London Dungeon has recruited five boys and five girls aged between 11 and 15 to join the Dungeon's so-called 'scary team' thanks to their knowledge of monsters and villains.
The team will be named on Monday the 30th and will then attend around three board meetings to discuss how to make the attraction scarier.
With their knowledge, hopefully they'll also transform a predominantly dull attraction into an interesting one. While there were flashes of inspiration, the Dungeon has really fallen from grace recently - tourists are herded from room to room like cattle for the slaughter, while historical (and gory) tidbits are foresaken in the quest for entertainment catering for the lowest common denominator.
I think the sublety of the Se7en preview(contains spoilers) was lost on some people. It's a difficult balance to strike between giving people a tease, something they'll recognise from when they finally do the maze and just spoiling the surprise for everyone.
It's all there now - there are seven pictures from inside the maze, as well as several pictures incorporated into the graphics around the tour.
If you have looked through the tour, and done the maze, and still don't know what the photos are of or where they were taken, highlight the section of text below for the full information.
Select the text from here (contains spoliers)...
Click on the pile of folders in each scene for a popup with a behind the scenes preview. Each 'detail' thumbnail will take you to a full-sized photo from inside the maze. Every scene on the tour is in the order that you walk through the maze, and is detailed below:
Wrath: The detail photo is of the padded wall as you enter the scene.
Sloth: The pizza boxes/rubbish around the grave stones are from a photo taken from inside the maze (it's the rubbish on the left hand side of the room). The detail photo is of one of the three flying geese on one of the walls.
Pride: The images reflected into the mirrors on the ground are from the maze. The one on the right mirror can be found on the left hand side when you're actually in the maze, while the one in the right-hand mirror is on the left when you're in the maze. The detail photo is a clearer picture of the mannequin behind the mirror on the left in the maze.
Lust: Sadly the legs poking out from the gravestones cannot be found on the maze, but don't let that put you off. The detail image is of the cage in the back right hand corner of the Lust scene.
Envy: The gravestone is covered in magazine cuttings that are actually on the wall of the maze. The detail image is another set of magazine cuttings, which can be found on the wall behind and to the right of where you enter the scene.
Gluttony: The detail image is of the fat, dead character covered in vomit from the scene.
Greed: The detail image is of the vault door which is to the left hand side of the cage.
The map on the notepad is actually an accurate representation of the maze, a clearer version of which can be found on the latest issue of Magazine, volume 1.
I was lucky enough to get to go through Se7en the day before it opened, and despite being in the presence of those who created the maze, it was difficult to be particularly complimentary - in fact, it was bordering dreadful.
Yet, a day later, it had been transformed.
Fortunately, the previews highlighted a remarkably simple problem, yet a problem that left me feeling that despite all their efforts, their newest maze was a complete lost cause.
The acting talent was there, and the scenery was excellent. Going through the maze with the house lights on really showed the maze in the best possible light, but the ultimate problem was that there was no discernable difference between the maze in house state and show state.
It looked nice, but at its prime objective (that is, to scare), it failed. It was just too bright.
While the bright lights gave people to admire the handywork of Weird and Wonderful (the company who themed the maze), it also showed every ugly detail with explicit clarity, while neat touches such as the lingering periods of darkness between each room were wasted.
Thanks to several cans of black paint, light bulbs were sprayed over and the maze was completely transformed. Also, as the actors get used to their roles, the show has become far more refined since the uncomfortable moment when I honestly thought that Thorpe had dropped the ball.
Although many attractions have yet to open, our coverage starts with a fairly abstract tour of Se7en, the new maze at Thorpe Park.
Each day, a new sin will be revealed, and each gives just a tiny peep of what's in store with a heavily cropped photo, brainstorming ideas and background into what each sin means.
There will of course be more coverage, and a full-blown review once it opens, but for now, hopefully this small glimpse will whet your appetite.
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Author: MS Friday, October 06, 2006 | Comment
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