Way out in the middle of a small town called Richmond lies a haunted house back in the woods off the highway’ Now, that I’ve caught your attention, I want you to know that Redrum is a unique haunt. Not many have an entire house themed with classic horror movies. They’ve also got plenty of room to dance your booty off if you wish. Plus, they have phone chargers available throughout the haunt’s waiting areas for your pleasure and a gift shop for your bragging rights. There are three attractions at this single location, the Deadwood Asylum, Cinegore, and Twisted Circus Rewired 3D!
Deadwood Asylum: 4.62
Twisted Circus: 5.88
Cinegore: 3.83
While visiting Redrum, we noticed that they were lacking a bunch of actors. Not too many of the actors offered any dialogue when we walked through, although I wish we had heard some more. Maybe if they really projected their voices or even just had a couple of scripted lines they could have succeeded better with the channel of communication.
The clowns in Twisted Circus offered the best banter when we visited as they put some effort into their roles along with the ticket taker of Deadwood Asylum; though she just seemed angry while we were there, maybe that was part of her character. We weren’t even read the rules, much less spoken to when in line for Cinegore. The ticket person just pointed in the general direction of where we were supposed to go. We had hoped there would be a lot more interaction while we were there, but we didn’t get much.
Deadwood Asylum: 3.86
Twisted Circus: 5.79
Cinegore: 3.25
Cinegore had a lot of really cool costumes, as they were from most of my favorite movies like 13 Ghosts, Halloween, House of 1000 Corpses, and more. They probably had the best masks out of the three attractions.
Deadwood had a lot of straight jackets and, for some reason, the Silent Hill nurses were there instead of inside Cinegore.
Twisted Circus’ clowns had so many crazy colors and it really messed with your perception of things.
Overall, Redrum had a lot of street shoes and incomplete costumes, but there were a few out in the queue areas that were much more complete. If they rubbed some makeup on their arms, wore gloves, or even just black shoes, it would have made it feel much more believable.
Deadwood Asylum: 5.41
Twisted Circus: 7.32
Cinegore: 6.17
There was an absolute ton of construction out by Redrum that made it very difficult to find. They only have one sign leading in and, when we turned in, there were no parking attendants to be seen.
We didn’t speak to the owner, but Brittany in the ticket booth was incredibly friendly. However, the ticket taker for Cinegore didn’t read us any rules, nor did he tell us what door to go in. We sort of had to guess and, when we asked, he gave us a short answer. The other ticket takers were much more informative, but it felt like we weren’t really wanted there by the others.
I didn’t meet any of their queue actors, but I saw them as they walked by us.
The ticket prices and haunt information is easy to find on their website and Facebook, but inside the grounds, it’s hard to figure out which ticket booth to go to. There aren’t a lot of signs or people to tell you where to go when you get there.
Keep in mind that these haunts are made out of cargo trailers connected by wood. There are a lot of trip hazards through these haunts. Cinegore has a scene from 13 Ghosts, but the walls are some type of glass and they’re broken from the actor slamming into them. Also, the railing on the stairs at the end of Twisted Circus was broken when we went through and I almost fell off the stairs when I tried to use it.
When we walked up to the entrance of Redrum, all you could hear was dance music. No chainsaws, no screams. Just dance music. It almost sounded like we were at a nightclub.
The walkway into where they had the haunts is paved, which is always a nice feature at indoor/outdoor haunts. Though it was long, and there was nothing telling you where to go. They had a stage, but no live music that night. They also had pizza available, and a gift shop!
There wasn’t a lot of people there when we got there, although it was kind of late in the evening. A few people were sitting at tables by the giant dance floor, and no one was really waiting in the queue lines, it made it a bit lackluster. Maybe they could add a few more queue actors for entertainment purposes and it would help liven up the mood. As it was, there was no real energy to draw you in, and nothing to really get you excited at first.
Redrum had some really neat special effects. In Twisted Circus, they’ve got a ball pit you have to walk through to go up the stairs, and then down a small metal slide. There’s a scary clown in that ball pit, so beware. You cannot run through toy balls.
Unfortunately, we saw a few cell phones, water bottles, and some mechanics just left out in the open throughout all three haunts. I know these scary monsters are just people too (Scooby-doo taught us that behind every monster, there’s a human.), but seeing the actors’ cell phones out in the open takes away from the suspension of disbelief.
Twisted Circus is a 3D-style haunt, so it’s got a lot of black lights and UV-reactive paint. It’s so beautiful and colorful! The evil clowns that reside in these walls are just as intense. Deadwood Asylum was a really cool attempt at an old asylum, but their timing was off and the actors weren’t believable. Cinegore had some really amazing scenes from some classic movies, but there was a lot of dead space that could have been potential for some really great scares.
The best part was the outside facades. Deadwood Asylum had one that had moving gargoyles on top and looked like a big stone mausoleum. Cinegore looked like an old 50’s-style movie theater, and Twisted Circus was a giant 3D clown head.
Deadwood Asylum: 5.64
Twisted Circus: 6.87
Cinegore: 5.74
SFX Effective at Scaring, Entertaining (35% of score): 4.42
Could Tell What Theme Was Without Asking (15% of score): 6.17
Theme Well Executed, Believable (25% of score): 7.03
Location Authenticates Theme (10% of score): 5.97
How Scary (15% of score): 4
There wasn’t really a backstory behind all three haunts. Even on the website, it just gives you a summary of each attraction.
Deadwood Asylum was opened in 1961 with specific instructions to ‘develop the greatest institutional facility for the betterment of the mentally ill.’ After becoming a huge staple for care in the South, supernatural forces overcame the patients and staff and basically turned them into zombies. Cinegore is just your favorite horror movies come to life. The other theme here, Twisted Circus Rewired 3D, is full of scary clowns that are deemed to be a ‘traveling circus,’ which is full of classic scares.
Deadwood Asylum: 6.77
Twisted Circus: 6.92
Cinegore: 5.99
This attraction may not be the scariest haunt, but they are good for younger kids, as we met one when we went through and let him tag along. He was really scared, and that made it a good time for us as well as the actors. However, the timing was off with a lot of the props and a lot of the actors didn’t seem to try and make it believable. We encountered one ‘victim’ who was just saying, ‘Help me, help me,’ but wasn’t panicked at all. We even had an actor say, ‘BOO,’ which was a first for us. There was a point when a clown popped out of the ceiling above us and dropped down behind us. There were a lot of stalking scares and yelling at us to, ‘get out,’ and to, ‘go faster.’ In our opinion, you should want your patrons to stay there, or want to leave by screaming in fear on their own, not by pushing them out with those words. Maybe on a busy night, but we didn’t have any long lines to wait in.
Deadwood Asylum: 3
Twisted Circus: 6.28
Cinegore: 2.18
1800 E Hwy 90A, Richmond, Texas 77406