 | |
| Industry | Theatrical attractions and shows |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Lynton V. Harris |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Lynton V. Harris (Chairman &CEO) Dominic McChesney (Assistant Director)[1][2][3] |
| Website | Official website |
TheSudden Impact! Entertainment Company is an entertainment company based inNew York City, United States. The company has created temporary and permanent scare attractions foramusement parks andtraveling carnivals across the globe.
TheSudden Impact! Entertainment Company was founded in 1991 by Lynton V. Harris.[4] Harris was born in Australia and began his career as aDJ 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 theSudden Impact! Entertainment Company with an aim of operating attractions atMadison Square Gardens inNew 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 inWashington, however, due to theSeptember 11 attacks and theBeltway 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 atamusement parks andtraveling carnivals.[4][8][9][10] In 2009, the company began to deviate from the standard scare attractions with the opening of themed indoorlaser skirmish games such asAVPX atDreamworld.[11][12][13][14]
 |
| 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] |
|
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 "Inside the dark mind of scaremaster Lynton Harris",ABCLateline (March 2015) |
Almost all ofSudden 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]
