Evil Dead The Musical 4D: Devilishly Well-Done

The gang here at All Hallows’ Haunts caught Evil Dead The Musical 4D at the Tommy Wind Theater during our recent sojourn to the City of Lights.

Adapted from the Sam Raimi film, Evil Dead The Musical 4D, is everything an Evil Dead  fan could want (and for the extreme die hard fans, a whole lot more). All of your favorite characters are there, all of your favorite moments are there. Yes, people get murdered on stage. Yes, it is fake and silly, and ridiculously messy. So, so messy. So 4D. And messy.

You want to be a part of the show? Enjoy the messiness? Buy the VIP tickets. You’ll be treated to a white t-shirt signed by the cast and encouraged to put it on before the show starts so it will be covered in fake blood as the show progresses. Encouraged might be a bit of a misnomer here, as no one opted to not put the shirts on.

To say the show is fun is a complete and total understatement. The cast pitches this show so hard, I thought they might be all vying for the Cy Young Award this year. They especially pay attention to the Splatter Zone, as they know those are the fans that can quote the movie by heart. At one point, an actor just stood on stage, talking to an audience member, continuously spraying her with blood. This must’ve lasted for at least 60 seconds. She loved it. (When they didn’t, the actors would scream at them, “YOU PAID EXTRA FOR THIS”.)

Even if you’re not a fan of the movie, the live show is worth the price of admission. You don’t need to be drenched in blood to enjoy it, as the show is put together really well. The songs are on note, the actors are fantastic, and everyone is having fun.

If you’re a fan of the movie and like campy theater, I highly recommend seeing the show.

There’s just one caveat. A really, really big caveat.

The Tommy Wind Theater is terrible. It’s not designed to hold a large audience for a show that could garner this much attention. The staff is pleasant, but obviously have no real experience running live shows. Our group showed up at 7:28pm for a 7:30pm show to find out that our VIP seats (yes, we’re those Evil Dead freaks that want to be covered in fake blood) had been sold out from under us. No cast-signed T-shirts. No free show specific shots. No getting covered in gallons of amazingly fake blood.

We did get to be seated on a side of the theater that we were told, twice, was “horrible seating”. Once was by the staff (who could have sat us anywhere else), and once by the actor introducing the show. We missed a clear third of the stage, and about half of the action in the first act.

At the intermission, I moved to the back and enjoyed a full view of the second act.

We paid for a VIP show and got less than a whole show. It was disappointing. Especially, considering just how good the show turned out to be. The Tommy Wind Theater needs to fix this, immediately. I get selling seats to people who don’t show, but to be treated as such is just downright unprofessional.

Despite this, I’m still recommending the show. It’s just too damn good to pass up.

Tickets available at Evil Dead The Musical.

 

It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and I’m Damn Entertained

Imagine you’re already in a highly emotional state. You’re driving away. There is an accident. When you wake, you’re chained to a pipe, in a windowless room. You’re terrified for your life. That’s when your captor tells you the one thing that makes you forget you’re trapped underground with a potential lunatic: everyone outside of this bunker is dead. Welcome to 10 Cloverfield Lane, where not everything is what it seems.

From J.J. Abrams, 10 Cloverfield Lane has spawned a new genre, the non-sequel. Set in the same world as the 2008 blockbuster Cloverfield, it’s less a sequel and more of a Marvel Universe-style adjacent picture.

Starring Mary-Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman, the picture focuses heavily on character development, unlike its parent film. Mary-Elizabeth Winstead turns in a fine performance as a woman who runs from everything, until she’s forced to stay put. Her acting is subtle and completely believable.

John Goodman puts in one of the scariest and creepiest performances in recent memory. At certain points, even though he’s already been painted as being untrustworthy, you believe him anyway. This is due in part to Damien Chazelle, writer/director of Whiplash (one of the best character driven films in the last 10 years), adding a much-needed polish to what could have been a flat film.

Dan Trachtenberg, director, does a credible job with the film. Of Totally Rad Show fame, Dan is making his feature directorial debut. This doesn’t mean that Dan doesn’t have the chops; if you haven’t seen his short film, Portal: No Escape, do yourself a favor and watch it as soon as you’re done reading this review. Dan is good at building suspense. He paces the film well and handles the twists and turns with the deft hand of a seasoned veteran. There are issues, sure, but these can be easily overlooked.

To combat any potential pacing problems of the film, Bear McCreary’s score does a phenomenal job of pushing the pace forward. It’s catchy, worming its way into your brain long after the film ends. It’s nice to see Bear finally getting his time to shine in the “big leagues”, being the veteran of numerous TV shows. This is Bear’s third (YES, THIRD), movie he’s scored that has been released this year, and it’ll just be a matter of time before he’s nominated for an Oscar.

10 Cloverfield Lane is a pulse-pounding thriller that delivers on all fronts. While its connection to Cloverfield is tenuous, this can be easily ignored as the movie is just Really. Damn. Good. Do yourself a favor, and go check it out.

247 days until Halloween

248 days until Halloween

249 days until Halloween

What happened to Séance?

As you’ve all read, the All Hallows Haunts team attended Séance, by Sinister Pointe, featuring Medium Scott Michael. Was it an enjoyable fun night? Yes. Could it have been improved? Sure. It was the first iteration of something that we, collectively, were looking forward to see grow.

We weren’t expecting this:

An apology from Sinister Pointe Productions.

An apology? For putting on an enjoyable evening? We’re intrigued.

Sinister Pointe’s most recent show “SEANCE” was highly anticipated by both guests and ourselves. It was a show that was to be unique and different.

During final rehearsals of the show we invited friends and family to experience the show. We realized at the last moment we may have a problem. When we initially designed the show, we based it off of suggestions from various friends, family, fan, etc. They expressed interest in simply partaking in a real actual “SEANCE”. So that is what we initially did. We designed a beautiful set to host a “REAL” Seance. We quickly realized after our soft opening that the guests don’t really want a “REAL” Seance. Unless a “REAL” seance was going to produce REAL ghosts!

We were stuck in a lose lose situation. Half of the guests expected something real and the other half expected an over the top high tech show. We frantically raced to modify each show over the weekend in an attempt to improve the show but we fell short. If we changed it to one thing, the guests expected the opposite.

We have since postponed the remaining shows until further notice as we completely reformat the show and truly make it an unforgettable experience.

This is disappointing, but we have to respect a company that steps back and says, “Wait. This isn’t what we wanted.” Hopefully, this hiatus will help the show grow into what the creators were imagining.

We’re glad that  we made it out to the show and look forward to the next step in the evolution of Sinister Pointe. We’ll keep you updated with further developments.

250 days until Halloween