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Tourism Malaysia

A Peek Into Pure Horror at Sunway Lagoon

August 24, 2011 at 12:00 pm

It was a Friday night. The skies were clear and there was not a full moon in sight. Everyone was enjoying their time at the fun fair located within Scream Park @ Sunway Lagoon. As it was nearing the time for our Muslim friends to break their fast, a sumptuous buffet spread was set out around the area, all ready to be enjoyed later. The air was filled with laughter and chatter as the members of the media and invited guests exchanged friendly banter among each other.

Horrorwood Studios

A mob of the living dead walking on the walkways of the park.

Out of the blue, the carousel slowed to a grinding halt for no reason. In the background, strange looking people hobbled and limped onto the paved walkways of Scream Park at Sunway Lagoon. What looked like people with weird walking habits turned out to be zombies in tattered clothes and rotting flesh! Instead of hearing screams of fear, the people took out their cameras and started taking pictures of the zombies. Where others would run away, these people crept as close as they could to these living dead in hopes of catching a great shot.

Horrorwood Studios

Welcome to Mr. Fingers’ Gallery

A scene like the above may not sound like a typical storyline for a zombie movie. This is because it is not a movie of any kind but the launching of Scream Park at Sunway Lagoon’s latest addition – the Horrorwood Studios. What is Horrorwood Studios, you may ask? Well… if you are a fan of horror movies and everything related to them, this is the one attraction that should not be missed the next time you visit Sunway Lagoon. It is the ultimate house of terror, a place where creepy dolls, zombies, aliens and the most iconic slasher of all times, ‘Jason Voorhees’ from the movie ‘Friday the 13th’ reside permanently.

Horrorwood Studios

A scene from Friday the 13th – Jason Voorhees at Crystal Lake

To make things more exciting, the management also invited the actor who played ‘Jason Voorhees’ in four of the ‘Friday the 13th’ series, Kane Hodder, to the launch of Horrorwood Studios. Hodder, looming at a good 190 cm, looked menacing with a chainsaw in his hands. But do not be alarmed, as he turned out to be a friendly and accommodating person in real. Seeing the face behind ‘Jason Voorhees’, it is no wonder that he was chosen to play that character for four consecutive movies, as he was intimidating and scary without even having to say a word. Hodder also lent his acting skills as a mad man in a short film specially made for the newly revamped Scream Park. The movie is called ‘Hutan Yang Seram’ (Jungle Terror) and will also see scary creatures from our country’s folklore stalking two teenagers who got lost in a jungle.

Horrorwood Studios

The ‘Rumah Pocong’ at Scream Park @ Sunway Lagoon

Unlike other normal haunted houses, Horrorwood Studios aims to offer its patrons an experience of a different kind. After the initial exhibition of themes from internationally recognised horror films like Saw, Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street, visitors are taken through a maze of ultimate terror – walking through an abandoned containment facility riddled with zombies! This one-of-a-kind walkthrough attraction features live actors and state-of-the-art audio and visual special effects, together with a team of professionally trained actors, all of which are meant to make this scary experience better! Other live horror attractions within the Horrorwood Studios also includes Pontianak Theatre of Fear, Rumah Hantu in 3DX and The Tunnel of Penanggal in 3D.

Horrorwood Studios

Come and experience the Zombie Apocalypse at Horrorwood Studios.

If you want to know more about the place, come and see it for yourself. Why spoil the fun by spilling the beans when you can check it out for yourself and enjoy it first-hand? A friendly advice for all who dares to cross the threshold into this world of terror – remember to keep your wits around you at all times…

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Tourism Malaysia

Masters of Horrorwood at Sunway Lagoon

August 11, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Horror films are definitely not made for the faint-hearted. Though some of the monsters that make up the integral part of the story are not physically horrible looking, more often than not it is the symbolic representation of that monster that scares the audience. In the period between late 1800s and the early 1900s, horror films were mostly based on classic literature of the gothic/horror genre such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. However, with the passing of time the definition of a horror film has changed. What was once considered as horror may now be categorised as thrillers, reserving the term ‘horror’ for movies that display more gore, jump scenes and scares or supernatural content.

Bela Lugosi

Bela Lugosi was best known for playing Count Dracula in the Broadway production of Dracula

Many may remember the classic monsters like Frankenstein or Nosferatu, also known as Dracula, which undoubtedly became the source of many people’s nightmares in the early days. Back then, horror films relied more on employing scare tactics using monsters of all types to give its viewers the thrill that they seek in a horror movie. Many of these monsters became the iconic Universal monsters that we have come to know today. Since the 2000s, a recurring trend is the choice of using psychology to scare movie-goers, instead of real monsters. Shows like The Others, starring Nicole Kidman and Insidious, starring Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne have proven that one does not need scary monsters to provide the chills to the audience.

Frankenstein

Boris Karloff was best remembered for his portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster

Though the current horror movies have evolved to become much more than just slasher and gore films, it is those very films that still remain a huge favourite among fans of horror movie. Films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Halloween are so influential that many movies have parodied scenes from them over the years. There are even Halloween costumes designed after horror figures like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. If aliens, zombies and creepy dolls are your favourite thing, then make sure you head on to Sunway Lagoon’s Scream Park to catch their upcoming addition, the Horrorwood Studios. Would you like to know more about Horrorwood Studios? Then keep your eyes posted for more information here on Malaysia.com.

Photos (c) hytam2, twm1340

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