Spooky season is the best time of year to appreciate the best horror movies, but if you can make the trip to Hollywood or are already a local Californian like myself, why not live it at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights? The event has all kinds of scary creatures roaming around the theme park, whether you're walking by the gift shops up front or braving the haunted houses after waiting in line. After my recent trip to HHN, I need to not only share my highlight experience on the Terror Tram, but share one element I wish the attraction had added to the scare fest.
First off, What is the Terror Tram? Well, usually at Universal Studios Hollywood, there’s a beloved Studio Tour attraction where visitors can be guided through real movie sets located on the theme park’s backlot. As a longtime visitor to Universal Studios, I have long been a fan of this attraction because you get to be driven around in shuttles with a fun guide that takes you to familiar locations like the Back to the Future clocktower and Whoville from How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
But for the Terror Tram, you go on the shuttle and instead of going on a full movie-centric tour, you’re actually dropped off on real movie sets where scare actors run wild. This year’s edition is Blumhouse-themed, which I loved... but I also felt it missed a great opportunity.
I’ve Braved A Lot Of Halloween Horror Nights Houses, But The Terror Tram Is Extra Scary
When CinemaBlend was invited to go to Halloween Horror Nights this year, of course I went to every house and ranked them all. (And if you’re more privy to Universal Orlando, we ranked those houses, too!) But, I placed the Terror Tram in the “bonus scare” category because it really feels like another level from the other houses. I was more freaked out by the Ghostbusters house than I expected and the A Quiet Place one was super creepy.
But there’s just something about being dropped off in the darkness of a movie lot right next to the exact place where they filmed the classic Psycho instead of staying seated the whole time as the attraction usually functions. Every year, they do a similar thing, so I knew what to expect in some ways, but man, do these types of scares never get old. Last time I went to the Terror Tram was for 2022’s The Purge edition, and going back only made me realize how effectively scary the whole thing was the first time.
What Happens At HHN’s Blumhouse Terror Tram
After you start your journey on one of the Studio Tour shuttles, a guide sets the scene to get you even more creeped out as you and the other guests ride in the quiet shuttle in the dead of night. Then, they just drop you off in the middle of the road where M3GAN is ready to greet you. At first, the A.I.-operated doll from the 2023 movie dances slowly by her lonesome with creepy instrumental music as guests leave the shuttle. But as soon as you have no ride to save you, a bunch of other Blumhouse characters pop out.
What really gets me about the Terror Tram is the look and sound of 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 at HHN generally don’t really phase me that much besides a few jump scares. But on the Terror Tram experience, I genuinely felt fear and adrenaline kicking in when that opening moment happened.
The scare actors cannot touch you, and most definitely will not harm you (it’s all entertainment around these parts), but with more room around the backlot, they bob and weave and get more confrontational, and it made me want to run and hide during the experience. From there, you move through the various Blumhouse movies featured like M3GAN, Happy Death Day and Freaky, which takes place at the actual Bates Motel (The Purge takes place at the plane wreckage from War of the Worlds). Yep, it really felt like I experienced something by the end of it, and was ready to hide at Super Nintendo World for a bit.
I’m Surprised Five Nights At Freddy’s Wasn’t Involved
All that being said, as I left, I found myself really surprised that a Blumhouse-themed Terror Tram had literally zero mention of Five Nights At Freddy’s. You know: the movie from the studio that is to date Blumhouse's highest grossing film globally? There’s already a second Five Nights At Freddy’s movie on the way, and yet no feature in a Blumhouse attraction?
Now, I’m not just surprised because of the popularity of the franchise with audiences (it’s been a big video game series for the past decade). The concept itself also perfectly lends itself for a theme park setting like Universal Studios – especially the Terror Tram. If you don’t know much about it, the game series revolves around night guards who try to survive homicidal animatronic characters from midnight to 6 a.m. from a fictional family pizza restaurant franchise a la Chuck E. Cheese.
It would have been so much fun to see the setup of the Terror Tram this year be night guards taking you through a backlot of these creepy figures who are suddenly murdering scare actors around us as the clock strikes twelve – especially one year after the movie hit such a massive box office milestone in theaters.
I have a feeling I know why this didn’t happen on the Terror Tram, as I predict it was sort of rights issue or major fee with the game developers that license out the video game. And considering Blumhouse already has a regular in with Universal Studios, it gave the studio a chance to boost the profile of M3GAN ahead of its own sequel, M3GAN 2.0 coming next year along with The Black Phone (which also has a followup on the way). The Purge is always super scary and it was nice to see Happy Death Day get some love after long standing hopes for a third movie.
But come on, Universal – it would be absolutely epic to see Five Nights At Freddy’s haunt the Terror Tram next! I'm ready.
