Haunted Field of Screams

OVERALL RATING :

Scare Factor

Actors

Set Design

Length

RAW SCORE : 7.09375

RATING

REVIEW

Haunted Field of Screams as the name may suggest is in the genre of Haunts in a cornfield. It was a fairly impressive sight walking in from the parking lot and seeing a huge wall of corn stalks preventing the haunts secrets from being exposed. Between the lot and the ticket booth is the exit where you can see several people running for their lives because of the final scare. The front of the house as it may be called really is huge. There is enough room for almost any sort of other attraction that they could imagine to include.

I actually kind of enjoyed the walk from the front back to the beginning of the haunt. It was an impressively long path through the previously mentioned corn stalks. This was all so dense; the only environment that I could see was the stars, ground and corn. After a short hike down the path, a small cabin like building signals the beginning of the haunt. There is a little guy on a tricycle that gives a hint about what you may experience just a few feet behind him.

The beginning scene of this haunt is fantastic. The very first room starts with a bang. It introduces a level of interactivity to a dark attraction not commonly seen. It has been a long time since I can recall that particular sense of urgency in an attraction of this type. We triumphed over the threat and safely out. I would like to go back into the room to see what happens if I did not though. Is it like a "choose your own adventure novel" when you select the wrong path? At this point I do not know, I would have to go again to find out.

From beyond that point, the visitor is sent back to the land of corn. I do appreciate the claustrophobic feeling the corn hallways give. The corn can also make for great opportunities for an ambush of monsters. I just feel that there was possibly too much dead space between scares that had to be passed. The haunt could have been made much shorter and had the exact same number of scares.

Between the beginning and end of the Haunted Field there were little oasis’s of scare. It had everything from an old scary shack to a Haunted Circus. I was happy to get to one of these places as the corn did start to get too repetitive.

For the actors, a few did a great job. Unfortunately though, one of my standard frustrations kept rearing its ugly head, too many monsters making the standard scary sounds. The costumes were also not very elaborate or exciting.

I overall thought the haunt was fairly fun. The first room though is really the biggest factor that would make me want to return.

PROS

Very cool start to the haunt! The claustrophobic feeling through the fields. The area is huge!

CONS

After the beginning it turns back into a standard haunt. I want more interactivity! Too much dead space. Characters were not especially interesting.

RATING

REVIEW

The best thing about this haunt is the beginning. Very clever use of the SAW theme (which they have changed up since last year and made it even more challenging and interesting). Some other notable changes were the partitioning of the school bus and the clown and bubble factory room. Some other rooms spread out in the corn are either just dark mazes or random barns with clever imagery. Some actors really got into the mood of scaring you, i.e. crawling in the dirt towards you, some just stood there and said "argh!". They all had a wonderful variety of Halloween masks on, the best being the one that lights up red. My biggest complaint about this haunt, and one of the reasons why I gave them a low rating in length was because it is too long with too many dead spots. You spend a lot of time just walking through the corn with nothing happening. My vote would be to tighten up the length and space between the rooms or add more rooms. Another suggestion is to use the actors! For regulating timing of groups. Some people walk faster than others and eventually groups collide.

PROS

Saw themed beginning is the most clever opening to a haunt in Denver

CONS

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay tool long.

RATING

REVIEW

Haunted Field of Screams is certainly more exciting than a corn maze. There was not too much to the sets on this attraction, but it is always scary to be out in the middle of nowhere with scary characters popping in out of the corn around you. They did have a great "Nightmare on Elm Street" set though and the actress singing the Freddy nursery rhyme was one of the best performers I have ever seen in any haunt! There were also a couple pitch-black rooms. And, even though our critic group is very difficult to scare, one of our critics did have the best single scare along the way then any of the other haunts I have seen thus far. So the Haunted Field of Screams does have some thrills along the way! I just wished there were more. Over all, this is definitely worth seeing. The Freddy room alone with an award winning dead beat performance made it all worthwhile to me!

PROS

Middle of cornfield can be scary at night, not too crowded, they had food!

CONS

Sparse actors, very dark with few sets, can't touch or eat the corn!

RATING

REVIEW

Located in a corn field this haunt has scenes set in amongst the corn that offer up some great scare points during your journey. When our group went into the haunt, we were given instructions on how to get out of the room we were in, and then left to our own devices to execute our escape. As I was diligently working on our freedom, part of the room can alive and scared the others in my group so badly all they could do was huddle together and scream!! I managed to crack the code only to release another jolt for my group, but luckily, we made it out in time!

Once out of the first room, we journeyed through the unbelievably high corn working our way to the next scene. Going to school has never been creepier than it is here, and I would prefer to have a different driver than the one we got. Make sure you read the chalkboard! We really enjoyed the clown room and the new twist in there that we have never seen before. Slow down in here and get the key points, they're great additions. The Jester was off the hook the night we went and was so into his character that we had to give him kudos. Getting lost in the dark and seeing strange faces was a great diversion, and it is DARK. Even when one member of our group tried to use a cell phone to light the way we still couldn't see. Going into the house was great, but be careful or you could wind up separated from your group and going it alone. (I did, and LOVED it!!) Actors made some cool noises and stayed for the most part away from the typical "Boos" and "Grrrrsss" that I personally dislike, so that was welcome. There were some lag spots while walking through the corn that could use some actors or scares to keep your heart pounding. Overall, a great time was had and we got a chance to see some creativity that we have not seen anywhere else.

RATING

REVIEW

Wow! They started with a lot of tension at the beginning using the "Saw" theme. I thought it was clever to frighten people and make them do tasks before they can get out of room. This room is totally dark and then they use strobe lights to build more tension and stress—it worked for me. The creepy dead guy in the corner was a great complement to the atmosphere. I felt like I was in the movie! I wished they would have done more rooms with this type of theme.

The cornfields are filled with creatures, many of them well hidden—I tripped over a monster because he was so well disguised! He even laughed! It's a long walk, so I would suggest wearing tennis shoes. I enjoyed finding creatures I've seen in movies—movies that have given me nightmares—such as Freddy Krueger. I wished he would have been meaner or moved his knife fingers as the actor did in the film. I liked the cornfields sections overall, but they occupied a bit too much of the experience. Needed more variety.

The actors overall did OK but could use improvement in making more noises other than "Grrrr" or "Get out!" It would be creepier to either say more or to not say anything but just look evil. I may have to admit the clowns did a better job being scary and more interactive. I had one even breathing on my neck, which gave me the creeps! The clowns were enjoying themselves being evil, and that made it great. This haunt would be a great choice for teenagers.

PROS

Loved the awesome beginning of the haunt, good clown actors

CONS

Actors could improve in playing their character, too much walking through the cornfields

RATING

REVIEW

The Haunted Field of Screams is your worst nightmare set in cornfields. The highlight of my experience in this haunt was definitely the saw room at the beginning. Not your average presentation and it included some interactive action that was very entertaining. There were a few spots that also made me laugh, in a scary but good sort of way. The outside setting in cornfields had a lot of potential that went unused. The wait between scares was a little too long. Perhaps those gaps were done hoping to lure people into an unsuspecting mode, but the in-betweens were a little too long. During some stretches you got out of the mood for a good scare and settled into personal conversations. Actors weren't always convincing and sets could have been a little more "put together" to make their props seem more realistic

PROS

I really enjoyed the outdoor cornfield environment

CONS

Lack of actors, too many dead spots

RATING

REVIEW

There are some awesome features at the Haunted Field of Screams. You get to enjoy a naturally spooky feeling while you are walking outside through the cornfields, and the suspense of not knowing what is going to happen next. This haunt had some innovative ideas, like the black rooms that you were not sure how to get out of, and rooms reminiscent of recent horror flicks that scared you at the movies, and give you the same feeling when you're trapped inside of them. Some of the actors seemed like they would do anything to get a scare out of you. This haunted house would be great for families, but there was too much dead space. Additional sets could have been beneficial throughout the corn maze. There were times that the actors that were jumping became very repetitive. Bring comfortable shoes, because you do a lot of walking here, which some may like, and others may not. Overall, Haunted Field of Screams definitely puts you in the mood for Halloween!

PROS

Creative rooms with innovative features

CONS

Could have been shorter to much dead space

RATING

REVIEW

The one thing I feel that this haunt really utilizes, and does a fairly good job at using is darkness. Right off the bat, they put you in a completely dark room, and you have no idea which way to go, and they let you squirm for a short time. To me, darkness is one of the scariest tactics because my mind is constantly racing and wondering if someone is right over my shoulder, down by my feet, or right in front of my face! They use this effect later in the haunt as well, and by that point, I would warn against overkill. They have you walk through what felt like a pitch-black maze which wasn't bad, but I kept expecting something to jump out at me, or something to really scare me, and nothing ever did. My anticipation was built up, but then let down.

I must say that the clown room that used a bubble machine rocked! The actors were so into their characters, the scenery, sounds, and everything else from this part flowed together so well. So if you are afraid of clowns, this would be bad for you! I also have to say that the Torture 101 class when you step off the bus is a great, fun idea and made me laugh. I loved the chalk board that said, "I will not kill, I will not kill, I will kill, I will kill, I will kill…"

A few things to work on would be creating bigger and more unexpected scares , which also ties in with acting. These things weren't bad, but could use some extra attention. The length was really good, but it was on the verge of being too long, just because the repetition of walking through a corn maze gets old.

Overall, a good haunt.

PROS

In the middle of a cornfield!

CONS

Acting and scares could use improvement.