Macabre Cinema is the third haunted attraction in the West Bottoms of Kansas City owned by Full Moon Productions alongside The Beast and Edge of Hell. It has been in operation for 20 years, acting as the younger sibling to its predecessors. This haunt is a celebration of horror movies, featuring many characters, sets, and props from well-known, classic, and even obscure horror films!
We all collectively geeked out at all of the references made, and we were so happy to have finally visited! Keep reading if you want to learn more about our experience!
We had a lot of fun with the cast at Macabre Cinema, and we were impressed by how accurately some of these actors brought the characters they were playing to life! The cast was made up of many horror icons, including Michael, Jason, and Hannibal, as well as their own original characters!
Our highlights definitely include Jason, who stalked and jumped out at us throughout the Camp Crystal grounds with his “ch ch ch ah ah ah” sound effect, reaching after us as we passed by him! Hannibal was the first licensed character we encountered, greeting us with a creepy smile and a hello, remarking how the dead man in his cell was “rude” to him. There was also the biker gang member and the dancing vampire from From Dusk Till Dawn, which was one of our favorite movie references all night! There was also Baby Firefly, who seemed very excited when we recognized her, and asked us if we could guess who her favorite movie actor is, the same question she asked in her movies. At one point, we approached a mirror that said “Bloody Mary,” and we got to say her name three times for a super fun scare! Shortly after this, we encountered a cornfield where an actress came out of the field, screaming about not leaving her behind at her farm. We quickly realized that this was Pearl, and we told her that she should’ve gotten the role. In response, Pearl screamed, “Please, I’m a Star!!” which we applauded her for.
The most accurate physical character acting that was portrayed and a personal highlight of our team was the nurses from Silent Hill. It was PERFECT, with the twitching, writhing movements accompanied by flashing lights and grotesque sounds; it was by far the most accurate and disturbing acting of the evening.
Moving on to highlight some of the original characters, the first one we encountered was the Ticket Taker, as he demanded to see our tickets. He grew more and more aggressive and eventually started yelling, “No ticket, no show!’ after us as we moved through the theater. The victims at this haunt also had some of the best victim acting we have yet to see! One victim was pleading for us to help him from within a cage, and as we started walking past him, he jumped and climbed onto the bars, rattling the entire cage and going completely berserk!
The clowns in the circus were also very fun, interacting with us before the spinning platform and hyping us up on our dismounts. The final actor we encountered was a hilarious ventriloquist who properly roasted one of our team members by making fun of his Five Nights at Freddy’s t-shirt.
There was a bit of a confusing moment within Michael Myers’s area, where a different actor interrupted the killer’s scare by shushing us to “not wake her,” and sending us on a bit of a goose chase that lasted a bit longer than it should’ve. There were also some moments where we couldn’t tell if the actors were portraying licensed characters or original ones.
Besides some of the confusing cast moments, we had a great time overall with this cast and enjoyed how interactive they were and how accurately they portrayed the licensed characters!
How complete, unique, detailed were the costumes, accessories? – (35% of score)
Were the masks, makeup creative, detailed, realistic? – (30% of score)
How appropriate were the costumes for the respective scenes, themes? – (20% of score)
How believable-, detailed-looking were the queue actors? (See Note if N/A) – (15% of score)
Plenty of the actors had very accurate and great costuming, especially when it came to the human-like licensed characters and the original characters. There were a couple of masks for certain characters that seemed ill-fitted and actors who didn’t quite fit the body type/height of the characters they were portraying. However, there were plenty more actors who looked like they were straight out of the films!
As mentioned in the last section, there were some actors where it was hard to tell if they were meant to be playing licensed characters or original ones. For example, one area was very much read as Frankenstein, followed by a man in a suit and a woman in a white wedding dress, but neither of them looked very much like the monster or his bride.
Besides this, the majority of actors fit well into their respective scenes or themes of the room, and the clothing/makeup was pretty realistic. Our highlights in terms of costuming include Jason and the Silent Hill nurses.
How easy was it to locate, park at, navigate the premises? – (25% of score)
Safety (Only dock points for TRULY DANGEROUS hazards!) – (30% of score)
How professional, helpful, friendly were the staff members? – (25% of score)
How easy was it to find pertinent information before arrival? – (20% of score)
The staff for Macabre Cinema was mostly the same as Edge of Hell/The Beast, and thus they were extremely kind, welcoming, and accommodating. There was a brief moment of miscommunication about us being there regarding our tickets, as it seemed that they weren’t in the loop regarding us, but we were able to get things resolved in a timely manner.
Safety is not a concern, but be aware that there may be unsteady platforms, moments where you have to crawl through tight spaces, and some areas that are extremely dark and open. Also, be prepared to climb a tight spiral stairwell that goes up at least a few floors!
How well did the pre-haunt areas ("vibe") prepare you for the attraction/s? – (25% of score)
How obvious, creative, believable was the storyline? (See Note if N/A) – (20% of score)
Were you completely, consistently immersed inside the attraction/s? – (40% of score)
How well did the "vibe" flow after, between the attraction/s? – (15% of score)
The building of Macabre Cinema mimicked an old-timey movie theater at entry, which prepared us for the vibe of the attraction.
Similar to the Beast and Edge of Hell, there were plenty of rooms that seemed larger than life and very atmospheric, putting you directly into many beloved horror movies. There were some barren spaces during some of the transition spaces, and the layout wasn’t always super clear on where to go, so we were stuck in a couple of areas.
That being said, it did a wonderful job at placing us in the movies, especially in the moments when we became active participants. Macabre also made sure to conceal anything that would be considered “behind the scenes.” There were also a lot of transition areas that blended very well from one horror movie franchise to another, like the Bates Motel seamlessly blending into Silent Hill or included a ton of horror movie memorabilia such as posters, props, and more! It truly felt like a museum of horror.
How effective were the sound effects? – (20% of score)
How realistic were the scene designs, details? – (30% of score)
How effective, realistic were the props, animatronics? – (30% of score)
How well did they use creative, special, sensory effects? – (20% of score)
Even though Macabre is 30 years younger than Edge of Hell and the Beast, you can tell that it definitely shares elements with them when it comes to the set design!
There were so many impressive set designs, props, and scenes that amazed us. We were geeking out over the Scorpion King temple, the laboratory with several Jacob’s ladders, the SAW torture room, and the bar from the movie “From Dusk Till Dawn!” Those are just a few of the impressive scenes that we saw! It helps that many of the set designs and props used in the attraction were ripped straight from the movies themselves! This museum of horror was certainly very realistic and detailed.
While the overall lighting and sound effects were effective in each room, there were some places where we felt it was too dark, which contributed to us getting stuck in some areas, like the Haddonfield neighborhood and the cemetery area. Most areas utilized sound effects extremely well, but there were a couple of rooms that had little to no sounds at all that could have used some, mainly in one of the last rooms that featured a large clown puppet.
Some of the best highlights of lighting include the strobe lights in the Silent Hill area, which aided the twitching nurse’s movement, and the grimy look of the SAW areas that mimicked the lighting from the movies! The sound effects also queued us in on the movie franchise we were entering, such as Michael Myers theme music and the Jason Voorhees sound effect! It really built up suspense and excitement!
How scary was it? – (35% of score)
How well did they provide scares to everyone in the group? – (15% of score)
How predictable were the scares? – (25% of score)
How well did they provide a wide variety (types) of scares? – (10% of score)
How strong was the ending / finale? – (15% of score)
There were some really great and unexpected scares to be had at Macabre Cinema! It was able to scare our whole group at several different points and was not at all predictable to us upon our first visit.
Even after the scare was over, there was no awkward moment of them just lingering around or immediately retreating; most actors interacted with us afterward and were very entertaining!
We love seeing haunts operate under the rule of “Even if you can’t scare them, at least entertain them!” and they executed this wonderfully.
How satisfied with the entertainment provided by the MAIN attraction/s? – (50% of score)
How satisfied with OTHER entertainment INCLUDED with the ticket price? – (25% of score)
How appropriate is/are the ticket price/s? – (25% of score)
Macabre Cinema tickets are $32/general admission and $62/VIP passes on Friday, and $37/general admission and $67/VIP passes on Saturdays.
It took us a little over 30 minutes to traverse through Macabre for our first time visiting, which can be shortened if you know where you are going.
Overall, we had a blast at Macabre Cinema, and figuring out all the horror movie references added on to the fun of the attraction! If you are a horror movie fan, we definitely recommend a visit during haunt season, as this has a little something for even the die-hard fans!
1222 West 12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64101
