Review: Laurel's House of Horror - Escape the Movies

RATING: 4 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 5:19

Escape the Movies? I might want to stay, it’s pretty cool in here

Story

Located in a former abandoned, haunted movie theater, it was hardly a surprise to discover a black hole around the projector in theater #4. With high-precision mathematics and just the right amount of voodoo, we have harnessed its power, allowing guests to be projected into scenes from classic horror movies.

The journey begins by breaking into Michael Myer’s house (Halloween), escaping The Evil Dead cabin, concocting an anti-virus in the Resident Evil lab, and finally, facing down sinister spirits from The Conjuring.

Cinephiles sneak into an old abandoned movie theater that is rumored to be a portal into actual movies. After being sucked inside the movie screen, urban explorers have to find a way to break into the house from Halloween, escape the cabin from Evil Dead, make their way through an Umbrella Corp lab and finally avoid getting possessed in the basement from Conjuring.

Scenic

Laurel’s House of Horror is a haunted house company by trade that has a couple escape games during the off-season. For this reason, it’s no surprise that the sets are very well done. The lobby itself is an old abandoned snack section from the movie theater, complete with rotten popcorn, zombie pieces scattered about and various horror movie posters on the walls.

The game is set inside one of the actual theater rooms within the cinema and due to the stadium seating, the floor is on an incline. Normally this would be a problem but it fits so well within the theme regardless.

Obvious IP issues aside, Laurel’s House of Horror does a great job of making guests feel lost inside the movies. At the beginning of the game, adventures find themselves staring at the house from Halloween, complete with a jack’o lantern on the front porch and a shed.

After breaking into Michael Myers’ house, next up is the cabin from Evil Dead. The centerpiece of the room is the Book of the Dead resting on it’s own shrine. Each room has it’s own special touches that really bring everything to life. Observant teams will find plenty of hidden easter eggs referencing the source material throughout all the rooms as well.

Puzzles

The puzzles are a mixed bag, there are some unique and fun tasks scattered throughout but in general there’s quite a bit of scavenger hunting going on. That’s not to say the puzzles aren’t enjoyable though. Laurel’s House of Horror does a good job of taking a standard escape game puzzle and changing it just enough to fit the narrative.

Seeing as this game is set inside various Horror movies, there are a couple jump scares mixed in as well. There is a bit of an issue with the logic flow, and movie enthusiasts may find themselves completing a task but not finding a clear path to accomplish what comes next.

One particularly memorable moment is figuring out how to properly light candles and finish a seance to activate the Book of the Dead. Once inside the Umbrella Corp lab, the various tasks needed in order to complete the anti virus are a great mix of scary and fun. Each puzzle is heavily on theme and makes sense in the narrative keeping everything cohesive.

Overall

Being set inside an actual abandoned and supposedly haunted movie theater, there’s an immediate unsettling sense throughout the whole game. Laurel’s House of Horror is first and foremost a haunted house venue, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of fun to be had here. There’s obvious IP issues but instead of using existing properties as kind of a money grab, this feels much more like a love letter to the horror genre.

One thing Laurel’s House of Horror does that is very unique is that they allow players to take pictures throughout the game and even encourage them to share anything they wish throughout social media. It’s clear that they are very proud of what they created, as well they should be. Teams will have almost as much fun taking pictures and admiring the scenery as playing the game itself and that alone is worth the price of admission.