The Purge: Fear the Night

We went last year and had a blast.
Wish I could say the same for our experience last night. In other words this sucked. It was beyond horrible. No one knew what was going on. Especially the actors. Who ever thought of this should be fired. I want my money back. Forget my money, I want my time back. Avoid this at all costs. If the producers had any Conscience they would shut this down immediately, redo what they did last year, and invite everyone back who paid for this crap for free.
I see someone named John S from the Purge is here apologizing and thanking us for our comments, saying sorry we were disappointed. Hey John, do the right thing and refund our money. If you want to have a run through show, invite us for free. It cost me $65 to give you an awful review.

UPDATE: They issued me and my group a refund and invited us to come back for free to check out the revamp, so at least they acknowledge it was a dud.

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If you only pay for one haunted house or theater experience this Halloween season, DO NOT make it this one!

I was looking forward to an experience that wasn't your typical haunt (this sounded more akin to Sleep No More) but this horror show was nothing as advertised and an EPIC FAIL!

If their excuse is that it's a new style and that they're still testing it out they really should refund us our money. I paid for a complete show and that's not what was delivered.

Blumhouse should be ashamed to have it's name on this thing. It does not live up to the quality of their brand and it makes me question my future decisions about seeing their films.

Full review here:
http://www.downinthebasement.net/reviews/the-purge-fear-the-night-review/

To start I want to say I went to last years blumhouse of horrors and was in awe of how AMAZING that was. I really wonder how they failed so terribly this year.

I had a friend visiting from S.F. on Friday and convinced him that we and his friends should go to this event. We went to the 8PM show. It started out fine enough. The beginning portion of the show reminded me a lot like last years and I was thrilled cause I knew the further we went the greater it would get. Boy was I wrong.

Like many previous commenters the whole experience goes down hill the moment you step out of the elevator and into the bar/ lounge. You are told to roam about and that's it. No other instructions. So we roam and throughout the area mini-scenes are happening. The problem is with the current layout you never know where to go or when to catch one do these scenes. If you are lucky enough to be in the right area at the right time just be hopeful you'll actually be able to see or hear something. The areas are small and right and when you have large groups cramming to see what's happening it just doesn't work. There's one scene where you have to herd into a tiny room to look through an even smaller window if you want to see something. The only thing scary about that would be if you are claustrophobic.

I'm so incredibly disappointed by this experience. I'm ashamed for convincing my friend who was visiting for that night that we should go to this when we could have done something much more fun that night.

Also I have read some replies to others from the group who put this on saying it was their first night and or me that is absolutely no excuse. We all paid the same money as the people who will be seeing it after us are. We should all have an amazing experience first or last night. I honestly think this attraction is a huge waste of money and would give it zero stars if possible. I also wish we could get our money back.

Hopefully next year they will go back to what they did last year because that was an A+ attraction.

I totally enjoyed this event. I did see the early bad reviews and just chocked it up to being opening weekend. But it turns out the Producers took in all those reviews and gave it a complete makeover. What they ended up with was a great interactive scary maze! I can't call it a haunted maze because it wasn't anything to do with ghost; it was what it is called, Surviving the night! Not only did I survive the night but I came out a champ! "Happy Purge Night to you and everyone!"

The maze can be as fun as you make it. The more you are willing to immerse yourself into the idea of the maze the more fun you will have. I love all the interaction we got to participate in, it made it really feel like it was up to you to survive or not. Yes you might have to do some killing along the way, but it's killed or be killed in this New America we live in! And I'm a Survivor, I'll sacrifice you if I have to for the greater good.

There are task you have to complete and you might get a little dirty. You will get yelled at and cursed and have guns pointed at you.... all night long. So if this doesn't sound like your thing then I would say find something else, cause if you are going to go and not get into it I wouldn't want you on my team. The other good thing is that they keep you in small groups which make interacting for everyone easier. If you come as a big group you might get split up.

Once you enter you will give your tickets, get your 21 and over wrist bands then step in line to get your Security Key Card. (You get to keep your key cards as a keepsake to remember this Purge Night.) Now for those of you who get a special extra security Key Card, (Mine was blue) get to have a little extra special surprise, I won't tell you since it a surprise. But I will tell you I was happy with it. The night does end in their lovely little bar with a DJ playing some music; there are also seats and tables to hang out in. I heard some other survivors say there was something at the end you didn't see coming, but we left shortly after a couple of drinks so I'm not sure what they were referring to.

I did go to this event last year when it was the BlumHouse Theater. I would say this was even better than last year. I will surely be back next year. This was a great Value at the Goldstar price they might even have some tickets left.

What a truley AMAZINGGGGG experience!!!! My hats off to all the actors who were so committed from beginning to end!! this was by far one of the greatest Halloween experiences to date & we do haunted houses/mazes & zombie runs every year.

From the moment you enter the abandoned downtown LA building you are immersed in the beginning of the PURGE. I was chosen randomly as i walked in to receive a LEVEL 10 Security: SUPER DELEGATE badge. I was a "protected citizen" which already intrigued me & left me super anxious to see what was going to happen next. You stand in a line waiting to enter, while being creeped out by the bloodied people with PURGE masks walking around staring at you. Some get really close to you so if you are one to loose your temper over being messed with this probably isnt the place for you. The first part of the journey you actually have to walk thru ALONE. i freaked out a tad because i was having to walk thru without my boyfriend but was reassured i will be rejoined with him after the first part...

DISCLAIMER!
they tell you before you enter if you DONT WANT TO GET SEPERATED FROM YOUR PARTNER OR GROUP YOU DO NOT LET GO OF THEIR HANDS...so just remember that because i know some past reviewers got upset when they were seperated part way thru......None of our group was separated except for a few moments when they were working with the actors.

soooo after i decided to suck it up and make my way thru the first part i realized i couldnt see my hand in front of my face it was a TRIP...i wont give away anything that happens within this pitch black portion of the beginning but just know its only a few mins and a few twists and turns thru a pitch black maze till you come out into a fogged auditorium and reunited with your loved one. so if you can handle a few mins of pitch black craziness alone then go for it cuz that is only the beginning!!!

you are let out into the auditorium to hear the "presidents" speech & from then on you are off into the unholiness that is the purge!! you are engulfed in the scene for about an hour& run around the building trying to escape the govt. while being led by bloody screaming constitutionists. LADIES:: Dont wear nice jeans or heels you have to get on your knees ALOT & are running quite a bit. You attempt to help people along the way...you & your group have to do certain tasks to move on. Its such an intesne experience...me & my boyfriend were chosen quite a few times to have to assist the actors in the story. My heart was racing the entire time.

All in all this was a such a great experience & couldn't have asked for a more intense ride!! My BF isnt a big fan of haunted houses he finds them "lame" but he gets so excited when we even TALK about this..the excitement in his eyes was the best reward ever!!!! Kudos to everyone involved & to anyone who are on the fence about it i say GO FOR IT!!!!

What to expect:

If you are a Halloween pro, you probably won't be scared. This is an interactive theatrical experience, not a haunted house. That being said, my heart was racing through most of it.

There may be a wait to get inside. Last night, we waited outside for a while, then in the bar for about an hour before getting in the main line. I think we ended up going in a little over an hour after our scheduled time. If you go to Halloween Horror Nights, you'll end up spending 80% of your night in lines and no one from their staff is going to apologize for it. Get over it.

While you're in the bar, someone from your group may be kidnapped for a mini Blackout experience (separate attraction in the same building). They'll only be gone for about 5 minutes, so don't leave without them. If you are chosen, you'll be asked to sign a waiver... and yes, you'll definitely be touched.

You will be running and kneeling.You may be separated from your group or asked to perform tasks. Get into it.

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I went last night with 12 friends. Some of us are huge Halloween/horror fans and have been making an effort to visit all of the highest-rated haunts in LA.

Soon after we arrived, their marketing director took notice of us and was extremely attentive to our group throughout the entire night (thanks John!). It's obvious that they are making a huge effort to improve based on everyone's feedback. Although I probably would have enjoyed the original free-roaming concept, the guides' energy definitely enhanced the experience.

Feedback from my group:

I know it's really difficult to tell a story when there's so much going on, but it would have been nice to know a little more backstory before heading in. Some of us were confused about the Constitutionalists vs. The New Founders.
I would have loved to see more people separated from the group.
The standing against walls thing got a little repetitive. I think most of us were expecting a bit more murder and a little less military hazing.
The aggressive attitude of the male characters is going to encourage some members of the audience to act equally aggressive. I think the actors need to be a little more prepared for this.

Overall, we had a lot of fun and I'd definitely do it again. We were split about whether we preferred this to Delusion (although they have nothing in common other than the immersive theater aspect). I preferred The Purge. I'm glad a couple of us also got to experience the Blackout teaser! The entire staff was amazing and I'm excited to see what Blumhouse comes up with next year!

We went on Thursday Oct 24. It was much better than last year's event.

It still had no restroom available (until the end) so we were instructed to walk over to LA Live to find one before going inside.

The lobby had a short line with only a 5 minute wait or so. Didn't really get to watch the video, which is referenced inside. Then entered one at a time, which was fun.

As far as I know nobody got separated from the group. It was loud. There were 3 pretty amazing scenes that I especially liked (Spoilers: news guy, baby, field)

Overall, it was different than most mazes. I wish there was a bit more interaction through challenges & choices rather than just being yelled at and guided around. It may have helped if the actors were a bit stronger at improvisation and if we had been encouraged at the beginning to interact instead of being instructed to 'not talk to anyone' by the person guiding us through the dark 'security' area.

It's definitely worth checking out.

You can tell Jason Blum put a lot of heart into creating and adjusting this event. Thanks!

My group was pumped up for this event but in all was only moderate. The actors were great at times but with the long pauses in between made the suspense uneventful. I understand this is not your typical haunted house but maybe some minor changes can make it worthwhile for all.

I came here at 7:30pm Friday night in a group of 6 and our group got split up after the "last security check". When I checked in I received a security level 10 badge, unlike the others before me stating something special will happen, nothing special happened. They kept insisting for me to wear it but I guess the only special thing is you receive it as a keepsake?

For those who never seen the movie (like me I got the gist of it from) the video before the final security clearance gives a insight on what's happening (the purge).

If the purge is about no rules then the whole experience should be as that. Have doors open/close, chaos in the streets/hallway, people wandering or better have people go missing from the group. Put actors designated in the group to be abducted if worried about liability, just don't have it dark and bank on that for terror. Make people have a sense of urgency and not because people are cursing in your face.

Props to all the actors who put up with mayhem last night. I just needed to scream, so the one who screamed at me got the blunt of it.

*updated with a picture

I always wanted to try out this event for a while. i won couple tickets through yelp. Me and my friend went last thursday evening and our time slot was for 8 pm. We got there around 7:45 and I thought e would have to wait in line till 8 pm. We walked up the the guy that scanned our tickets and asked us if we wanted to wait till 8 or just walk right in. We decided to go right away. I had no idea what was going to happen. The lady at the entrance said that you will go inside one by one, which was thrilling.

As soon as i walked in, it was so dark, I could not see where I was going. As soon as I get to the end, you are in an auditorium, where you watch 3 speakers talk. I waited for few more mins and then I see my friend come out. We never got separated from the group.

After 10 mins, you would start the maze. Once you are in, you have to follow the instructions of what they tell you, or else they get in your face and yell at you till you get it right. They tell you that you can not talk to each other or laugh. They want you to keep your mouth shut. They guide you to different rooms, picking up different items till you finish getting out of the maze. It is very different than most mazes.

Thanks, it was worth checking out.

UPDATE: The creators have been in contact, issued a refund, and offered complimentary tickets to the revamp which they promise will be a more traditional, scary, guided experience. I'm very impressed by their customer service on this. Half of my groups original frustration was that we felt like they didn't care. Their correspondence since then has clearly shown otherwise. I think this was just an experiment gone wrong. I will update the star rating and review as soon as I try the new version which they said will be ready this upcoming Friday (Oct 4th).

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

I've never felt more uncomfortable at a public event in my life. This show was a disaster. I usually am not the kind of person to slam anyone else's hard work, but this show was so bad I left with the dirty feeling that I had been scammed. It felt like there was literally ZERO effort put into this. The most entertaining part was meeting other disappointed people on the street and talking about how ill conceived the whole experience was.

You know a show is awful when you feel bad for the actors. They were all given awkward material that never went anywhere, so very often we the audience would just stop and wait for something to happen that might create a coherent story. Of course, nothing ever would and you'd just watch the actors shift around uncomfortably, unsure of what to do. Not their fault, they weren't given any material. This isn't an improv show, this is supposed to be a calculated horror experience. Whoever wrote their parts owes them an apology.

The star of a good haunted house or horror experience should be the sets. Whoever designed these clearly had no budget and was trying to make due. Most of the rooms served no function at all. The whole thing clearly was designed separately from the story because the two never served each other in any meaningful way.

Conceptually, this was a disaster. Blumhouse has properties that would lend themselves quite well to this concept (Insidious for example). The Purge is not one of them. It's fundamental flaw is that the "world" is uninteresting.

If you are considering going to this, don't. I regret every penny I spent. This was so bad I'll be shocked if it completes its run. The Blumhouse guy should take down all videos and disassociate himself with it because as of right now, I'm second guessing his upcoming films as well.

The one star is there simply because it can't go any lower. In reality, I wouldn't even give this a star. Zero effort should get zero reward.

EDIT: I see that they are apologizing on here to people for a bad show and promising to rework it. Great. How about a refund then. If you wanted guinea pigs then I suggest going to a pet store. All of us paid for an actual show.