Hollywood Gothique

A zombie on the back lot in 2006

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood has sent out a press release informing us that the “all-new” 2009 Terror Tram: Live or Die will feature a section called “The Containment Zone,” which is described as a “scene from an unmade movie,” set admist the airplane wreckage and devastated houses that from the “War of the Worlds” section of the back lot tour. This apocalyptic setting, will be transformed into “an elaborately themed, zombie-ridden scare zone.”

It sounds interesting, but is it really “all-new”? The 2006 incarnation of Halloween Horror Nights (reviewed here) was based around the theme that a demented director had taken over the back lot, turning it into a living horror movie. Not only that: the “War of the Worlds” section of the tour was heavily infested with zombies, as you can see starting at 8:08 on our video below.

In addition, Terror Tram: Live or Die – which combines a tram ride with a walk through the back lot – will feature themes from SAW, MY BLOODY VALENTINE and HALLOWEEN, the three franchises that are being used for mazes this year. It is the same strategy that Universal Studios Hollywood employed in 2008, recycling characters who were already featured in their own mazes, instead of utilizing the studio’s own horror properties (which includes THE WOLF MAN, subject of an upcoming remake).

Well, at least Norman Bates will back back, lurking in the PSYCHO house, which is a permanent part of the theme park’s year-round back lot tour.