UNIVERSAL CITY, Ca., ORLANDO, Fla., (July 22, 2014) — As the gates to “Halloween Horror Nights” open, so too does the annual Purge begin at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort with the debut of a terrifying new scarezone, “The Purge: Anarchy,” inspired by Universal Pictures’ new thriller, which scored the highest opening for a horror film this year.

“The Purge: Anarchy” scarezone will greet guests with pure unadulterated fear, bringing to life the turmoil and pandemonium that awaits those vulnerable to masked vigilantes in search of new victims. Reimagining the movie’s premise that on one night every year, any and all crime is made legal, the scarezone will be inhabited by average citizens transformed into sadistic felons during this period of government-sanctioned lawlessness. Like civilians in the movie fighting to survive, guests will be at the mercy of cunning wit, luck and speed as they attempt to outsmart and outlive the anarchy brought about by those who believe in an “eye for an eye.”

The Purge: Anarchy, the sequel to last summer’s surprise hit, moves from the confines of a suburban neighborhood to the streets as the government begins its annual 12-hour Purge to ensure that the crime rate stays below one percent for the rest of the year. With all emergency services suspended, it’s the one night when society regulates itself without thought of punishment or fear of retribution. For average people who do not have the means to barricade themselves indoors with a state-of-the-art security system, anarchy rules and no one is safe. In this new story, an unlikely group of five citizens discover how far they will go to protect themselves and, ultimately, each other, as they fight to survive a dangerous night fraught with impossible decisions.

From director and writer James DeMonaco (The Purge, Assault on Precinct 13), The Purge: Anarchy stars Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Carmen Ejogo (Away We Go), Zach Gilford (Devil’s Due), Kiele Sanchez (A Perfect Getaway) and Michael K. Williams (The Wire).

“‘Halloween Horror Nights’ is about taking guests out of their comfort zones and placing them at the core of unimaginable horror,” said John Murdy, Universal Studios Hollywood’s Creative Director for and Executive Producer of “Halloween Horror Nights.”  “Because the premise of ‘The Purge’ could theoretically happen, our scare-zone elevates that sense of fear and forces you to really watch your back.  Imagining how your neighbor, friend or enemy could take revenge on you without retribution because you wronged them takes horror to a whole new level, and we wanted to bring that gut-wrenching terror to every one of our guests.”

“‘The Purge’” scarezone will invade the streets of ‘Halloween Horror Nights’, taking up most of our New York back lot. The chaos that reigns in the film will be replicated nightly, but now our guests can actually attempt to survive the night themselves,” said Michael Aiello, Director of Entertainment – Creative Development, Universal Orlando Resort. “The familiar emergency broadcast will be heard announcing the commencement of the annual Purge, and all hell will literally break loose.”

Universal Studios’ “Halloween Horror Nights” events have a more than 20-year history of creating incredibly entertaining, horrifying Halloween experiences that are consistently rated the nation’s best. The events on each coast feature highly-themed, disturbingly real, haunted mazes based on everything from films to nightmares – and streets filled with hundreds of specially trained “scareactors” in uniquely themed scare-zones. In addition to “The Purge:  Anarchy,” other announced experiences include, “The Walking Dead:  The End of the Line,” “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “Face Off: In the Flesh.”

To complement its numerous mazes, “Halloween Horror Nights” features a variety of terrifying scare-zones designed to provoke heart-pounding fear as guests traverse the park from one traumatizing experience to the next, unsure of what lies just around the corner.

To learn more about this all-new “Halloween Horror Nights” scarezone, click here:  The Purge: Anarchy.

About Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal Studios HollywoodSM, The Entertainment Capital of L.ASM. includes a full-day, movie-based theme park and Studio Tour; the CityWalk entertainment, shopping and dining complex, the Universal CityWalk Cinemas and the “5 Towers” state-of-the-art outdoor concert venue.  World-class rides and attractions include the popular “Despicable Me Minion Mayhem” family adventure ride, the intense, award-winning ride, “King Kong 360 3-D” on the famed behind-the-scenes Studio Tour, the critically-acclaimed mega-attraction, “Transformers™:  The Ride-3D,” “The Simpsons Ride™,” “Revenge of the MummySM—The Ride,” and “Jurassic Park® —The Ride.”

Updates on “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios Hollywood are available online at HalloweenHorrorNights.com/Hollywood and on Facebook at: “Halloween Horror Nights – Hollywood,” on Instagram at @HorrorNights and Twitter at @HorrorNights as Creative Director John Murdy reveals a running chronicle of exclusive information. Watch videos on Halloween Horror Nights YouTube and join the conversation using #UniversalHHN.

Universal Studios Hollywood is part of NBCUniversal, a Comcast company. Follow Universal Studios Hollywood on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About Universal Orlando Resort

Vacation like you mean it at Universal Orlando Resort – where every heart pounding, jaw-dropping, goose-bumping second counts.  It is the only place where you can turn spending time with your family into spending time as a family. Together, you can soar above Hogwarts with Harry Potter, swing above the streets with Spider-Man, become a Minion in the hilarious and heartwarming Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride, and join Optimus Prime in the fight to save mankind on the new mega-attraction, TRANSFORMERS: The Ride – 3D. And, coming this summer, you can step into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.

Universal Orlando Resort is home to two incredible theme parks: Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure; four magnificently themed on-site hotels: Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort and the newest addition, Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort; and Universal CityWalk - a unique dining and entertainment complex featuring one-of-a-kind restaurants, shops and nightclubs. And located just minutes from Universal Orlando Resort is Wet n’ Wild, Orlando’s premier waterpark.

Tickets and vacation packages for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando are on sale now at HalloweenHorrorNights.com\Orlando. More information about the event will be available soon. Updates on Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights are available on Facebook at Halloween Horror Nights – Universal Orlando and on Instagram at@HorrorNightsORL. Plus, fans can get exclusive updates from Creative Development Director Mike Aiello on Twitter at @HorrorNightsORL.

Universal Orlando Resort is part of NBCUniversal, a Comcast company. Follow Universal Orlando Resort on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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One of our very good friends and fan of the site, Scott, took a friends and family trip to Universal Studios Hollywood over the weekend and was kind enough to send us the following pictures. 

Springfield and Hogsmeade continue to expand and Forbidden Journey is starting to get some show elements placed inside it's enormous building. 


Walking into the park, there's just no way to escape seeing the construction from pretty much anywhere. 

The dividing line between Springfield and Hogsmeade

A few shots from up above

The Three Broomsticks

Moving over to Forbidden Journey, concrete work is continuing and some show elements are starting to be added. Well, at least some mechanisms that will eventually be show elements. 

It would be cool if the Tram was going to go under this part of the show building and give tram riders a behind-the-scenes look at the ride. But it's not gonna happen. 

The staging area

If you look closely at the photo below, you can see the mechanism for the Whomping Willow. 

A closer view, kudos to our friends at Westcoaster for catching this in their update last week. 

A couple of pictures of the Fast and Furious building. Not much to see really other than a big box. 

Last but not least, a couple of pictures of the maze near Mummy starting to take shape. Down in the right hand corner of the picture below you can see construction. 

What is typically the entrance for the maze

Thanks again to Scott for sending us these great pictures. If you have any pictures to share with us, please do not hesitate to email us or send us a message on Facebook or Twitter. 

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Today is the 50th Anniversary of the Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood. Although if you were at the park today or following any of the parks online pages you wouldn't really know about it. 
They do have a nice little display down at the Universal Experience near Transformers that we showed in our April 22, 2014 update, but not much else than that. 



Today's update is going to take a look back at the last 50 years of the tour, well, realistically the last 10 years, or since we got out first digital camera. =)

The first of these photos is from somewhere around early 2003. 

Courthouse Square

New York street, pre 2008 fire. 

Jurassic Park building, this is the site where the War of the World set is today

Great Outdoors house

World's largest blue screen

The tour is ever changing depending on filming going on and sometimes you can get clues as to what is filming or the studio is promoting. 

Because of filming, no two trips on the tour are ever the same

Everybody should know what this is from

One of the biggest losses during the 2008 fire was that of King Kong

I do miss the banana breath

Some things that are supposed to be temporary end up staying much longer than they probably should. 

On June 2, 2008 a fire broke out on the New York sets which sadly destroyed many of the facades and the fan-favorite King Kong. 

Due to the closure of New York Street, the park added some other tram stops which helped fill the gap

Always one of my favorite spots on the tour. The fountain has been missing for awhile now. 

A look at the re-construction of the New York sets 

One of the coolest Tram changes over the past few years has been it's use for the "Terror Tram" for Halloween Horror Nights, which gives guests the opportunity to walk through some of the sets including Bates Motel, Psycho House and War of the Worlds sets. 

Even the Grinch sets usually receive some cool lighting

Unfortunately due to the neighbors, the fire from the walk-through has been gone for a few years. 

A few years ago, Halloween Horror Nights featured the "Kong Express" which took visitors to the new King Kong and back to the lower lot. 

On June 2, 2011 the latest tram tour video made it's debut with new host Jimmy Fallon

Have a Tramtastic Day!! 

Let's take a look at what the tour looks like today. 

The new New York sets

CSI has been filming on the lot for more than a decade, so don't think you are really seeing Las Vegas

Flash Flood, still one of my favorites

The Fan-Favorite Jaws got a nice rehab earlier this year

Jurassic Park sets

King Kong "Miniature" and War of the World set, two things that have long been overdue for replacement

With the new addition of Fast and Furious: Supercharged opening in 2015 and great minor tweaks such as bringing the Collapsing Bridge back, the tram tour is heading into it's second 50 years stronger than ever. 

So what would you like to see on the future of the Universal Studios Tour? What franchises would you like to see represented? 

What are some of your favorite memories of the tour ... share them below!! 

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