Necropolis 2014 Review

Ratings Legend

(1 skull) – Poor

(2 skulls) – Average

(3 skulls) – Good

(4 skulls) – Excellent

(5 skulls) – Best of the best!

Necropolis: Indianapolis, IN

Necropolis – City of Perpetual Darkness

Gus
While things were highly detailed, and interesting to look at, I found myself experiencing Deja-vu over and over as it seems that we were just in this same area before. As it turns out, the Necropolis was a very long winding path through the same garden over and over.It was also completely saturated with actors. It was hard to get scared when you are bumping into them every few steps. They were very enthusiastic, but ultimately ineffective.

Todd
Necropolis is located in the basement of a large industrial building set back a ways from the main road. There is a ticket booth that is decorated, but if it were not for that there would be no indication there was a haunt at all.

You’ll be welcomed by Gomez, a biker vampire when you arrive. I can easily say he’s the star of the show. He’s energetic, witty and does a great job of pumping you up before entering. Unfortunately, we did not see him again inside.

When you enter, you’ll be lined up (literally) and be instructed with all of the typical rules by the greeter (while Gomez continues to entertain). When you finally enter the haunt itself, an animatronic corpse will greet you and once again go over the rules.

My first impression was great. There’s a high level of detail in the initial room. I was getting really excited because this place was DECKED OUT! The one thing I can say is that the detail is fantastic throughout. There’s a lot of outdoor scenes that are executed well (especially for being in a basement with no windows).

Unfortunately, I found some challenges. First, it’s disappointing to report that the actors do not carry the same level of detail that the haunt itself does. Most are wearing black drab clothing with masks or minimal face paint. That’s all. Second, you are berated by actors and damn near every point. It’s not scary; more so distracting. At any one time there could be up to 6 of them within 10 feet. It’s relentless at times.

At one point I asked myself “man, how many people are in this thing?” but it wasn’t long before I realized that most of the actors we encountered were the same ones that were either following us area to area, or jumping ahead to meet us down the pathway. I’m not sure how this can be sustained with multiple groups navigating through but they stuck with us until the end.

Although the set detail never fell short, it became repetitive. This is a long haunt, no doubt about it, but a lot of it takes place “outside” and doesn’t offer anything new the second, third, forth time you are walking among the headstones and shrubbery.

Even though I was really into it in the beginning, by the end I was tired of seeing the same thing over and over.

Frightmaster
This is a very long, long haunt which takes place in an old “New Orleans style” cemetery. You wind around and around a trail of moss covered graves and monuments and mausoleums for what seems like hours. There are occasional actors jumping out at you but these seem to be too few and infrequent to make the haunt truly scary. After the first 15 minutes of the same thing it’s really repetitive. This is a great idea in a cool building with lots of room but needs more variety and surprises. I was left wanting more.

Hellusions in 3-D

Gus
Unfortunately, this portion was little more than an art exhibit for florescent paintings and 3-D glasses. There were few, if any actors and very little scares to be had here.

Todd
When purchasing your tickets, consider this before paying for this attraction…

The sign indicates you’ll be equipped with “Hi Tech” 3D glasses. Maybe for 1950. They’re nothing more than the ones you’ve seen everywhere else overusing blacklight paint.

What adds injury to insult is that the whole first half of this short attraction is the lack of actors….or props. It’s not even horror themed. We walked through a space/sci-fi themed collection of portraits on the walls. That’s right – UFOs, galaxies, etc. No actors…hardly any props…it was almost like a blacklight art exhibit. Eventually the theme turned to “freakshow” with a few props…and then on to clowns but I only recall seeing one, maybe 2 actors before it was over. It was short and pretty much pointless.

Avoid it.

Frightmaster
Hellusions in 3-D was your average neon clown show. I didn’t find anything scary about it unless you’re afraid of clowns. The special 3D glasses and 3D effects were fun but so overdone by so many haunts that something new is needed here.

Overall

Gus
The Necropolis has real potential, but needs to more effectively use their actors, and needs to shorten, or at least make it seem as though you are not looping through the same area over and over. I found myself wishing it to be over sooner, not because it was scary, but as it was so repetitive.

Todd
Although we did not go through everything Necropolis has to offer, this felt like a disappointing movie to me. It started off great but wound up dragging on for a bit too long. I give it props for its room detail! Great stuff there, but the influx of actors should be toned down a bit. I don’t mind long haunts by any means, but there was too much of the same. It needs to be changed up and offer more variety.

I did not like the 3D area at at all. Not scary or even mildly interesting.

Frightmaster
Necropolis is a huge haunt in an old factory on the edge of Indianapolis. The location and foreboding exterior makes the approach creepy. Once inside, though, you feel like you stepped into just a deserted factory. The area where you wait is dull and not used to build the suspense as with other haunts. We were probably told five times NOT to loose our tickets (like we were children) which after the second time just became annoying. That being said, the haunt is a good one but could be a great one with a few more surprises. We did love the illusion of having to take a “leap of faith” across a very deep drop off and having to walk across a rickety bridge with steep drop offs on either side. Well done!

Overall score: 2.67 Skulls (Average)

Visit their web site at www.darkarmies.com/necropolis-haunted-house/