Final Scores – By Category:

Cast (20% of Final Score): 6.09

Costuming (10% of Final Score): 5.41

Customer Service (10% of Final Score): 8.79

Immersion (10% of Final Score): 5.63

Special Effects (15% of Final Score): 6.2

Scare Factor (20% of Final Score): 6.32

Entertainment & Value (15% of Final Score): 5.84

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Final Scores – By Attraction:

Attraction 1: 6.27

Let’s go to the movies!
Let’s go see the monsters!

Vengeful ghosts
Possessions and deadly games
Madness and strife
Better run for your life!

Welcome to Showtime Cinemas Haunted House, where an old movie theater has been turned on its head from family fun to your worst nightmare. Instead of watching a movie, the former cinema invites you to live the movies in terrifying 3D! Only this time, there is no safety to be found behind 3D glasses. The monsters are real and a little too close for comfort. Located in a shopping center off the highway in Radcliff, Kentucky, the cheerful blue and red glowing sign in front of the renovated theater belies its true twisted nature. The establishment invites you to get up close and personal before realizing something is amiss. What horrors await you behind the eerily flickering marquee, the smell of burnt popcorn and chainsaw fuel hitting your nostrils? Make sure you leave the kids at home for this one, folks, as anything family-friendly about this place has been fed to the sinister clown leering from the sewer grates. Are you ready to see if you could REALLY survive a horror movie? File on in; it’s showtime!

From the parking lot, we were taunted by a menacing, screechy voice that was luring us into the madness. As we approached the entrance, we could hear the screams and maniacal laughter coming from behind the doors. We had no idea who or what awaited us, but we could certainly hear that they were ready for us to arrive.

Stepping through the door, the cacophony of screams and laughter engulfed us, disorienting our senses. The source of the sounds remained elusive, keeping us on edge, never knowing what would come at us next. The unpredictability of the disembodied voices coming from the walls and shadows heightened our anticipation and fear, and it wasn’t long before we realized that the taunting voices were getting ready to pounce!

The cast often came at us from every angle, and just maybe once, one of us almost peed a little, lol. They engaged with every group member, ensuring no one was spared from the suspense. We would NOT want to walk through this place alone with them!

While the actors in the various hiding spots and the occasional rooms provided great scares, we would also like to see actors in the actual theatre rooms. The scenes are set to be a perfect distraction from some excellent scares, but add some cast members to get that additional scream! Also, adding an actual cast member in the Michael scene who can come out after his victims in the hall would be a nice touch. While some actors could stand to get closer with more interaction, they are off to a great start!

At one point, we did go the incorrect way, and it took a moment for two scareactors to let us know this… one of which was Freddy Kreuger, who just told us we were going the wrong way, and once we rerouted, he just sat inside a window pointing the way. Freddy is generally a talkative cast member, so perhaps this was not the best spot for them.

Aside from the taunter mentioned above, the pumpkin-masked fiend also stood out to us as they were familiar with every nook and cranny of the cinema!

The monsters at the cinema aren’t just on film; you don’t need 3D glasses to see them JUMP off the screen! Behind the corners, deep in the shadows, lurk the Cinema’s thugs and demons, tortured souls whose sole purpose is to wreak havoc on the living.

These creeps were mainly masked up. While they conveyed a sense of mystery and dread, additional makeup and features would help send the scare home even harder, including black around the eyes. We noted a lot of bare skin throughout, and these monsters aren’t the type to be clean. We noticed a range of masks, including clowns, pumpkins, and skinless freaks. When we came face to face with the pumpkin, they gave us a people-eating grin that sent us fleeing to the next area! It’s not the purple people eater you need to watch out for at the cinema!

Certain characters were easily distinguishable as familiar faces inspired by some of Hollywood’s favorite horror classics, such as Nightmare on Elm Street and Bride of Chucky. While the Bride was depicted accurately, donning her signature screen outfit and leather jacket, Freddy had an opportunity to strike true fear into visitors with an addition of his classic striped sweater and some filth to add to the depth of the character, as all we noticed was the mask and unburned skin.

The cinema’s inhabitants were mostly outfitted in boiler suits, which are classic staples of the horror genre; however, a bit of wardrobe diversity could provide a wider variety of looks and scares. Some characters were dirtier than others, showing a good sense of detail, but to push it even further, they would benefit immensely from distressed, tattered, torn, and dirtied clothing. There were also a few that didn’t quite match – such as the clown in what appeared to be medical scrubs.

The cinema has shown that they mean business when it comes to delivering scares with terrifying-looking ghouls, and they have the chance to become even scarier with character makeovers!

Our GPS took us directly to the Showtime Cinemas Haunted House. The original cinema sign is still located on the highway in front of the building. Below that, there is an excellent, lit-up digital sign showing that it is a haunted house. Other than that, we could not see much from the road. We recommend putting something spooky near the cinema sign to drive home the idea of this being a spooky destination as soon as visitors spot it along the highway. It could be a blow-up, a hearse, or anything spooky that would cause a second glance.

Once we pulled in, we could see a dimly lit theater with flashing marquee lights. There was plenty of paved parking in a well-lit, free parking lot. The ticket window was easy to spot, and if you needed to utilize the restroom before the haunt, not during, like a scaredy cat, they had portable restrooms by the entrance that were also well-lit!

Inside, the experience can be delightfully unpredictable, with moments of darkness and numerous twists and turns. The arrows on the ground were a helpful guide, but even with them, I managed to get off the path, and all turned around. What!? I was scared! However, the haunt was smooth and easy to navigate, even with the prior theater seating and floors.

We didn’t find a website, so we highly recommend they create one so the information is all in one place. The only social media we saw was Facebook; on Facebook, it was easy to get information about the opening and the address—but not much more. We would also suggest posting on other social media platforms. The more platforms you are on, the more people will see the info about the haunt. Post! Post! Post!

From the moment we saw Showtime Cinemas from the road, its digital sign displaying a terrifying nurse, the fear began to take hold. Screams and taunts were heard from the parking lot, intimidating newcomers. We didn’t notice any queue actors milling about, which would intensify the wait in line.

Dim, blood-red lights illuminated the marquees while occasional music helped get us in the mood. Showtime Cinemas has curated a unique pre-haunt vibe that could benefit from adding fog, spotlights, or spooky decor over the theater sign, which would set it off! A static werewolf greeted us at the entrance, warning us of what would come.

While there was no storyline, we were consistently engaged by the setting they created. Some narrow twists and turns kept us guessing. We also appreciated how many things were painted black, and when combined with the theater’s original features, it helped create a darker, more immersive setting. We were undoubtedly in a theater, but it would benefit from a few other things. While the building features long corridors and scenes separated by theaters, adding black drapes or burlap sheds to separate hallways and lines of sight would help build suspense and make visitors feel more confined in such a giant space.

The exit of the haunt spits guests back out to the front. This is only this haunt’s second season, and as such, they don’t quite have a gift shop yet, but we’d love to be able to purchase some swag in the future!

Following glowing arrows through darkened corridors lead us from one theater to another, revealing a carefully crafted Hollywood scene preluded by iconic sounds that hinted towards just what movie we were about to experience. Billy’s frenzied laugh ripped through the darkness before multiple victims of Jigsaw met their gruesome and untimely end. Demonic voices whispered eerily as Regan’s contorted body struggled against its bindings, the bed she lay on shaking wildly. Showtime has employed some effective animatronics, and a couple of them were placed in a few creative areas for unexpected scares (I’m looking at you, ceiling zombie).

Since the theaters are quite large, filling the giant spaces is difficult, but Showtime is moving in the right direction. With a few more animatronics and continuing to take advantage of unusual angles, future frights will be bigger and better. We also recommend bringing the monsters and animations closer to guests as they felt very distant at times.

Special recognition goes out to some of the little details that were used throughout the haunt. The rose petals around the Carrie prop, the smell of burnt popcorn, leaves all over the floor, and the giant red balloons near the It scene were all small touches that helped flesh out the surrounding environment.

Sound was appropriately used, if a little barebones. The quiet of the theaters and the soundproofing of the walls helped every shriek and snarl ring out sharply, easily startling all within earshot. The areas between scenes lacked ambient sound, a small snag easily rectified. Overall, the feel of Showtime Cinemas was very old-school, focusing more on actors, sound, and props rather than fancy technology. Perhaps, being created within a theater – that’s more fitting, harkening back to times gone by like the movies that used to be shown here. However, potential abounds within those walls, and with just a little more, Showtime Cinemas will be scaring for years to come.

The distant, echoing screams we heard while waiting quickly became our own! Inside the haunted theater, we faced frights that went bump in the night, some common phobias, awkward areas, and stealthy stalkers. Seriously, one of the stalkers even scared the cameraman in our group!

Did they have clowns? Yes. Chainsaws? Definitely! What about spiders? Sorry, arachnophobes – yes, they had those too! Needless to say, you’ll likely come across something that will poke your fear bubble here. Not only were there various scares, but they came at us from different directions, making them harder to predict. Some of the loudest screams were produced by something we weren’t expecting from above! Bravo! They also targeted our whole group, not just the person in the front or back.

While there were several effective distractions, the haunt could use even more. Sometimes, because the theaters were so spacious, we let our guard down since the scares were too far away. Bringing the scares closer would keep guests feeling “less safe.” Some unpredictable frights behind obvious barred doors also startled us, but they didn’t make us want to run away. Instead, we felt we could safely observe them from a distance. In a haunted house, we’d prefer to be on edge.

For a haunt only going into their second season, we were impressed by how often they managed to scare us. There were some great hiding spots behind the walls, where suddenly it would reach out to us, growl, or scream. There were also a few actors that nailed their timing perfectly. As mentioned, adding more actors and bringing some of the effects closer would make it even scarier. The finale was a highlight, with chaos erupting around us as we frantically raced to the exit! Bring your tennis shoes for this one!

General admission tickets cost $20 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. We navigated the cinema’s horrors for about 14 and a half minutes, including a wrong turn. That gives a rate of 0.73 minutes per dollar (MPD), which is decent for this part of Kentucky, but we’d prefer to see closer to the average of 1 MPD. Your experience might differ, though. With such a large theater, it wouldn’t take much to extend the scare time a bit, thus boosting the value.

We had a blast inside the haunt, especially for the $20 ticket price, which is one of the lowest in the area. We didn’t see much entertainment provided in addition to the haunt. But, even without a wait, a few fiends kept us entertained, and the spooky decor and theater marquees made for great photo opportunities. We hope they can taunt you on busy nights, too, or maybe they’ll have some additional spooks to keep those waiting on their toes.

If you’re seeking a fresh scare in the area and love horror movie throwbacks like we do, check out this newer haunt—every room is a nightmare come to life!