OVERALL RATING :

Scare Factor

Actors

Set Design

Length

RANK #4 out of 21

RAW SCORE : 8.594

RATING

REVIEW

This haunted house is quickly becoming one of the better haunts in Denver. Last year they really stepped it up. I was surprised to see that they made a lot of changes to the set this season. I like all of the old props and junk that they fit in there.

I did not follow the Carnival of Chaos theme but it was still good. There were some rooms that smelled really bad. This was awesome. The actors did a great job as well. My favorite actor from a different haunt last year was at this haunt this year. He has long black hair and is creepy as hell. He always does an awesome job.

I felt like it was a little bit shorter this year. They need to take advantage of the space they have and not make it so open. Overall they do a great job. We came to review this haunt on opening night and they were not ready. We had to come back on another night. I wasn't happy about this at all. If the doors are open, the haunt should be ready. I didn't see them turning away the people in line that paid for their tickets. I still really like this haunt and hope to make it back with some friends.

PROS

Loud noises and cool set

CONS

Could have been longer

RATING

REVIEW

Wow...hillbillies and carnies...what else do I need to say? Carnival of Chaos is not so much a carnival in the fun-loving, rides 'n' games sense, but more a communal celebration of sorts. And what a community this was! I really enjoyed the sets, as they seemed to be some of the goriest I saw all season. I liked that they didn't hold back from the really gory stuff. I left the haunt this year, not only feeling really creeped out, but also unclean. From the demon dude on rollerblades to the bathroom (which can only be seen to be believed) to the dead baby dolls hanging from the the ceiling, Murray's was gore from start to finish and very well done!

The acting was pretty good, but the scare factor wasn't from people jumping out and screaming. The scares came from the backwoods people that followed us, while banging on walls and slamming their fists on props. I think the length was good, too. Several times I thought we were all the way through, only to turn the corner and see another scene unfold in front of us. Carnival of Chaos was definitely intense and it gave me that "immersion" I like to get in a haunt.

PROS

Great scenery, lots of gore, good acting

CONS

Not the "carnival" theme I was expecting

RATING

REVIEW

This haunt is more my type - very bloody and very shocking. This is definitely not meant for children. Very graphic in nature, but really fun! It has the hillbilly/vaudeville creepy theme which I find disgusting and hair-raising at the same time. It's kind of like Deliverance in a barn.

Memorable moments: The creature on rollerskates who just glides up to you, the strip poker game (they want your skin not your clothes), the strobe bathroom with feces everywhere and water cascading from the ceiling, the falling corpse cage (that hit the floor!), red laser tunnel, the sinister kid on the ceiling dishing out electrical sparks above your head, boar-head, Leatherface, the scene with the hanging dolls and the children's playground, sinister forest, very bloody butcher shop, and of course all the great carnies there banging their machetes against anything and everything.

This is one of my favorite haunts due to the graphic nature and shock factor. Even the guy at the entrance is very amusing - reminds me of the hillbilly version of the Mad Hatter. However I will say this: We had come to review Murray's on their opening weekend and they told us that they were not ready due to lack of actors and technical difficulties. We decided to come back when they were ready (we wanted to review them on a night that would be typical for the average haunt customer), but that doesn't excuse them from not offering a discount that night to other customers.

PROS

Bloody, disturbing, excellent F/X and set design

CONS

The length could have been a bit longer

RATING

REVIEW

This haunt excelled in the area of having actors that actually had parts and messages to give to its visitors. This gave Murray's an advantage over many of the haunts because there was a flow of the theme and story throughout the haunt. Not to mention they have the biggest freak I have ever seen drifting by on rollerblades. He had the craziest eyes that gave him the appearance of a demon possessed man. He was a freak show all by himself. a real cause for nightmares.

Another thing Murray's does well is spread their groups out. There is no danger of bumping into another group as they give very liberal amounts of room between groups. This helps add to the fear factor and make the haunt feel more genuine, especially because of the actor interaction.

There could have been a stronger delivery at times as there was noticeable dead space in the haunt. It seemed to be cut a little short and getting through this haunt took less time than I was hoping after such a long wait in anticipation.

PROS

Was pretty darn scary at times, in your face actors

CONS

A bit short, some props cheesy

RATING

REVIEW

We were originally going to review this haunt on opening weekend, but were asked not to due to casting/prop problems, and the staff was pretty adamant about us waiting to review it. We reluctantly made the decision to come back the following week to go through and do our review.

They have changed things up this year, and I was glad we made a second trip back. The guy at the front was so entertaining, and he never broke character. He was awesome!

They have added an evil carnival element that worked well, and some of the actors were really scary. Once we made it through the carnival scenes, we saw some familiar things from last year. They stuck with the "Chainsaw Massacre/Ed Gein" theme, and raised the bar on these scenes. There are areas that really got us wondering if we were in Ed Gein's house, and if we would get out. The actors and costumes were great, and they did a great job staying in character. The room with the laser was very cool and had us wondering which way to go. The scenes were well done and authentic, and some were downright disgusting, but added to the authenticity.

I was pleased with the changes this year, and the way the haunt moved us through gave it a good length, with great rooms along the way.

PROS

Actors/costumes, authentic scenes

CONS

Too well lit in some areas, ending is given away while in line

RATING

REVIEW

As of writing this, I haven't heard anyone on the boards talking about this haunt and frankly I'm surprised. The sets were stellar in most cases and they had some really unique ideas that I'd never seen before. I would say the overall theme was creepy backwoods farm country, but there were definitely some exceptions that didn't follow the rule. Murray's nailed the creative set building including surprising elements that came unexpectedly from above, optical illusions, water and a forest inside a warehouse!

The props and costumes were right on as well. Most of the actors either had intense makeup, wigs, or masks, instead of just wearing black and jumping out from behind a curtain. They were in-your-face and had great timing. Those actors that were simply waiting for you in a room still did a great job of giving you the creeps and portraying their part in the story.

The intensity builds up to what I thought was a pretty basic end, but I really enjoyed the overall experience of the Carnival of Chaos. But, now that I think of it, really didn't remind me of a carnival in any way, shape, or form, but there are enough clown-reliant haunts and it was definitely chaotic.

One room I particularly enjoyed involved a series of doors which when pulled revealed a number of different scares. The only downside for me was the incredibly loud noise of banging props on metal. Almost every time this happened it was effective in making me jump, but I found my ears ringing painfully about halfway through.

PROS

Great variety in sets, gross-out details, scary actors, good timing

CONS

Really loud and noisy, banging on metal hurt my ears

RATING

REVIEW

First, I need to apologize to both our readers and the haunt community for an issue that I would handle differently if I had it to do over again. When we arrived at this haunt on opening night, the owner was so adamant about not being reviewed that we reluctantly agreed to return a different night. If I had it to do over, we'd have reviewed it that night anyway so as to be fair to the other haunts. If your haunt's not suitable to be reviewed, then it's not suitable to charge admission to unsuspecting customers. We should have handled it differently, and will do so if situations like these arise in the future.

That said, when we returned to Murray's, they were firing on all cylinders. It was scary, the actors were superb, both in their performance and appearance. The set was well designed, if a bit loose in the application of its theme, which tried to blend last year's hillbilly theme with this year's carnival theme. Not the most consistent, but still a good overall product. Length was pretty average; long enough to get your money's worth, but not long enough to be exceptional.

Overall, a very good haunt, and a good place to spend some time as there are also corn mazes to keep you occupied in addition to the haunt itself.

PROS

Good sets, good scares, great actors

CONS

Apparently not a good show early in the season

RATING

REVIEW

I love the building that this haunt is in. It's in a great location, too, which adds to the feel of this haunt. There's something about being out in the middle of a field in a huge metal shed structure that's scary in and of itself. This haunt really takes advantage of sound. There are so many metal props that create booming and unpleasant sounds that are super loud. While the loud noises are definitely beneficial to the overall theme and feel of the haunt, I felt like the actors could have done a better job at playing off this effect. A lot of the time it just seemed like they would bang something real hard and yell. That's not bad, but there's definitely room for improvement in this area.

I loved the set, and I especially like how they stuck with one genre and played it out. This was very evident as I was walking through from scene to scene. Some things that really stood out to me was the pig...that was hilarious! Also the part near the end where it felt like the ceiling was going to drop. That definitely made me poop a little. Overall, this was a fun haunt and I enjoyed going through it.

PROS

Maintained theme, length, set

CONS

Utilizing acting and sounds