AVP Halloween Horror Nights Japan Maze Walkthrough

It’s been on rare occasions, but there have been a few theme park attractions for Alien and AVP though the years. The last major ones were the Alien vs. Predator mazes for the Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights events of the mid 2010s. Some of you may have heard of or experienced the AVP mazes in 2014 at Universal Studios Florida, or in 2014 and 2015 at Universal Studios Hollywood. But there was also a third AVP maze for the 2015 Horror Nights event at Universal Studios Japan.

I was lucky enough to experience the mazes in Florida and California, but I never made it to the one in Japan. Each of the three mazes had a unique premise and presentation and were quite distinct from one another as each were developed by separate Universal Creative Teams.

The Hollywood version was essentially an adaptation of the premise of the film Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, where a Predator spacecraft had crashed resulting in an Alien infestation of a local town. The Florida version was more Aliens feeling, set in a Hadley’s Hope style research facility in the midst of a jungle to throw some Predator vibes into the mix.

The Japan version of the maze had eluded me. I just wasn’t aware of it. After I found out about it, I scoured the internet for more information, but there was just far less intel about this maze when compared to the others.

Here is the translated official description of the Japan maze:

In a laboratory that has become an Alien den, guests are drawn into a battle between the cruel, inhuman Aliens and the ferocious, elusive Predators. During this fierce battle, the targets are transformed into hunters that are thoroughly focused on taking the guests’ lives!

A while back, I connected up with the attraction’s Creative Director, Adam Milicevic, who was kind enough to satisfy my curiosity and showed me what he and his team at Universal Creative put together. Adam has a varied history as a professional industry artist including creative theme park design, conceptual development, and special effects production.

Now, we’re thrilled to be able to bring you an exclusive video walkthrough of the entire maze! Check it out below!

I’ll be doing my best to take you though the entire maze with detailed descriptions, photos, and concept art. I’ll also be comparing the attraction’s concepts to how they ended up looking in reality.

Below is a layout for the maze which was divided into three environments: the lab (blue), the sewers (purple), and the hive (yellow). The red icons show props and scare moment locations. The premise of the Universal Studios Japan maze was similar to the Orlando one in that we’re venturing into a Weyland-Yutani facility.

But this version had a unique looking facility when compared to the Florida one. It was less inspired by Hadley’s Hope and more of a utilitarian style lab with aesthetics of concrete, steel panels, and pipes. Also unlike the Orlando version, the facility isn’t the sole setting. Eventually guests move into the sewers and then into the Xenomorph hive itself.

While backstory for all of the mazes was pretty light, Adam utilized visual storytelling to create a fully immersive setting. Sometimes Halloween Horror Nights mazes are built inside temporary tent structures when there’s no soundstage or other buildings to utilize for them. Hollywood and Orlando were both on soundstages, Japan was inside a huge tent. The tent itself was made to look like a biohazard quarantine tent over a structure. Outside by the queue was a Weyland-Yutani branded Humvee covered in green blood and with a facehugger visible inside.

Upon entry, guests pass a large Weyland-Yutani illuminated sign as they enter the lab. A screen is centered in the room displaying a rotating animation of a fachugger victim, along with the status of other implantations. After turning the corner, multiple facehuggers can be seen in stasis tubes, illuminated from below. Suddenly, we get our first scare as a Xenomorph emerges from between the test tubes, screeching at the guests.

After moving through strip curtains, we enter the Predator Lab. A dead Yautja lies on the table, medical equipment still inside the flesh of his open chest. Perhaps a hasty retreat forced the equipment to be left there? More tools lie on the table next to smeared luminescent green blood. There are also research papers and gas masks next to the Predator, as well as his bio-mask, the design being that of the ‘Pyramid Guard’ mask seen in both AvP films, it’s red targeting laser illuminated.

Above the table are more screens displaying various readouts, and the classic “Semiotic Standard” symbols flank the the console. The room is dark, making the Predator blood especially visible, but a light periodically flashes from above, illuminating the body briefly. As guests make their way through this area, the classic motion tracker pinging can be heard.

Passing though another set of strip curtains, we’re in a new metallic hallway. After moving forward, someone jumps out from an door to the right. The victim is in a full yellow hazmat suit with a gasmask on. They reach out to us for help as a Xenomorph tail is wrapped around their neck. They scream as they’re pulled back into the opening by the Alien.

Though yet another set of Weyland-Yutani branded strip curtains (there’s a lot of those in haunted houses), we enter the next room of the lab. Through an acid burned hole in the wall next to us, we see our first Alien and Predator fight. The Alien seems mostly defeated on the ground as the Predator finishes it off with repeated strikes using his handheld bladed weapon. The weaponry used by the Predators in this maze was based off of the old Kenner action figures, specifically those originally wielded by the “Ambush” and “Renegade” Predators.

As guests try to make their way around this battle, the Predator turns it attention and reaches out to us. Right in time, a Weyland-Yutani soldier arrives and fires at the Predator with an assault rifle, driving it away. The soldier yells out to us, “Get down! Hurry, keep it moving!”

We continue into a longer hallway leading straight ahead. Alarm klaxon lights spiral overhead and on both sides are tubes and piping protruding from the walls. A noise prompts us to look above to see a Xenomorph peering down at us from an overhead catwalk. It screams at us as we move under it. Right upon passing into the next area another Xenomorph tries to reach for us, with only some pipes blocking its way.

Soon another Alien and Predator fight breaks out from behind some tubing. The Predator holds its rival in a headlock as it bashes the Alien’s dome before their struggle returns back through the opening and into the dark.

After turning another corner, we come to a new room with pipes protruding from the wall and into the floor. There’s another catwalk, this time on the ground right next to us. A Weyland-Yutani soldier appears, running out from behind another set of strip curtains. “It’s coming!” he yells before being grabbed by the Predator and dragged back through. The soldier yells “No!” before firing wildly, then we hear the sharp sound of one of the Predator’s weapons dispatching him. The Predator briefly emerges to examine us before returning back behind the curtains. Evidently we’re not enticing game.

Ahead are more stasis tanks, this pair containing chestbursters rather than the facehuggers from earlier. The next corner leads to a lowered entrance ahead. Just like in Aliens, it’s time to crawl through the vents. The red lit vent has tubing to the sides and above. Though one set of tubes an Alien head pops out to attack before retreating.

Leaving the vent, we see another soldier holding a motion tracker. She urges us to keep moving forward, yelling: “Go! Run! I’m hurt. Ahhhh. Keep going, get out, it’s too dangerous!”

Heeding her warnings, we move ahead to see the dead body of an Alien warrior above the wall before us. The smart disc lodged in the hallway suggests the cause of its demise. The creature’s acidic guts have dripped down creating an opening, an escape from the labs and into the sewers.

Never a good place to be when Aliens are around.

After moving through the acid blood carved opening, we continue through a short transition hallway with warning signs on the walls reading “Keep Out. Sewage Treatment.” The room ahead is red lit with pipes along the sides and a catwalk with metal railing leading us right. A Predator targeting laser can be seen moving above, scanning the room.

Before we can turn the corner, a Xenomorph emerges to strike from behind a small waterfall, green lighting shines on it from above. At the end of the catwalk is a cocooned human victim strung up in the corner, a facehugger clasped tightly around their head as the Predator laser continues to scan the area.

Moving past the unfortunate scientist, we come across a storm drain to our left, with gloomy light flooding through the grate above. A dead facehugger lies atop a barrel and two eggs are on the ground next to it. Proceeding through the next halloway, another cocooned victim is held up on the wall to our right. We’re about to pass this one when suddenly they let out a blood-curdling scream. They slam the wall with their arm and continue screaming as a chestburster emerges from within.

The path continues through a brick hallway, with dim orange lighting coming through industrial fixtures on the walls. Guests turn another corner when another Xenomorph pops out for a scare, it’s upper body thrashing through a break in the bricks. In the hallway beyond the electrical flicker of a cloaked Predator can be seen as he slowly walks forward. After punching something into his wrist computer, the electrical field dissipates and the Predator turns completely invisible.

There’s another corner through this brick maze, with more orange lighting and pipes. We turn around the bend to see something organic and dark and wet spreading across the walls with eerie blue lighting coming down on it. Passing through this entrance puts us right in the middle of a Xenomorph hive.

This is the grand finale of the maze. Immediately to our left is a hived up dead Predator, its chest burst open. This large room is covered with hive resin structures and the floor is littered with Alien eggs, both open and closed, dead facehuggers lying next to the open ones. An enormous organic sac is suspended from the ceiling and glowing orange. It’s the ovipositor of the enormous Xenomorph Queen before us. She moves and screeches out, arms outstretched, her gaping maw bearing teeth at us.

Another Predator enters the scene. He slashes at the Queen before running back to gain some distance. The Predator lets out a battle cry and then fires his plasmacaster. Before we can escape, another Alien warrior attacks through the wall, giving a final scare before the exit.

Though I feel lucky to have the memories of many rounds through the Hollywood and Orlando versions of the maze, I definitely missed out on getting to experience this third one in person. This looked an incredible attraction, and hopefully this piece serves as an immersive look at the fantastic environment that Adam Milicevic and his team created.

The AVP mazes featured far more creature effects than was typical for a Halloween Horror Nights maze at the time. Universal Creative worked with Patrick Magee of MageeFX. Magee previously worked for StudioADI, and that relationship was the connection point for these creature molds used for the films being given to the Horror Nights teams to create their puppets, costumes, and props.

The hive finale at the end of the maze is particularly impressive, and to this day we believe this is the only live-sized Queen Alien display where she has her full ovipositor.

In the gallery of photographs below you’ll see some of these incredible scenes from the haunted attraction, including some with Adam himself posing alongside these monsters.

Adam developed most of concept art for the maze prior to its construction, you can see these pieces below! Additional conceptual work was done by artist Rayce Bird. Some of these pieces of concept art have never been shown publicly before!

We’ll also be putting together an extensive article detailing and comparing all three AVP Halloween Horror Nights mazes for this year’s spooky season, so keep an eye out for that a bit down the road!

More recently, Adam Milicevic worked with Legacy Effects to bring the Xenomorphs of Alien: Romulus to life.  We interviewed him recently about his time on the HHN maze, Alien: Romulus, and other franchise projects. Look for that podcast episode dropping soon!

Adam has also designed some apparel for us, so be sure to check them out in our TeePublic Store! You can also see more of his work on ArtStation and Instagram. Again, a massive thanks to him for his insights into this long planned editorial of mine. Thanks goes to Chelsea Beller of Horror Babe Show as well, who assisted with this piece. Chelsea also interviewed Adam about his time on this maze a little while back so check that out if you’d like to learn more on his experience.