Brighton Asylum 2016 Haunt Review
Joe Rovinsky
|
Location: 2 Brighton Ave, Passaic, NJ 07055
Web Page: http://brightonasylum.com/
Introduction:
Brighton Asylum located close to New York City continues to strive for excellence in creating a horror entertainment show that features some of the most fantastical yet horrifying set designs in any haunted attraction. Like other successful haunted attractions, the management, staff and actors of this attraction are entirely committed to providing an incredible show each year, utilizing feedback and honest reviews to improve the attractions experience. Careful attention to reviews and feedback drives a passion to constantly upgrade and recreate the experience provided by the attraction. We first began visiting Brighton Asylum several years ago and have attended a variety of their regular season and off-season events. What we have always found is that the experience is never the same. While many haunts make minor upgrades or tweaks to their attractions, Brighton Asylum goes all out in its effort to create fresh, upgraded show every season.
The production values of Brighton Asylum are breathtaking, as the design team and management have taken scene creation to a new level. Set within the confines of a large industrial complex Brighton Asylum transforms each corridor and room into a nightmarish scene, with incredible special effects, intricately detailed rooms, professional lighting and sound effects that create an immersive experience of the highest quality. Very few attractions have a level of detail that causes us to completely stop and want to explore each room. An obsessive attention to detail makes this attraction stand out, from “crayon” drawings created by the “insane” on the walls to some of the most lifelike gory props in the industry, Brighton Asylum is a tribute to horror. Every single season Brighton Asylum continues to find new ways to revamp its two core attractions; “The Tunnel” and “Brighton Asylum” to constantly upgrade each set design, add additional scenes and incorporate interactive funhouse elements into a world-class haunted attraction. While many haunts rely on pitch darkness and blinding lights to create fear, Brighton Asylum is designed so guests can see, and feel the gruesome details of every single scene. Creative lighting effects augment the realistic, nightmarish design of each room creating a surreal environment appreciated by haunt fans.
Brighton Asylum is once again one of the must-see attractions for the 2016 season. Brighton Asylum is interactive, boasts incredible set designs, and talented, creepy scare actors who do a phenomenal job of interacting with each guest in a variety of ways. The amazing details of each room are the perfect backdrop for talented scare actors that feature impressive makeup and costume designs. These actors work tirelessly in engaging guests as they move from room to room, using scare acting techniques to control pacing and manage lines within the attraction. On “Contact Nights” the level of aggression is taken to an entirely new level as actors become even more hands-on and intense. We encountered an aggressive butcher who placed his machete right across our foreheads, visited with a disturbing clown in a scene inspired by Stephen King’s “The Shining” and visited a variety of twisted mental patients throughout the various interactive rooms of each attraction. Actors are almost always well hidden, popping out of walls, out of rusted cars, on surgery tables and in a morgue. Impressive, world-class animatronics are used to create misdirection which allows scare actors to create an exciting experience.
Brighton Asylum also features a variety of “Escape Room” games including short five-minute games and longer events that must be booked prior to attending. It is important to note that this is an extremely popular attraction, in a major metro area and it is suggested that you buy your tickets online and/or upgrade to a front of the line pass. This is a world class haunted attraction featuring the very best in scene/set design coupled with talented scare acting and interactive rooms.
Staff and management are committed to providing a quality, interactive haunted attraction experience for every guest who visits this year, and continues to upgrade the attraction on a yearly basis. An improved line management system has been implemented to reduce wait times while keeping guests from encountering other groups while in the attraction. On our visit, despite a large crowd we always remained in a small group which is not an easy feat for an attraction with this many guests.
Attractions:
Brighton Asylum, set in an industrial complex in Passaic, New Jersey, is an indoor walk-through attraction featuring two separate walk-through shows “The Tunnel” which was added last season and the “Brighton Asylum”, which is once again totally enhanced this year. The attraction is longer, more detailed more interactive and intense than ever. The attraction while separated into two “haunts” is essentially connected, guests start their adventure in the “Tunnel” attraction prior to entering the “Brighton Asylum”.
The Tunnel:
“Tunnel” starts guests off on the journey to the infamous Brighton Asylum. Guests enter an elevator, featuring a hulking bellhop, who uses close interpersonal scare strategies to disturb. The simulated elevator sequence is impressive, as lights flicker and the floor violently moves. “Tunnel” has been vastly improved for the 2016 season, using tighter spaces and better actor pacing to create a sense of being lost underneath the grounds of the asylum. Each room features an extreme level of meticulous detail, from a gritty abandoned security room to an odd yet engaging cavern, the “Tunnel” uses set designs to build anticipation throughout the attraction.
Actors are extremely well hidden throughout the journey as they pop out of the most unexpected of places, including walls. “Tunnel” is a perfect set-up for the actual “Brighton Asylum”, and a creepy eerie journey. We hope they can continue to lengthen the “Tunnel” attraction and find ways to build in interactive scenes that build on the abandoned tunnel theme. “Tunnel”; production values transform the environment to completely immerse guests in a surreal environment that is scary, gory, and oddly beautiful to look at.
Brighton Asylum:
“Brighton Asylum” attraction is one of our favorite walk-through attractions of all time. Once again massive set changes and additions have been undertaken to create an almost entirely new attraction for the 2016 haunt season. “Brighton Asylum” features some of the very best set designs, special effects and unique interactive rooms in any haunted attraction.
The quality of set designs, lighting and audio effects are top notch and disorientate guests as they transverse the halls of the “Brighton Asylum”. The unique, innovative set designs of the attraction add to the scares, and the actors who are not allowed to “touch” guests on regular evenings, but become shockingly aggressive on “Contact Nights” do a phenomenal job of interacting with guests, as well as hiding in the unexpected places. These actors are insane; they hang from sets, jump from planks, make off-color jokes with guests and play their roles phenomenally. Our interactions with the “butcher” and a creepy candy giving “clown” were unsettling, to say the least. Constant aggression and use of scare acting to manage the flow of the attraction is a tribute to the level of detail placed into the haunt’s design. The quality of acting coupled with high-tech, detailed set designs make this attraction something special.
The level of detail and quality of each set design and corridor are impressive, to say the least. We often found ourselves admiring each room, each hallway and every little detail that is found in this brutal haunted attraction. Animatronics is life-like, feature disturbing imagery such as tortured half-dead hanging bodies, and depictions of gruesome surgery. Corridors feature interactive doors that move and jolt leaving little downtime. New scenes include an incredibly disturbing “moving” padded room, that utilizes creepy scare actors mixed, lit by slow strobe lights in a room that moves, creating a sense of panic. Another long corridor features a scene that is a tribute to “The Shining” featuring an aggressive, uncomfortable “clown” guarding two bloodied twin girls. Without spoiling the attraction, “Brighton Asylum” utilizes interactive set design at a level that is beyond most attractions. Guests must duck, walk across “unstable” bridges, crawl, escape a ball-pit (an experience that has to be completed to believe), and slide into the chainsaw of a maniac in one of the best-haunted attraction climaxes. “Brighton Asylum” is longer, and improved in every way, and a spectacle to see. Despite massive crowds, the attraction manages crowds to prevent guests from backing up or running into other groups. Actors were always in place and utilized their talents to prevent guests from rushing through each scene. You will want to experience each scene in its entirety and each corridor features action and surprises that scare, and challenge guests to escape the “Brighton Asylum”.
Brighton Asylum is a tribute to horror, one of the most impressively detailed, intense haunted attractions ever visited by our review team. An insane dedication to detail, large scale scene development and commitment to excellence drives their success. This attraction pours its heart, money, sweat and tears into improving its quality every single year and has outdone itself again this year. Brighton Asylum is mature, it’s aggressive, it features some of the best actors and finest set designs of any haunted attraction. We look forward to seeing what they have in store for this year’s off-season haunts, featuring evil Santa’s and Valentine’s Day themes. We love the Brighton Asylum, have a great appreciation for the tireless work of the management and staff and commitment to providing a unique, Hollywood quality haunted attraction experience.
