OVERALL RATING:

Scare Factor

Actors

Set Design

Length

RANK #15 out of 21

RAW SCORE : 6.906

RATING

REVIEW

I am not sure what to call the Alien Zone. The set is something new and is awesome. They used new ideas and I enjoy the 3-D glasses. There are a couple props that made me jump. But overall the set has too much light. I like the effects but I wasn't able to get scared with it being so lit up.

The aliens inside just popped up and then were gone. They needed to be crawling around. I wish they would have got into their roles.

(SPOILER ALERT)

The guy chopped up on the table did do a great job. I thought he had to be fake. He started to scream and I booked it out of the room.

This haunt is at the same location as The Sick and Twisted Zone. Like that haunt, this one was also way too short. You are in and out of this one as well. Instead of being two haunts I think they could have tied them both together and it would have been one of the best haunted houses of the season.

I would not go back to this haunt. The set is cool but not very scary.

PROS

Nice set; cool effects

CONS

Too short; not enough scares

RATING

REVIEW

Alien Zone is what came out of last year's Area 51 haunt. While not a "traditional" haunt, I think the alien theme definitely has its place in the Halloween realm. When you add an X-Files or government cover-up twist to the storyline, I think it can play really well. That being said, Alien Zone wasn't particularly scary, but there were definite moments when I would jump at something falling over or jumping out at me. I like that they added a few live actors to the haunt, but I would say that's where this haunt is still lacking...at least for me.

The sets are what you'll remember in this attraction. They're all in 3-D glow paint, and very well done. Not everything is painted, however, and there are a few really good effects involving aliens on tables! I'm not a big fan of the vortex tunnel, but this one had two tunnels back-to-back and that, along with the 3-D images and well-placed actor, made for a head-spinning (and Jason-tripping) experience! I thought the length was pretty good, maybe just a tad on the short side.

Overall, I like that this attraction is different than other haunts out there and that it explores a different, and popular, Halloween theme: aliens!

PROS

A few good "gotchas," 3-D sets, decent use of vortex tunnel

CONS

Not enough actors, untapped storyline potential

RATING

REVIEW

Wow! This haunt has amazing effects simply because they make use of painting their entire set and costume design in 3D - simply don the 3D glasses given to you and get ready to be disoriented. I'm usually not a fan of neon paint, but they used it quite well in this attraction. Not one, but two spinning 3D vortex tunnels simply took my legs out from underneath me. If you don't use the rails, it's impossible to walk - the best used tunnels this year by far.

Toxic Waste rooms with animatronics were great. The autopsy table with the hologram organs was one of the best highlights - you'll see why. There were some pretty good scare points in this one and the dead spots were at least very entertaining visually. The walls, floor, creatures - everything - is one big optical illusion. After I was done walking through, I had to take a break - I felt nauseous.

My only gripe is that this attraction is too short - although one probably couldn't stand too much more.

PROS

Only 3-D haunt in Denver, spinning vortex of puke (yours and everybody else's)

CONS

Short; few scare points

RATING

REVIEW

Alien Zone takes haunt special effects to a whole new level. Before entering the haunt, we were issued 3-D glasses to view a haunt in a whole new way. Many things stick out that don't exist and other things are given a more realistic edge because of the glasses. If you like Aliens and Science Fiction type of haunts than you would probably appreciate the Alien Zone. Other than that, it was more entertaining than scary and would be great to be used as a 3-D miniature golf course (might be the first one ever).

Some of the things that made this a haunt almost scary were the experiments that I presume the Aliens did to their human subjects. There is a guy who has his guts spilled all over a table and somehow he has survived. This is a pretty wicked set, and there are many more cool sets to be enjoyed by visitors. All in all it was fun, but it didn't last much longer than a sneeze and it wasn't much of a scare.

PROS

Set and props; new ideas

CONS

Shorter than an ADD kid's attention span; not scary

RATING

REVIEW

This haunt had an Area 51 feel to it, and that started before entering. The line area was interesting, and well done, and gave some credibility to this attraction.

There was a lot of fluorescent paint throughout, which I am not a big fan of, but with the 3-D glasses they gave us, it did add an interesting twist. Some of the paint effects in 3-D were done very well. Vortex tunnels in 3-D were pretty cool, and these were longer than most you see locally. There was an industrial area that was all done in fluorescent paint, but had some great scares added in. Check out the autopsy table, there are great details and makeup here. Oh, and make sure to press the button for the nurse while you are there.

Although this felt like another "paint and black walls" mall haunt, there was some creativity here that was well done. There needed to be more actors, and the costumes could have been done better. Overall, length of this haunt was short, and they could have capitalized on the use of the space better.

PROS

Interesting twists; 3-D effects

CONS

Way too short; not enough actors

RATING

REVIEW

When we were waiting in line for this haunt the attendant kept calling it Area 51, which was confusing to me until it was explained that we were on a very secret mission into the government's highly-guarded and mysterious alien investigation unit.or something like that. We were also given some intense "night vision goggles" (okay I added that, they call them 3D glasses) to enhance our experience. If you can make it through the first two vortex tunnels, which are the coolest looking vortex's I've seen, without falling over you'll probably enjoy the visual effects offered in the Alien Zone.

As you might imagine there are aliens about and some sort of disgusting autopsy, which I enjoyed very much. This maze of neon paintings mostly relies on automated props for its scares and some are totally effective. Falling 50 gallon toxic waste drums are among the best executed of these.

There weren't a lot of actors, but the few I remember blended in with walls in a couple of tripped out rooms, while others gave a good effort bursting out of the crazy scenery to surprise us.

This is a cool haunt if you're looking for something a bit different and without the usual dark corridors and serial killers. It's scary, but not too gory.

PROS

Trippy set; cohesive use of theme throughout; cool automated fx

CONS

3-D effect makes you dizzy at points; could use more actors

RATING

REVIEW

This is a fun haunt if you like alien themes. Really, it's more cool than scary, but there were definitely a few startles. I love the 3-D sets, and for as much as I've complained in the past about the overuse of the spinning tunnels, this is one place where they really seem to fit and add to the attraction. The theme was maintained constantly throughout, and I gave an extra point to set design for NOT throwing in clowns or chainsaws as an afterthought.

Though there weren't as many actors as there could have been, the few they had did an excellent job. Very convincing, both due to great performances and a very good job on costuming and makeup.

The haunt was short, but if you buy the combo ticket for both The Alien Zone and The Sick and Twisted Zone (also located on the premises) you'll leave the complex feeling like you got a pretty good scare for a decent amount of time.

PROS

Awesome 3-D sets; consistent with theme

CONS

Short; not very scary

RATING

REVIEW

This haunt wasn't great, but it has some decent ideas. This haunt is in 3-D, so they had us wear the special 3-D glasses, which is different...no other haunt in Denver does this so it's kind of a cool concept. The glasses tripped me up sometimes throughout the haunt. Sometimes it appeared like something was going to fall on us or jump out at us.

The underlying theme of this haunt is aliens, so the set is all in neon colors. I could see how this fits together. The best use of props in this haunt was the vortex tunnels. They used two of them, and it worked out great for them. They were right after each other, but we couldn't just rush through it because the alien made us stand there for a few minutes to get really dizzy, and it worked.

The length was way too short. But if they would make it longer, it would definitely need more actors and better scares because they were definitely lacking in quality and quantity in these categories. Overall, needs improvement.

PROS

Set, props, 3-D

CONS

Acting, scares, length