| Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood event | |
|---|---|
  | |
| Halloween Horror Nights 2006 | |
| Slogan | Will you make the cut?/ The Director Will See You Now/The Director's Cut |
| Year | 2006 |
| Icon | The Director |
| Icon attraction | Terror Tram: The Director's Cut |
| Number of haunted mazes | 2 |
| Number of scarezones | 5 |
| Preceded by | Halloween Horror Nights 2000 |
| Followed by | Halloween Horror Nights 2007 |
In true cinematic fashion, Universal Studios Hollywood will invite guests to experience a "reel" horror production helmed by "The Director."
Halloween Horror Nights 2006 was the revival of the Halloween Horror Nights event in Universal Studios Hollywood. The icon was The Director/Pavel Pranevsky, who used the Universal Backlot (and the entire park) as his "masterpiece" film.
Event Nights[]
October: 13-14, 20-21, 27-28 & 31, 2006
The Story of Pavel Pranevsky[]
"Production began on the Universal Backlot on 6/6/06."
Universal Studios Hollywood decided that in 2006, the formerly annual Halloween Horror Nights will once again commence. Unable to get popular and revered brands like Rob Zombie and Clive Barker (although the former would return in 2010), Universal turned to a controversial director who lived in Slovakia.
Pavel Pranevsky made his living by making movies that he felt that viewers would be entranced by due to the "real" production value. However, this style would earn him more critics than fans, and Pavel would get sued by an actress for literally carving her eye Salvadore Dali style for the film "The Widow's Eye". Mr. Pranevsky eventually received his comeuppance, and was blacklisted from the entire Slovakian film industry. Desperate for success, he sailed the sea on the way to Hollywood in 2002 in search for artistic validation.
Universal Studios Hollywood found out about Pavel, and in spite of rumors circulating about his behavior, he was tasked with creating "the ultimate horror film" which would be used to inspire the horrorscapes of the event. The Studio asked him to show a daily so that they can be on board with the vision they want to showcase. Pavel explored the backlot, and already was writing the scripts for the various attractions that would be taking place in the "film."
Director Pavel Pranevsky was interviewed on the set of the dailies he was gonna shoot by three people. He told them that he aspired for "true emotions" and real blood, believing that nothing can capture the true "emotion, fear and reality of what the victim is feeling."
The three disappeared almost immediately after the interview. While Pavel was still working and crafting the look and feel of his movie, executives began to get worried as dark rumors began to circulate. The dailies were sent to Universal Pictures a week later. The dailies would show several disturbing imagery- in a unfinished set with red curtains, a Jester was having hooks impaled on his cheeks, a guy was being tortured in a bathtub, and Pavel himself "examined" the true essence of a corpse (if it even was a corpse) with a oversized shear. Universal was both horrified and enraged at Pavel, who argued that "real is what people want to see!" And then, as if it couldn't get worse, it was found out that the three "actors" were in fact the people who interviewed them, and they were being tortured for real.
Realizing the moral quandaries of participating of what is literally a film of evil, they shut down the project and sent security to arrest Pavel Pranevsky for his illegal actions. However, Mr. Pranevsky managed to disappear, and Universal thought that he simply snuck back to his homeland… but they were mistaken. Eventually, Pavel was spotted at various locations on the Universal Backlot on the daytime, apparently living there the whole time. Despite security's best efforts, Pavel was unable to be captured. Pavel Pranevsky, who dubbed himself with the name of The Director, promised on several homemade videos of himself that his work will not be stopped.
In spite of the threat, Universal Studios Hollywood went on with the Halloween Horror Nights project, using The Director's concepts in a "safer" way. But unbeknownst to them, The Director was very in much in control of things. He directed the "scareactors" on their acts of carnage, and was "amplifying" the scares. He prowled the streets of the backlot with a few of his "friends" and subsequently took control of the park.
The Director's film was in production.
"Will You Make the Cut?"
The Director[]
The Director was featured in most, if not all, of the marketing materials. While it is unclear if he had any TV ads, there were online webisodes which detailed Pavel's exploits. In a case of viral marketing, The actual Director could be seen stalking the Backlot at day, sometimes "filming" tourists.
However, he didn't appear too much in the event itself, due to restrictions provided by the story. A cardboard cutout of him can be seen at the Main Gate. The houses, scarezones, and shows, were all part of Pavel's "script". The Director was nowhere to be found on his own attraction (The Director's Cut), except at the very end where he could be seen throwing a victim into a wood chipper. (Unless it was the first week, then he wasn't shown at all).
A crew would wander around. This was the "director's Crew" who were hired by Pavel to record guest's screams for a contest to see who is the best Scream Queen/King. The winner would get an ipod. Numerous clips and bloopers were recorded. The last video ended with The Director himself saying "Cut."
The Event[]
The whole idea for the revival event was that every show, maze, scarezone, and ride were borrowed from the scripts of The Director's vision. https://i.ibb.co/BwDvVg9/IMG-0835.jpg
Attractions[]
Haunted Mazes[]
Terror Tram[]
- Terror Tram: The Director’s Cut (Backlot)
Scarezones[]
- Studio Center (Lower Lot)
- Dawn of the Dead (New York Street)
- Deadwood (Western Street)
- Old London (Baker Street)
- The Black Death (French Street)
Shows[]
- SlaughterWorld (Waterworld Stage)
- Carnival of Carnage
- The Mutaytor (The Back to the Future Plaza)
- Chucky's Insult Emporium (French Street Patio)
- Fear Factor Live: Dead Celebrity Edition (Fear Factor Stage)
Rides[]
- Jurassic Park: In the Dark
- Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride
- Back to the Future: The Ride
- Terminator 2: 3D
Pictures[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- One of the Director's films is from the 2002 ad "The Caretaker" in Orlando.
- According to this, John Murdy was offered the job in 2004 to revive Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood but declined it.
- According to this, the reason Murdy never wants scareactors to pose for pictures is because he saw them constantly posing instead of scaring during this event.
- While Hollywood previously used Orlando’s artwork for the late 1990s era, this with its incorporation of Orlando icon The Director is the first time an Orlando property by itself was properly used at Hollywood’s event. This would continue with the incorporation of Jack and the Carnival of Carnage the following year, and a version of the popular Scarecrow maze. This year was also one of the two times (and only two times, as Murdy wanted to stray away from using Orlando’s icons) an Orlando icon was used for Hollywood.
- According to John Murdy and Chris Williams there was a concept for Bigfoot being featured in the Jurassic Park area.
Resources[]
| Halloween Horror Nights 2006 |
|---|
| Characters: The Director (Event Icon) |
| Haunted Mazes: The Asylum • Universal's House of Horrors |
| Terror Tram: Terror Tram: The Director’s Cut |
| Scarezones: The Black Death • Dawn of the Dead • Deadwood • Old London • Studio Center |
| Shows: Carnival of Carnage • Chucky's Insult Emporium • Fear Factor Live: Dead Celebrity Edition • The Mutaytor • SlaughterWorld |
| Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood |
|---|
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