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London Dungeons

Vengeance, all from a technical, visual and creative standpoint, is dreadful and never should've been conceived.

London Dungeon was always meant to illustrate the city's gruesome history and so bringing in Vengeance completely undermined the real events, arguably the same can be said for Sweeney Todd who wasn't even real (no substantial evidence of a demon barber here, folks!), because it was literally just about destroying ghosts. Fair enough that Florence Cook existed and 50 Berkeley Square exists but apart from that, the seance on 'screen' just didn't have any substance. There's also the fact that it wasn't exactly immersive having just two screens (One you could call an A3 piece of paper and the other a bit of A4) in a fairly blank room, surely a wrap around screen would've sufficed and given more creativity to the 4D itself?

If the Dungeon was to include a seance-type scenario involving Berkeley Square then using the original legends would've been best, you can do so much with those chilling rumours. And if Vengeance is to return under another guise, it's quite hard to think of a historical event that would suit the 'spinning circle', then I hope the Dungeon sees fit to soundproof the room considering the location as stated by above individuals.
 
I always found it odd that Sweeny Todd made the cut in London Dungeons as its a fiction. As far as I know all the other Dungeons base their scenes at least loosely on history. Certainly Blackpool dungeon doesn't have anything completely fiction in it.
 
It might have been an attempt to market in advance on the 2007 film directed by Tim Burton once it was released, the attraction itself was opened in 2006, despite there being evidently no kind of IP connection between Dreamworks/Warner Bros and the Dungeon or an interest in using the binaural technology that Disney use for their attractions.

I'm not entirely sure what was in that space before Sweeney though that would've warranted it as a new attraction, the best bet is a former introduction to Jack the Ripper which took up a heck of a lot of space pre-Vengeance.

Actually, yes, it must've been a part of Jack the Ripper that's currently housing Sweeney Todd according to this slightly eye-straining map. Shame it's not any bigger.

photo%2B16%2Bter
 
Yes - I have a feeling it was one of 4 areas for Jack The Ripper (which took about 20 minutes all-in-all!)

The Mrs Lovett character has often quoted from the Sweeney Todd musical, which I always enjoy (but they really shouldn't do that as they don't own the rights to do so).

I think the historical license comes in the fact that you do learn a bit about the barbers of Victorian London and what other services they'd provide and from whence the red and white stripes originate.
 
nickhutson said:
The Mrs Lovett character has often quoted from the Sweeney Todd musical, which I always enjoy (but they really shouldn't do that as they don't own the rights to do so).
Click to expand...

Do you mean as in Mrs Lovett quoting from the Sondheim musical itself or that her character is quoted as being in the musical? Just wondering seeing as Mrs Lovett has been in nearly every adaptation of the original penny dreadful.

nickhutson said:
I think the historical license comes in the fact that you do learn a bit about the barbers of Victorian London and what other services they'd provide and from whence the red and white stripes originate.
Click to expand...

True but it's just given out as a fact rather than being attached to a genuine crime (or string of crimes) that happened in London over 100 years ago. It's interesting but it doesn't warrant a fictional story for inclusion.
 
Vengeance actually replaced 3 areas of Jack the Ripper (where you went upstairs slightly). Essentially it was the intro room with and actor, then the room were you would watch a video in a glass window about the murders, and then the room about who it could have been (with the fire effect which was amazing) but these 2 rooms alone took way too long and got boring in my opinion.

The new 2 rooms added after vengeance for Jack the Ripper are much better, and tells the story much better.
One criticism is that the pub scene seems to be in a lot smaller a room now :p
 
Reading some of the posts, I'm just wondering if some of you are expecting Brian Blessed himself to be an actor, as opposed to it simply being his voice/image?
 
Rowe said:
nickhutson said:
The Mrs Lovett character has often quoted from the Sweeney Todd musical, which I always enjoy (but they really shouldn't do that as they don't own the rights to do so).
Click to expand...

Do you mean as in Mrs Lovett quoting from the Sondheim musical itself or that her character is quoted as being in the musical? Just wondering seeing as Mrs Lovett has been in nearly every adaptation of the original penny dreadful.

nickhutson said:
I think the historical license comes in the fact that you do learn a bit about the barbers of Victorian London and what other services they'd provide and from whence the red and white stripes originate.
Click to expand...

True but it's just given out as a fact rather than being attached to a genuine crime (or string of crimes) that happened in London over 100 years ago. It's interesting but it doesn't warrant a fictional story for inclusion.
Click to expand...

I've seen Mrs Lovett quote from the Sondheim musical - the puns Stephen invented including: "Shepherd's Pie peppered with actual shepherd on top", "Army general - with or without his privates", etc.
 
Awww, every time I go through Dungeons I hope Lovett'll quote Sondheim or at least make a reference and she never does - would've been especially relevant with Ball and Staunton! :(

I sincerely hope Vengeance doesn't move over to County Hall, but Sweeney is always a popular scene,
its fictional element doesn't really matter because it's a tale so ingrained in London's history!
 
Sweeney Todd is a myth and legend which is inextricably linked to the culture of the city. It is perfect for the Dungeons, which is really a horror attraction about the dark culture as much as it is the dark history of London's past.

If you ask me, it's the bizarre 'Labyrinth of the Lost' which sticks out as most historically inappropriate out of the Dungeon's line-up.
 
Actually, you have a point with Labyrinth of the Lost Souls. That's only linked to the history of London through All Hallow's Church, only vaguely through the Crypt entrance though.
 
I think the labyrinth is still a really nice quirky start to the attraction, never get tired of initially not finding any way out, it always confuses the masses!

Also, as unacceptably abysmal as Vengeance is, I sure as hell don't miss the BoredBARNES Jack The Ripper scenes...there's only so much lecturing and crappy fire effects that one can take :p
 
Concept art:

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Can anyone get these appearing in the forum? Looks great; especially the boat ride concept art! Wow! Show scenes!
 
I love those concepts and if Blackpool Dungeons is anything to go by hopefully they will make it to the finished product as seen.
 
The Boat Ride concept art implies they'll be using the same crappy ride system (the same boats at least) that they currently use. They're god-awful!
 
The entrance confuses me; I guess we're seeing through the walls!

The queue looks to be quite similar to the current system - but I wonder how they'll be interactive. If they have actors in them, they'll probably only be used 40% of the time.

They probably use the same boat design as they might not have ordered new hardware from Mack Rides... at least the new ride will have stuff happening as opposed to candles turning on (as they don't do in real life). Going through the ride always reminds me of the boat scene from Phantom of the Opera.
 
Natalie said:
I would love a section on the Highgate Vampire from the late 1960's as it is a part of modern London history and actually quite interesting to read up about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highgate_Vampire

http://www.gothicpress.freeserve.co.uk/The%20Highgate%20Vampire.htm
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Good idea, Natalie - but you won't see this as they have a 100 year rule when it comes to what they can do.

If there's anything from modern London they should add is the truly horrific story of 10 Rillington Place and the Christie murders from the 1950s... truly horrific.
 
Ooh, I'd forgotten about Christie. On the subject of London-based serial killers, there's also John George Haigh - the Acid Bath Murderer. That could work as a scene in the Dungeons, methinks. :)
 
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