Predictions for Halloween Horror Nights 2013

The best thing about having a brand new year to work with is that it's filled with infinite possibilities.  Everything and anything is up in the air at this very moment.  That means I can make all the wild predictions I want and any of it could very well be possible, no matter how crazy and absurd it is. 

To kick off the new year I'm following our time honored tradition of attempting to predict what movies will be featured at this year's Halloween Horror Nights here in Hollywood, California. 

Last year went pretty poorly for me as I only managed to guess two mazes.  I think 2013 will prove to be luckier for me though. I'm feeling it, deep in my special bones.  Journey past the break to see my highly educated and useless predictions. 

First off, I'm returning to a movie that I thought was a sure thing last year.  I still think that The Woman in Black stands a significant chance of making an appearance.  At this point it's not as fresh on everyone's mind, but I think with La Llorona running it's course it would be an easy conversion that would save money and yet still provide a new experience for attendees.  I'm not as confident in this pick as I was last year since we're so far removed, but it makes a kind of sense.

There's also a good chance that one of the most talked about horror movies from last year could make it to this year's maze list.  Sinister made quite a splash with the critics, which is a rarity among horror films, and the film did fairly well in the box office.  There are two things holding it back though.  You don't see very many locations in the movie that would make for good  maze scenes and there's really only one monster to utilize.  Though he's a fantastic looking bastard. 

This coming year has a few heavy hitters that stand a pretty good chance at being featured in a maze as well. This week sees the debut of a brand new Texas Chainsaw Massacre film in 3D.  I predicted this one would happen last year and sort of nailed it, but I thought it would be based on the upcoming remake.  Instead it was entirely based around the classics.  

Since this new movie will be 3D and given that Universal has had great success with 3D mazes, it'd be interesting to see them tackle a 3D Texas Chainsaw maze.  Universal's 3D mazes in the past have utilized vibrant colors for their effect, which wouldn't mesh well with Texas' more muted tones.  It would certainly be a unique creative challenge to make a TCM 3D maze that made sense visually and conceptually.  I think it stands a pretty good chance of making an appearance since it would allow them to cut back on the costs of the maze by utilizing set pieces from last years attraction. 

Evil Dead has long been rumored to make an appearance at Universal Studios, however, this past year Knotts got their hands on the property and had their fun with it.  With a brand new movie coming out this year, it might be Universal's turn to finally take a crack at it.  One concern that plagued Universal Studios' Creative Director John Murdy was that it would be nearly impossible to find look-a-likes for Bruce Campbell's Ash.  Since the remake wont feature Bruce as the main star, it would be a way for them to get around that conundrum. 

Finally, last year I predicted that it would be the year of Rob Zombie and I totally missed that one.  However, I'm still sticking with that prediction because I really think it stands a good chance of going down.  This year sees the release of The Lords of Salem which looks like it would be perfectly suited for a maze.  It has a creepy environment and plenty of morbid and horrific characters to choose from.  I'm also holding out for a Halloween maze specifically based around Rob Zombie's Micheal Myers. 

That's all the prediction juice I have in me and I'm feeling pretty good about the chances of all the films featured on this list.  However, lets not forget that there's also the possibility that another video game will be brought to life this year.  Dead Space 3 debuts in February and Resident Evil is always a popular request among attendees.  Then there's the original mazes, which will surely make another return this year.  The infinite possibilities of the unknown are quite exciting and I look forward to seeing the details spill out as the year continues.