The Sudden Impact!
Entertainment Company
IndustryTheatrical attractions and shows
Founded1991
FounderLynton V. Harris
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Key people
Lynton V. Harris (Chairman & CEO)
Dominic McChesney (Assistant Director)[1][2][3]
WebsiteOfficial website

The Sudden Impact! Entertainment Company is an entertainment company based in New York City, United States. The company has created temporary and permanent scare attractions for amusement parks and traveling carnivals across the globe.

History

The Sudden Impact! Entertainment Company was founded in 1991 by Lynton V. Harris.[4] Harris was born in Australia and began his career as a DJ at age 15.[4][5] From there he worked up the ranks to be marketing director for 10 Australian radio stations.[4] In 1991, he travelled to the United States and discovered the money that could be made in entertainment attractions. Harris started the Sudden Impact! Entertainment Company with an aim of operating attractions at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. In 1996, the company began a four-year season of Madison SCARE Gardens selling approximately 250,000 tickets.[4][5]

In the early 2000s, the company was ready to open their attractions in Washington, however, due to the September 11 attacks and the Beltway sniper attacks (in 2001 and 2002 respectively), these plans were shelved costing the company and Harris millions.[4][6][7] Sudden Impact began to focus on attractions in Australia with the opening of several temporary attractions at amusement parks and traveling carnivals.[4][8][9][10] In 2009, the company began to deviate from the standard scare attractions with the opening of themed indoor laser skirmish games such as AVPX at Dreamworld.[11][12][13][14]

Attractions

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (February 2011)
Name Location Opened Closed Notes
Angoscia Dreamworld Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia December 26, 2006 (2006-12-26) July 7, 2007 (2007-07-07) [8][9]
AVPX Dreamworld Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia April 10, 2009 (2009-04-10) March 31, 2013 (2013-03-31) [11][15]
Chamber Live: Serial Killers Madame Tussauds London Central London, England Unknown Unknown [16][17]
Chamber of Horrors Live Madame Tussauds London Central London, England Early 2003 (2003) Unknown [16]
Freakshow 3D Thorpe Park Surrey, England October 2002 (2002-10) August 2005 (2005-08) [16]
Freddy's Nightmare maze Warner Bros. Movie World Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia October 8, 2010 (2010-10-08) October 31, 2010 (2010-10-31) [18]
The Freezer Dreamworld Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia December 26, 2006 (2006-12-26) July 7, 2007 (2007-07-07) [8][9]
Thorpe Park Surrey, England October 2002 (2002-10) October 2004 (2004-10) [16]
Madison Square Garden New York City, United States Unknown Unknown [19][20]
The Fright House Unknown United States Unknown Unknown [16]
Gotham Underground Madison Square Garden New York City, United States 1997 (1997) 1997 (1997) [21]
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Enter the Tomb Dreamworld Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia December 26, 2003 (2003-12-26) April 18, 2004 (2004-04-18) [10]
Luna Park Melbourne St. Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria 2007 (2007) Unknown [22][23]
Royal Adelaide Show Adelaide, South Australia, Australia September 3, 2010 (2010-09-03) September 11, 2009 (2009-09-11) [12]
The Mummy Live Madison Square Garden New York City, United States Unknown Unknown [19]
The Mummy Returns Dreamworld Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia June 23, 2001 (2001-06-23) July 8, 2001 (2001-07-08) [4][20]
Universal Studios Hollywood Los Angeles County, California, United States 2002 (2002) 2004 (2004) [20][24]
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Live Dreamworld Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia September 8, 2008 (2008-09-08) January 2009 (2009-01) [25]
La Ronde Montreal, Quebec, Canada June 19, 2009 (2009-06-19) September 7, 2009 (2009-09-07) [24][26][27][28][29][30]
Night at the Museum Live Sunway Lagoon Petaling Jaya, Malaysia Unknown Still open [2][24][31][32]
Pirate Jack's Halloween Adventure Chessington World of Adventures London, England October 2002 (2002-10) Unknown [16]
Prison Break Live Luna Park Melbourne St. Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria 2006 (2006) Unknown [22]
Luna Park Sydney Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2008 (2008) Unknown [33]
Royal Adelaide Show Adelaide, South Australia, Australia September 5, 2009 (2009-09-05) September 13, 2009 (2009-09-13) [34]
Sunway Lagoon Petaling Jaya, Malaysia Unknown Unknown [3]
Psycho 3D maze Warner Bros. Movie World Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia October 8, 2010 (2010-10-08) 2010 (seasonal) [18][35]
Rumah Hantu 3D Sunway Lagoon Petaling Jaya, Malaysia Unknown Unknown [3]
SAW maze Warner Bros. Movie World Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia October 8, 2010 (2010-10-08) October 2011 (2011-10) [18][35]
Six Flags Great America Gurnee, Illinois, United States Unknown Unknown [36]
The Scorpion King Live Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown [24]
Scream Madame Tussauds Shanghai Unknown Unknown Unknown [16]
Amsterdam Unknown Unknown Unknown [17]
Terminator Alive Sunway Lagoon Petaling Jaya, Malaysia May 2010 (2010-05) Still open [13][14][32]
Terminator X: A Laser Battle for Salvation Adventure World Perth, Western Australia, Australia December 26, 2009 (2009-12-26) January 31, 2010 (2010-01-31) [37]
La Ronde Montreal, Quebec, Canada 2010 (2010) Still open [24][28][29]
Royal Adelaide Show Adelaide, South Australia, Australia September 4, 2009 (2009-09-04) September 12, 2009 (2009-09-12) [34]
Six Flags Mexico Mexico City, Mexico 2011 (2011) Still open [38]
Sunway Lagoon Petaling Jaya, Malaysia May 2010 (2010-05) 2012 [13][14]
Terror in the Towers Alton Towers Staffordshire, England October 2002 (2002-10) Unknown [16]
Terror Tunnel Sunway Lagoon Petaling Jaya, Malaysia Unknown Unknown [3]
Tomb Raider Legend Live Adventure World Perth, Western Australia, Australia December 26, 2006 (2006-12-26) January 29, 2007 (2007-01-29) [39]
Trolls Village Dreamworld Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia 2018 2019
Universal Studios Monsters Alive Unknown Las Vegas, United States Unknown Unknown [24]
Van Helsing Universal Studios Hollywood Los Angeles County, California, United States 2004 (2004) 2007 (2007) [24]
Warwick Ghosts Alive Warwick Castle Warwickshire, England 2002 (2002) 2008 (2008) [16][17]
Zombie Apocalypse maze Warner Bros. Movie World Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia October 1, 2011 (2011-10-01) October 2011 (2011-10) [35]
Wet'n'Wild Hawaii Kapolei, Hawaii, United States 2010 (2010) 2010 (2010)
Zombie Evilution Dreamworld Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia September 13, 2013 (2013-09-13) March 2018 [40][41]

Shows

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (February 2011)

Scare School

External videos
video icon "Inside the dark mind of scaremaster Lynton Harris", ABC Lateline (March 2015)

Almost all of Sudden Impact! Entertainment Company's attractions feature live trained actors, commonly known as "scare actors". To be hired in this position, scare actors must complete the Scare School program. The Scare School is a 40-hour program where actors are trained to become the best "scarers" they can be. The Scare School has travelled the globe and has been featured in its own television series. The majority of the training is done in broad daylight with very little done indoors or at night-time.[1][2][4][5][9][19][27][36][42]

References

  1. ^ a b Prophet, Sheila (26 November 2006). "I am a ghoul teacher". Mirror. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Lim, Louisa (20 June 2009). "Monster Mania". The Star. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d Sharmugam, Ista Kyra (1 April 2008). "A place to make you scream". The Star. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Attractions Management - Issue 4 - 2009" (PDF). Attractions Management. 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  5. ^ a b c Yoon, Chin Mui (31 May 2010). "Laughter is the key". The Star. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  6. ^ The Associated Press (4 June 2006). "Haunted houses not always ghoul mines". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  7. ^ Squires, Chase (8 June 2006). "Big scares are big business". The Free Lance-Star. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  8. ^ a b c "Nightmares (Dreamworld)". Parkz. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d Brook, Lucy (1 January 2007). "Chill with Scaremaster". Courier Mail. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  10. ^ a b "Lara Croft Tomb Raider - Enter the Tomb (Dreamworld)". Parkz. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  11. ^ a b "AVPX (Dreamworld)". Parkz. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  12. ^ a b c Emmerson, Russell (31 August 2010). "Latin attraction at the Royal Show". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  13. ^ a b c "Laser tag – the next generation". Park World Online. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  14. ^ a b c "Terminator attractions launched at Sunway Lagoon". The Star Online. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  15. ^ "Timeline Photos". Facebook. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Lynton V. Harris: The mazes he designed for the Tussauds Group". Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  17. ^ a b c "The Screamie Awards - Previous Winners of the Screamie Awards". Screamie Awards. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  18. ^ a b c Lewis, Maria (23 September 2010). "Ghosts, ghouls, spectres". Gold Coast Bulletin.
  19. ^ a b c "Lynton V Harris - top tips for attractions operators". Park World Online. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  20. ^ a b c Burnside, Mary Wade (5 March 2001). "Parks Haunted By Growth Of Horror Attractions". Amusement Business. 113 (9): 21.
  21. ^ Jaeger, Lauren (8 September 1997). "Madison Scare Garden Returns For Second Year With New Thrills". All Business. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  22. ^ a b Stephens, Andrew (8 December 2007). "All the fun of the fair". The Age. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  23. ^ Carbone, Suzanne; Money, Lawrence (20 September 2007). "Don't call them, they'll call you - Jump to it". The Age. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g "Terminator X - The ultimate laser battle - Meet Lynton V. Harris". La Ronde. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  25. ^ Renee, Redmond (8 September 2008). "Mummy's Tomb opens quietly at Dreamworld". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  26. ^ greatwhitenorth (24 November 2008). "La Ronde announces Mummy walk-through attraction, for 2009 season only". Coaster Buzz. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  27. ^ a b "By Saturday, La Ronde hosts The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Experience! - Le créateur de La Momie, Lynton V. - The creator of The Mummy, Lynton V. Harris, entend vous faire la peur de votre vie! Harris intends to make you fear for your life!". CNW. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  28. ^ a b The Canadian Press (10 March 2010). "La Ronde présente une nouvelle attraction inspirée de la série "Terminator" La Ronde has a new attraction inspired by the series "Terminator"". Brunswick News. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  29. ^ a b Simard, Valérie (18 March 2010). "A laser battle at La Ronde". Cyberpresse. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  30. ^ Bouliane, Martine (21 May 2009). "La Ronde begins its season". Cyberpresse. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  31. ^ "Night at the Museum". Sunway Lagoon. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  32. ^ a b "Creep show". The Star. 31 May 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  33. ^ "Sydney Weekender 22 March". eBroadcast. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  34. ^ a b Today Tonight (2009). "Terminator X". Sudden Impact Entertainment. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  35. ^ a b c Lacey, Michelle (2 October 2011). "Fright Night a bloody success". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  36. ^ a b "Lynton V. Harris - Creating Attractions with Impact!". Park World Online. November 2010. pp. 38–40. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  37. ^ Nash, Tim (19 January 2010). "New attractions for 2010 for Adventure World". Attractions Management. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  38. ^ "Six Flags Entertainment Corporation Investor Meeting Presentation". Six Flags. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  39. ^ "TOMB RAIDER LEGEND LIVE RIDE TO OPEN". Tomb Raider Chronicles. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  40. ^ Dreamworld (14 August 2013). "Cover photos". Facebook. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  41. ^ "Join The Evilution". Dreamworld. 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  42. ^ "Lynton V. Harris - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 24 November 2010.

External links

Amusement rides
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