My experience at Blumhouse's Terror Tram during Universal Horror Nights was scary, but there's one movie I'm surprised wasn't involved

Spooky season is the best time of year to enjoy the best horror moviesbut if you can make the trip to Hollywood or are already a local Californian like me, why not experience it at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights? The event features all kinds of spooky creatures roaming the theme park, whether you’re strolling past the gift shops or braving the haunted houses after waiting in line. After my recent trip to HHN, I not only have to share my life-changing experience on the Terror Tram, but also share one element I wish the attraction would have added to the scare fest.

First of all, what is the tram of terror? Well, usually at Universal Studios Hollywood there is a beloved Studio Tour attraction where visitors can be guided through real movie sets located in the back of the theme park. As a longtime visitor to Universal Studios, I’ve long been a fan of this attraction because you can ride around on a shuttle with a fun guide who takes you to familiar places like the Back to the future Clock Tower and Whoville How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

But for the Terror Tram, you take the shuttle and instead of going on a full cinematic tour, you’re actually dropped off on real movie sets where scary actors run amok. This year’s edition has a Blumhouse theme, which I loved… but I also felt like it was missing a great opportunity.

Insidious: The Haunted House Further, Universal Horror Nights 2024 Hollywood — (Image credit: NBCUniversal)

When CinemaBlend was invited to Halloween Horror Nights this year, of course I went to every house and classified them all. (And if you’re more aware of Universal Orlando, we classified these housesalso!) But I put the Terror Tram in the “bonus scare” category because it really feels like it’s on a different level than the other houses. I was even more panicked by the Ghostbusters house than I expected And THE A quiet place one of them was super scary.

But it’s something to be dropped off in the darkness of a parking lot right next to the exact spot where they filmed the classic. Psychology instead of sitting the whole time like the attraction usually works. Every year they do a similar thing, so I knew what to expect in a way, but man, those kinds of scares never get old. The last time I went to the Terror Tram was in 2022. The purge edition, and coming back to it only made me realize how scary it all was the first time.

M3GAN prepares for its next kill in M3GAN

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

What’s Happening at HHN’s Blumhouse Terrorist Streetcar

After you begin your journey aboard one of the Studio Tour shuttles, a guide sets the scene to scare you even more as you and other guests ride the silent shuttle in the dead of night. Then they drop you off in the middle of the road where M3GAN is ready to welcome you. At the beginning, the AI-driven doll from the 2023 film slowly dances alone with creepy instrumental music as the guests exit the shuttle. But once you no longer have a vehicle to save you, many more Blumhouse characters appear.

What really interests me about Terror Tram is the look and sound of the chainsaws that various characters have in their hands as they charge at you after M3GAN quips: “This is the part where you run ” as she holds a long, bloody knife in the air. . I’ll be honest: most of the haunted houses in HHN generally don’t really make me angry, aside from a few scares. But during the Terror Tram experience, I truly felt fear and adrenaline when that opening moment happened.

The scare actors can’t touch you, and certainly won’t hurt you (it’s entertainment in these parts), but with more space around the backlot, they move and weave and become more confrontational, and that m Made me want to run and hide during the experience. From there, you cycle through the various Blumhouse films presented as M3GAN, Happy death day And Weirdwhich takes place at the current Bates Motel (The purge takes place on the wreckage of the plane War of the Worlds). Yes, I definitely felt like I had experienced something at the end and was ready to hide out for a bit at Super Nintendo World.

Freddy Fazbear on stage in the film Five Nights at Freddy's

(Image credit: Peacock)

I’m surprised Five Nights At Freddy’s wasn’t involved

That being said, upon leaving, I found myself truly surprised that a Blumhouse-themed terrorist streetcar had literally no mention of Five Nights at Freddy’s. You know: the studio film that is Blumhouse’s highest-grossing film in the world to date? There is already a second Five Nights at Freddy’s movie on the way, and yet no attraction in a Blumhouse attraction?

Now, I’m not just surprised by how popular the franchise is with the public (it’s been a great video game series for a decade). The concept itself also lends itself perfectly to a theme park like Universal Studios – particularly the Terror Tram. If you don’t know much about it, the game series revolves around night guards trying to survive from midnight to 6 a.m. murderous animatronic characters from a fictional Chuck E-style family pizzeria franchise. Cheese.

It would have been so much fun to see the Terror Tram installation this year with night guards introducing you to a group of these scary characters suddenly murdering scary actors around us as the clock strikes twelve – especially a year later . the film achieved such a big milestone at the box office in theaters.

I have a feeling I know why this didn’t happen on the Terror Tram, as I predict it was something of a rights or large fee issue with the game developers licensing the video game. And given that Blumhouse is already a regular at Universal Studios, this gave the studio a chance to boost the profile of M3GAN in advance his own suite, M3GAN2.0 coming next year with The black phone (which also has tracking along the way). The purge it’s still super scary and it was nice to see Happy death day get some love afterwards long-held hopes for a third film.

But come on, Universal – that would be absolutely epic to see Five Nights at Freddy’s then haunt the tram of terror! I’m ready.