unnecessary here.

PROS

Detailed sets, elevator/cage effect, secret passageway effect

CONS

Chainsaw didn't belong, too much glow paint

RATING

REVIEW

The set design was actually pretty creative for a mall setting. The theme was consistent with an old mansion and I feel as if we were walking up flights of stairs and through secret passageways and tunnels.

The storyline is of an old mansion taken over by lunatics and something to do with a groom who left his bride. The animatronics were ho-hum, but the actors were good. There is a vortex tunnel, "elevator" and some really low tunnels (one of our critics actually bumped her head).

I enjoyed this one much more than its brother haunt, Alien Terror. Once again, there were a thousand curtains to walk through (head lice? hahaha - now that's scary).

PROS

Set design, creative

CONS

Thousands of freaking curtains, acting

RATING

REVIEW

The 25th Hour uses tight places and good interaction with its visitors to make it an overall decent haunt. There are creative uses of interactive props and the best use of a chainsaw so far this year. The 25th Hour uses their theme well and sent the group of guys before us screaming and running out the door.

If you are claustrophobic or have bad knees you may want to consider another haunt, but if you want to feel vulnerable, this is not a bad choice. I didn't feel like the haunt lasted as long as it should have, as I was surprised at the end that it was already over.

I wouldn't consider this haunt particularly scary but it definitely has potential. Like many of the other haunts, a few more actors with a bit more enthusiasm would help up the scores. I am sure they will find their groove with a little more practice.

PROS

Good use of chainsaw, good atmosphere, used their theme well

CONS

Not very scary, not enough monsters, less than I anticipated

RATING

REVIEW

If the Gene Simmons-looking guy is at the door, check out his fingernails! That alone gave me nightmares! He could use some rehearsal with his script though.

I loved the beginning of this one, due to the fact that we entered the haunt in a way I have not seen elsewhere yet. It was very cool, and very Scooby Doo, but it worked. The first room looked promising, and there were some interesting scenes and props along the way, but the haunt seemed to lose steam as it went along, which made it feel too long. While there were some interesting walkways and stairs, they weren't enough to keep the energy going here. At times I felt like I was wandering from one hopeless scene to another. It was as though the great inspiration for this haunt stopped after the first couple of rooms.

There is an elevator in the haunt that definitely gives you a jolt, and the scare comes from worrying that vital organs have been ruptured...it's pretty intense.

Some of the actors were decent, as was makeup, but they alone were not enough to raise this up into my Top 5.

If they can recapture the creativity from the beginning of the haunt, things could turn around for them.

PROS

Great entrance, interesting layout in places

CONS

Lack of detail, no authenticity

RATING

REVIEW

I liked 25th Hour. I thought they were really trying to carry the story through the whole haunt, which is unique for most haunted houses. Almost every actor referred to the lore of "Roxanne" and in the end, while Roxanne wasn't as scary as I'd hoped, she did materialize.

The actor who introduced us to the house seemed to tell a story a bit different from the one we discovered inside, but it wasn't too far off base. In general, the actors did a good job. Most of them were believable and some of them really got me to scream! The sets were my favorite part of the 25th Hour because they were executed in an interesting way. I thought the use of motion, stairs, and obstacles was inventive and fun. I like having to crawl and duck to escape the ghouls. There were some more difficult spaces and one of our critics bumped their head, so be careful!

The sets weren't exceptionally professional, but in my opinion they were well-executed and carried the overall theme of the haunt. The 25th Hour utilized some sets that moved and were effective in freaking me out and confusing me. There were a couple times when I was unsure of how I had arrived in a particular location.

The 25th Hour has a classic feel to the haunt, but doesn't incorporate the newer innovations I've seen in higher-rated houses this year.

PROS

Pretty good scare, cohesive story line, really good sets with crawling

CONS

Not the most professional, name doesn't make sense

RATING

REVIEW

The 25th Hour is a fun time and a pretty good haunted house. This haunt is at its best in the moments where the storyline is exemplified by the sets, acting, and scares at the same time, which was perfectly executed in the wedding chapel where the bride lamented over being left at the altar. This haunt is at its weakest when it relies on cheesy effects and clichés that don't end up being scary, such as the flying, animatronic bride. I wouldn't recommend this place for a genuine scare, but I would recommend it as a fun place to visit and a haunt that's worth seeing if you live nearby.

PROS

Good ideas and sets

CONS

Not much of a scare factor

RATING

REVIEW

The best thing about this haunt is their different props that got at us and their tactics for doing so. For instance, this is the only haunt that I know of that uses heat in one room. This helps create the atmosphere that they're trying to achieve, and it's unusual. Haunts have used temperature as a tool before, but most of the time is a cool environment.

This haunt gets you involved in other ways, too. There was a part where we had to crawl through a big sewer type thing. This by itself was pretty freaky. However, I felt that this set could have been utilized for a bigger scare than was created by the set alone.

In general, acting wasn't great in this haunt, which I feel could be in correlation with why the overall scare wasn't great either. There were some other features that I really liked about the set. For instance, I really like all the stuff they had hanging from the ceiling. Having an atmosphere that completely surrounds me, that is from floor to ceiling, is awesome.

Overall, this haunt was decent.

PROS

Good set and scare ideas

CONS

Carrying out the scares, acting