OVERALL RATING :

Scare Factor

Actors

Set Design

Length

RAW SCORE : 5.844

RATING

REVIEW

The build up for Dead Before Dawn is interesting, particularly because at the ticket counter they give you surgical masks and in general, no one knows what to do with them. Once inside we learn they are to keep us from inhaling zombie disease of some kind and then we never really hear of them again. Instead, for me, they become a strange question burning in the back of my mind for the whole haunt.

The haunt starts with a decontamination, which was neat and set a nice tone for the rest of the haunt. Unfortunately, the theme itself got broken and lost somewhere along the way. In some places I was searching for a doctor of some kind, in others I was walking through a crypt, and in still more I was in the toxic waste dump referenced at the beginning. Strangely, what felt sparse were zombies. While some characters might have been zombies, I felt for such an intense set up, the execution was painfully unclear. Which of course was weird, since I was wearing a mask to protect myself from them.

I really wanted to embrace the zombie theme that was pushed because this haunt hinged its entire ambiance on it. Yet, it seemed they didn’t even want zombies around. I guess, like the mask, I just didn’t know what to do with Dead before Dawn.

PROS

A great idea with a great name

CONS

Simply couldn’t deliver on such a cool concept

RATING

REVIEW

I was actually looking forward to this haunt...especially after we arrived on opening night to find out it wasn't open yet. So, when we went the 2nd time, I was hoping the haunt lived up to the storyline. The story started out well when we were told that a chemical company had had some sort of industrial accident and a virus had escaped, turning people into zombies. After we donned our facemasks and headed in, the story sort of faded away. Many of the scenes involved skeletons and dead people, but there were hardly any zombies at all.

I was quite confused by the amount of crypts and coffins that were in the supposed chemical plant. And there was a fireplace, which looked very out of place. I also wondered why, when there were actors dressed as scientists or whatever, they felt the need to use an animatronic skeleton (the same one that is at Slaughterhouse Gulch) to explain the premise and the rules of the haunt. I didn't see many actors except at the beginning and the very end...they were sprinkled here and there.

A couple of the scenes had some good gory effects of industrial accidents, but I had really hoped for more flesh-eating zombie action. I felt the premise and build-up were really good, but the delivery fell quite flat. I also didn't like that our team of 8 had to go all together, instead of in 2 groups of 4...with that many people, not everyone got to experience the scare in each room.

PROS

Nice premise and beginning

CONS

Weak follow-through on the theme

RATING

REVIEW

Remember the haunt from last year called The 25th Hour? It was actually a decent haunt last year by the owners of CarnEvil/13th Door, etc. Well, imagine taking some of the actual rooms, scenarios, effects, and props from that haunt (based on a haunted manor theme) and using it for a chemical plant/zombie theme. Pretty confusing right? The idea was there, but the follow up was not. Only about two rooms inside of this haunt follow the chemical plant theme. At one point, there is a room with a baby’s crib in it – how does that fit in?

I loved the idea of having you wear doctor’s masks to avoid ‘contamination’ – even clearly identifying boys from girls, but they didn’t capitalize on that at all. Separate us or something. The worst part was that they sent us through in a group of eight. The only haunt to do this in all of the haunts we reviewed – I find that extremely annoying and proves to me that they were more concerned with pushing people through and making money rather than giving out a quality scare. At no point in this haunt was I actually even close to being scared. The one actor I did like though, was the one (out of three) zombies I saw who had a great mask/costume and was beating a gnarled decomposing head on some drum barrels. Overall, I found this haunt to be disappointing – it was a great idea to have a haunt totally dedicated to zombies, but once inside, you find out that they are just reusing old set materials for a totally different themed haunt. It just doesn’t work.

PROS

Sorry, there are none

CONS

Where do I begin?

RATING

REVIEW

Lets begin by saying, I rated this one high for length because it was brief and had it been any longer it would have been painful. There were some really good props and a neat idea with a guy under Plexiglas that we had to crawl over. I was scared often, sadly not by the performers as much as the props.

A word on consistency with the theme; nonexistent. That’s a word. It’s supposed to be a laboratory on lockdown with a virus turning people into undead zombies. Why is there a crypt? And where are the re-animated zombie corpses? Honestly, other than the things I’ve already mentioned, this haunt left so little an impression on me that I can’t think of anything else to say about it. Maybe a good word for the young man who sets it up at the beginning; He did a good job setting up the theme. It’s just too bad the house didn’t follow through.

And here is an odd phenomenon. Though my individual ratings for the different aspects are decent, overall, I was really not impressed by this one. Add to all of this that it wasn’t ready two weeks ago when we originally went. If this attraction can figure out what it wants to be and stick with it, they have a shot at being better.

PROS

A couple good scares and decent props

CONS

Not enough actors, does not stick with the theme

RATING

REVIEW

This is a new haunt that is paired up with Carnevil at Red and Jerry’s in Englewood. The theme of this haunt is a bunch of zombies that are the end result of a toxic spill. Prior to entering the haunt I was given a facemask, the disposable kind that gets handed out in hospitals during flu season. Once I went inside there was an introduction to the background by a scientist telling us what to watch out for. Our group was decontaminated and sent on our way.

Once we were past the first room, it seemed that the haunt lost track of the theme and went a couple of different directions. Throughout the haunt there were cemetery scenes and props and an area with crypts. There were areas that did stick to the theme, but not many of them so that was disappointing. The haunt didn’t have visitors “searching for clues”, or “investigating” as the advertising implied which again was disappointing. There didn’t seem to be that many actors, the ones I did see did an okay job. Some of the props that were used were very good and very detailed, but strayed from the theme. There were some interesting areas, and some cool set design that were able to keep my attention. I liked the area that I had to crawl over the zombie, that was new, but I would have liked more activity from that actor. This was an interesting idea that just didn’t stay consistent; hopefully things will improve in time.

PROS

Some interesting sets, a couple of new ideas

CONS

Inconsistent with theme, sets too random

RATING

REVIEW

I don’t know were to start, but this haunt was definitely interesting. It kind of felt slapped together. The animatronics were really slow and felt like they were lagging. The scientist at the beginning was great and I think that he really fit the part. The problem was that I think it just went down hill from there. Some of the rooms had great ideas with things that I had never seen before. But it really strayed way from the theme, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. The actors weren’t scary, in fact I don’t remember seeing too many actors at all. Another thing that made me mad is that they made us go through in groups of 8 or more so everyone was just crammed together which blew the whole thing and ruined the scares for me. I felt like they were just trying to get us in and get us out. I hope to see more time taken to make this haunt great, as well as more passion from the actors throughout.

PROS

Theme was cool and some rooms were a great idea

CONS

Groups were too big, bad acting besides the guy in the beginning

RATING

REVIEW

First off, I just want to say that this haunt didn't start off on the right foot.  We got our 4 wristbands for all the Starland haunts at our first stop where Slaughter House and 13th Door were.  So we head over to Red and Jerry's where Carnevil and Dead Before Dawn are located only to find out Dead Before Dawn isn't open yet.  My complaint is that they should have told us that Dead Before Dawn wasn't open yet, but they didn't.  We were able to go back to Dead Before Dawn at another time, but it was just rude to not let us know the haunt was not open yet. How many other people did this happen to?

When we did finally go through, they wouldn't let us go in groups of 4, they shoved all 8 of us through at once.  This is just too large of a group to send through, especially because if you're in the back of the group, you tend to miss all of the good scares. 

They had a good intro. The premise was that there was a bio hazard, things were contaminated, and now there were zombies running around everywhere.  They passed out face masks that doctors wear to add to this idea of contamination, and it was a cool idea.  However, they didn't stick to this theme well at all.  I maybe saw 2 zombies in the whole haunt, and there were props that I just didn't understand how they fit in with this theme.  For instance, baby cribs...coffins...it just seemed like they put a bunch of random stuff together.  There was only one other room in this haunt that had a doctor with the face masks that was talking about the contamination; this fit into the theme.

It just wasn't that scary.  Acting could use a lot of work too.  They need to get into their characters more.  The guy under the Plexiglas that you had to crawl over was cool though.  Overall, it wasn't a bad layout, but it didn't flow well at all.  And with such a large group going through, it affected how I perceived the length.  If I'm having a good time and getting scared in a haunt, this length would have been good.  Overall, a decent haunt, but needs a lot of work.

PROS

Good intro

CONS

Didn't flow well, wasn't scary

RATING

REVIEW

The conceit for this haunt is excellent. Who doesn’t love a haunt themed around a zombie invasion with a great name that requires you to wear a protective mask colored coded by gender? From what seemed to be a severe lack of actors to a poorly executed theme this haunt didn’t live up to the cool name.

Since this haunt was closed on opening weekend, I took a trip back in mid October to find that even the addition of some very cool props can’t save a haunt from lack of actors and poor timing. There were some great spaces that I enjoyed crawling, squeezing and climbing through, but they neglected to capitalize on these cool elements with any type of scare. No surprises and few compelling actors (except for the quiet guys in the barrel rooms) left me feeling like I was wandering through an empty movie set. Yes, some of the sets were pretty cool and I enjoyed the crypt, the “glass coffin”, and even the nod at this haunt’s new location at the very end, but I still felt that I hadn’t really entered a place of scary monsters or imminent threat.

My big gripe with this haunt was going through as a group of eight. It felt crowded and seemed to overwhelm the actors. At one point our group did get split up, but still there were hardly any actors after that point. We experienced this same issue on our second trip through Carnevil when 8 of us were crammed into the tiny train and I was left behind and out of the joke in most rooms. If you’re looking for a haunt to introduce you to some of the cool elements of the industry without too much scare this might be the right place for you. Pro: Use of the glass floor, crawling and strange spaces is fun Con: Not scary, not enough actors

PROS

CONS