I can understand wanting to be sentimental about cheap and cheerful stuff that was made in a more naïve era of the theme park industry. It's undoubtedly easier to form a 'cult following' to rides like Bubbleworks and the Haunted House. But let's be brutally honest for a minute. The best dark rides ever built in the UK, if we're being truly honest, were Hex and Valhalla. Will your documentary be pointing out that truthfully the real high point for UK dark rides was actually 2000?
Honestly Sam thank you for posting that because it's good to have a contrasting view to keep me grounded.
I know exactly where you are coming from with your high opinions of Hex and Valhalla, but I disagree completely that the height of UK dark rides was 2000. This was pretty much the year the theme park industry lost its theatrical talents and swapped its whole ethos of entertainment for one of expensive infrastructure and gimmicks instead. The majority of the leading creatives who had built the attractions industry in Britain left the industry around this time, their talent going with them. Projects became marketing-led rather than creative-led, which is just the standard these days.
That being said, this is a totally sentimental subject, as I think it should be, and you'll see in the finished product that I'm well aware of how ultimately meaningless and sometimes a bit tragic this whole attraction industry is, which I fully embrace and have much affection for. The hint is in the title. That's the magic for me, that people would dedicate so much effort, imagination and technical expertise to creating what are essentially big black boxes filled with plastic ghosts, illusions and other daft ideas, which often don't go to plan. Perhaps more amazing is the influence those early dark rides had on people young and old. Hard to understand if you weren't a part of that culture, but it's a story I think I can communicate in such a way that a wide range of people will be interested.
Going into Hex in particular...
In all my research (which is really extensive if I say so myself) I have discovered that there isn't nearly as much to the story behind Hex as there is in the earlier, clunkier rides. Hex was a one-off project, created by a smaller team of people with a much cheaper budget, much simpler in concept and was ultimately unsuccessful, needing a last minute redesign of the entire experience. Hex was a symbol, if anything, that the 'classic' dark period was at an end. It is a beautiful swansong to that era and fits perfectly at Alton Towers, I wouldn't change one bit of it. But it does get thought of in the enthusiast community as something more profound than it really is, probably because it manages to tell a clever story and is actually subtle with its theatrics (rather than being gloriously flamboyant and humorous like most British dark rides). However when you break it down as a show attraction, I was surprised to realise it lacks the genius put into the other rides I've researched; certainly in the special effects department.
This doesn't matter to me and I don't see it as a flaw in the attraction, but I stick by what I mean as you make the rather uninformed claim that it was the height of UK dark rides. And yes, I will be covering Hex and Valhalla in the film, in as much depth as I can to suite the story being delivered.
Whereas I always thought of cult-y, regionally popular rides like BubbleWorks or Haunted House to be silly daft creations from a more innocent time, the more I research and talk to the creators about them the more I am simply amazed by the diversity of the talent, workmanship, budgets (ahem Merlin) and importantly the love for people that went into creating them. These were the rides that were really breaking new ground in Britain, created by some of the most inspirational I have ever known (who at the time actually had very little experience of theme parks!), whose personalities and skills alone drove the rides to success. Of course in the 80s/90s rides were not nearly as 'professionally' produced or technically-sound as attractions such as Valhalla, or even in comparison to other dark rides around Europe which predate this time. But for entertainment alone, and all the magic was there.
It's not so much a wishy washy vague, sentimental ode I'm trying to tell, it's a genuine story about the people and the time that made these rides possible. And for someone like me who dedicates their life to arts and theatre, I know it's bloody special that this great story ever happened. It's only become relevant to tell in recent times because the industry is changing again on the inside and old values are starting to coming back.
In a way Sam you were the inspiration to create this film, that and when I met John Wardley last year (who is a very kind man), because I want to make a difference to people's attitudes in some way. So if you end up not liking it, it's your fault.
Glad to see you are determined to do this project proud, I was a little skeptical if I'd be bothered by this video tbh, but after watching the questions video I am actually fascinated and greatly anticipate the final piece and any updates!
Good work mate, I'm impressed, it definitely has an air of something that's going to bring some honesty about behind the scenes in the industry to the fore.
Well thank you, that's very encouraging. If you liked that quick little side video, I suppose you're going to be very impressed when we actually start publishing the real stuff! There were many magic moments in those interviews.