With Halloween approaching soon, it’s never too early to plan for costumes or haunted house props. It’s also a fun time to go over the top with either, and this animatronic door adds a really spooky twist to the standard haunted house. By combining an animatronic door setup with an LCD monitor, this prop manages to look frighteningly realistic, not just from the high-quality video but also due to the unexpected touches that surround it.
Hi-Rez Designs filmed these spooky videos for use in haunted houses, but they’ve also included instructions on how to build the prop door to house the monitor, and it truly raises the creepiness factor exponentially. With one completed version of the door up for sale on Etsy for $3500, you can also tell that it’s a pricy little gizmo. When you see the door in action, you’ll at least understand why people would shell out so much for this. The monitor is situated vertically and housed into a heavy-duty-looking door, making it appear much like a window into another room. The video depicts a hallway lit with bright blue light, a muscular man moving into the frame with a sinister look on his face. He then hits the window with the butt of his axe, making a realistic area of cracked/broken glass appear in the corner. This is all quite easy to understand, with the entirety of the effects simply being a video, an illusion. However, the axe murderer gets annoyed by the glass’ resilience and instead brings the weapon up to chop at the door. Dents actually appear in the surface of the door, as if the metal is just barely holding up against the mighty axe blows. It’s at this point that the viewer has to wonder if there really is somebody on the other side of the window.
Again, the video effects are easy enough to explain. With high-quality video and a quality LCD monitor, it’s easy to replicate high-definition and quite realistic scenes. Well-placed speakers can also give the right surround sound ambiance. However, it’s the electronics and a series of pneumatics that cause the door’s effects, timed perfectly with the video. The scene itself is long enough to set up for the unexpected payoff, but also short enough that it allows for a series of haunted house visitors to enjoy the scene without slowing everything down. If you have a hankering for more axe murderer goodies, check out this Axe Hanger. If, however, you want some more spooky awesomeness, we’ve made a list of some of the Freakiest and Scariest Halloween Masks.
