Dark View’s cast stood out to us. We thoroughly enjoyed their interaction and improvisation. They had some great characters that knew how to chitchat with guests while maintaining character. Their dialogue seemed honest and natural.
Our first main interaction was with Mikey the old man at the start of the trail. He spoke like an old hillbilly. Southern draw, rough voice, and no-nonsense. He explained the rules of the trail after reminding us to ‘back up! You’re closer than six feet.’ He couldn’t hear well and played a little game of repeat. He told us to ‘stick together’ don’t run’ and don’t touch his pumpkin.’ He continued telling us about his older uglier brother and a message he had for him. Oh, he was also missing a scarecrow. We continued on our way when my teammate saw a big scarecrow, he asked Mikey if that was it. Mikey replied ‘No I can see that one, genius!’ a few seconds later we heard him yell from the distance, ‘you’re not sticking together they gonna’ pick you guys off real easy.’
He was not the only actor with this kind of acting chops. We also had a great interaction with the pigman who told us the little piggy story, he used our largest teammate as ‘the piggy that ate roast beef and by the looks of it he ate it all’ it was a good laugh. He also got in my face and slowly walked around me stating ‘this little piggy went wee’wee’wee, all the way home’ in a sadistic voice. Quite unnerving.
We had another excellent improv moment with the ranger or troop leader. He provided a huge and ridiculous scare we will discuss later because we just have to. Just wait. He then showed us some things in his shack and joked about scaring our biggest member. We then commented that his troop leader outfit was a little creepy considering the late-night commercials regarding the boy scouts ‘issues’. He was quick to comment that ‘stranger danger rhymes with ‘ranger danger’ and ‘the best candy is chloroform.’
We did meet up with Mikey’s brother but we messed up the message we were supposed to send him. A ghoulish woman wanted us to give her the finger. An older lady provided an excellent monologue with some back and forth conversation. I also had a weird discussion with a woman carrying a banjo. She was either completely out of character or the best actress there. She was so open while we talked, asking how we were doing, and then she tried to play the twilight zone on her banjo. She was unsuccessful. She seemed tired and worn.
Not every character provided a one on one moment. They had plenty of actors ready to pounce on unsuspecting guests. A gravedigger was striking his shovel off the ground as visitors walked by. A female ghost, in the graveyard, screamed, so loud you could hear her voice echo throughout the whole wooded area. There were plenty of odd creatures in the catacombs and church area, growlers stalked around the woods, and jump scares were found behind trees, shacks, sheds, outhouses, and fireplaces. Just about anywhere a person could fit.
Before entering the zombie war setting, Boober, I think was her name? She gave us a little info on the story. We played a quick game of the hokey pokey before encountering some of the most realistic acting zombies we have seen in a haunt. They felt like they came right off of The Walking Dead sound stage.
We were initially concerned with the first two actors we encountered at first. We were not sure if their slapstick, over-the-top routine was supposed to be portrayed the way it was. However, it fit the narrative of the scene, and over-the-top was the correct angle to go. They did an awesome job!
We counted 32 characters this evening all providing various acts along the way. This is a respectable number but with the large backdrop, we would have liked to have seen some more actors. Regardless, the actors that night were awesome. Dark View does a delightful job of providing various styles of acting into its show.
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