Thursday, October 22, 1998
Fright Light Laserium brightens dark night
Display offers engaging alternative to
routine Halloween mayhem
By Brent Hopkins
Daily Bruin Contributor
What to do on Halloween? If you’re sick of dressing up like lame
cartoon characters, eating stale candy corn and watching "Nightmare
On Elm Street Part 58" on a junky TV that only gets four channels,
there is an alternative. It does involve driving way up to the top
of Griffith Park in the dark, avoiding potholes and people making
out in cars, but it’s a small price to pay. If nothing else, The
Fright Lights Laserium show should prove to be more enjoyable than
watching Freddy Krueger gut some dumb high school kid.
More entertaining than frightening, Fright Lights takes a
standard laser light show and adapts it to a Halloween theme.
Flashing lights, scary music and the occasional dancing
Frankenstein pop up in the show, which blends both classic
Halloween tunes and more contemporary alternative music into a
background for the laser illustrations. If you can stand the hard
wood seats and a seemingly endless Metallica song, the hour-long
program is a good way to spend an evening. It won’t change your
life, but hey, it beats toilet-papering your neighbor’s yard.
The show blends Halloween’s two motifs, terror and
ridiculousness, quite well. The more serious numbers, like Oingo
Boingo’s "No One Lives Forever," and the Echo and The Bunnymen’s
cover of the Doors’ "People Are Strange" are fun to sit back and
enjoy, as multicolored patterns trace their way across the ceiling
above you in synchronization with the music. Even the cornball
ones, that you’ve heard every Halloween since you were five, like
"Monster Mash," and "Purple People Eater," are cool in their own
way, with goofy animated characters tripping about to the music.
Neither theme dominates the show, which keeps it well-balanced and
avoids monotony.
The show’s high point, as far as eerieness goes, comes with
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ "I Put A Spell On You." The tortured vocals
mix well with laser artist Tim Barrett’s creepy designs, bringing
the show closer to terror than at any other point. The song is
scary enough on its own, but throwing in the darkened room and
laser art at the same time make the effect perfect for
Halloween.
Though the following number, Metallica’s "Master Of Puppets"
wallows in musical lameness, the psychotic marionette animation
gives the song life. Still, the very, very long song makes audience
members restless.
Performed completely live, you can’t help but be a little
awestruck at the show’s smoothness. While computers prior to the
show construct some of the more complex animations, Barrett, who
has been performing since 1994, selects all the positioning and
light patterns. Choreographed for several months before its Oct. 1
premier, the artist displays the show from a control booth in the
rear. This live element of the show isn’t obvious to the audience,
but it does add depth to the performance.
SHOW: The Fright Lights Laserium runs Tuesday through Saturday
at 8:45 p.m. until Halloween. Tickets cost $7 for adults.
Photos by MICHAEL ROSS WACHT/Daily Bruin
The Laserium, located at the Griffith Park Observatory, puts on
a special show during the Halloween season.
Fright Nights laser show shows weekly at 8:45 pm during the
month of October.
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