Lurking in the dark
With 55,000 square feet, 55 sets, more than $1,000 worth of make-up and a cast and crew of more than 100 people combine to bring Utah’s Halloween season alive with terror.
Cydney Neil, who has produced Rocky Point for 16 years, said it is no small task to bring all of these factors together to make Utah’s top haunted attraction. Rocky Point has actually been thrilling enthusiasts for 22 years with a mix of fresh ideas and movie classics.
“We take a lot of inspiration from movies,” Neil said. “Some of it I totally create from scratch.”
But this haunted house is more than just story lines and movie themes. Construction begins in mid summer when a team comes together to create the perfect nightmare.
Sets
Neil has taken sets or portions of sets from many local film and television productions. The haunted mansion may be familiar to those who followed the television series Promised Land which was filmed in Utah.
Bart Cox has built sets for both the film and television industry, he has worked on the sets of Rocky Point for the past five years. He got his start when Neil was visiting a project he was working on and approached him about joining her team. It was a job he thought would work out fine.
“Haunted houses have always been something fun,” Cox said.
In the past, Rocky Point has moved from building to building, which meant crews were required to move the set into trucks for the winter and then reassemble the house in time for Halloween.
“Typically, she’ll [Neil] roll in around June into an empty building and the last week of September we open the show,” Cox said.
Last year marked a first for the Salt Lake City attraction, the sets were left in the building, which in theory should have made the process easier this year.
“There’s been some discouraging things this year,” Neil said. “People not coming through or sets not coming together.”
Some of the problems have arisen with props for the Psycho Circus area of the house.
But it has not all been negative. This year also marks the addition of many animatronic effects into the house.
“We are experimenting with all the pneumatic effects,” Cox said.
In all there are 19 such effects in the show, along with new lighting and sound techniques.
“We have a lot more technical sounds and a lot more technical lighting than we’ve had before,” he said.
Cox is part of the four-man crew that constructed the house. There is an electrician, a couple of painters and a set dresser who add the finishing touches as well.
With more than 1,200 wood panels, and set pieces from the movie Bats and television shows like Touched by an Angel, Rocky Point has earned the title of no. 1.
“Once you get up on top, you have to stay on top,” Cox said. “And that is sometimes harder than getting there.
Make-up
Chris Hanson left his job with the new Men in Black film to join the Rocky Point crew in September.
“I just finished a movie and this started, so there was no down time,” he said.
Hanson, who grew up in Utah, moved to Hollywood eight years ago to start working with special effects make-up. He has worked on such films as Men in Black, The X-Files Movie, George of the Jungle, Boogie Nights and The Green Mile.
He also designs and oversees all of the make-up at the haunted house in Salt Lake City. He started working at Rocky Point four years ago while business was slow in California.
Every night, Hanson and his crew of 10 spend roughly three hours applying all the make-up in the show. This includes all the latex masks as well.
Hanson makes the masks on site. He uses gallons of latex sponge he mixes in a blender and then pours into the molds. He replaces the masks after only two or three applications. The masks are made on a mold of a famous actor because of ease.
“We use Jim Carrey’s head because he has a generic head in some respects,” he said.
He tries to limit the amount of gore in the show though.
“Cydney doesn’t want too much blood, but we still use a lot,” he said.
Max Weiss has been working at Rocky Point for the past nine years. He started as an actor in the show, but moved into make-up after a couple of years. He works as a stunt man in Utah for films and television.
“I just love special effects make-up,” Weiss said. “The make-up is getting better every year – it’s getting better and it takes less time.”
Marc Mejia pulls double duty with the production. This year is the first year he has applied make-up, but he still works as an actor as well.
“I do make-up and when everyone else is done, I get my make-up on and go out front,” he said.
With the exception of Hanson, all of the make-up artists are local.
“Last year we had a few people from Los Angeles, but it worked out better to stick locally,” Hanson said.
Actors
The sets and make-up aside, the show would not work without the actors who bring the dead to life each night.
Many of the actors have been working for several years.
Jason Bertoch a 19-year-old from Salt Lake City got his start three years ago because his high school required all students to do service. He heard about the haunted house, and has been there since. He has played a little bit of everything from your standard zombie to Michael Myers and Leatherface. This year he has taken the role of Pinhead from the Hellraiser series.
It is the friends and the association that keeps him coming back.
“Everyone is very interesting, so you never get bored,” he said.
Jared Caldwell, also from Salt Lake, is returning for his seventh year. But he started for a different reason than Bertoch.
“I was bored and I had just lost my job and I was looking for something to do,” Caldwell said.
For the past three years, he has played Freddy Krueger nightly.
“I enjoy the scare,” he said. “The thrill of jumping out and scaring people and seeing the look on their face.”
Sasha Pinegar started six years ago when a casting director for Rocky Point visited West High School and went to the drama club meeting. Pinegar and a friend decided to give it a go.
“I fell in love,” he said.
His first year, he was awarded the Rookie of the Year award. This is his third year as the vampire for the house. He enjoys what he does.
“It’s the best job in the world,” Pinegar said. “Especially because it helps out with charity.”
Walt Watts started with Rocky Point last year as an actor, and this year is working as an assistant casting director.
Chris Hansen stretches the mask on Bertoch´s face. the final step will be to apply make-up on top of the mask. (Zak Larsen )
A thin layer o liquid latex is applie to Bertoch´s face to hold Pinhead´s mask in place. (Zak larsen )
Chris Hanson applies a latex cap on Jason Bertoch´s head as he begins the transformation into Pinhead from the Hellraiser series. (Zak Larsen )
The entrance to Rocky point show the detail that is evident in every room of the haunted house. (Zak Larsen )