The Pirates Cave - Origins: 2020 Review
The Pirates Cave, Orange, CA
We’ve got two updates today (yup, it’s getting to be that time when we’ve gotta do two-a-days, and even then, I’m not sure I’ll keep up). On the heels of Spooky Hollow’s haunted show and origin story production, we’ve got another home haunt doing a haunted show that serves as a prequel to its normal maze storyline—but with its own style and flair! This one is The Pirate’s Cave, and and it’s a fantastic neighborhood walkthrough maze that Dave Larson has been doing with his son, Jacob, for many years.
Calico Jack was a fearsome pirate, plundering from wherever he pleased.
We first found this haunt on Halloween night two years ago and were impressed by its compact but impactful collection of monsters, effects, show scenes, and scares. Last year was even better, adding a cool kraken scene and enhancing the previous layout. 2020, however, had other plans, as it has with all facets of life, and a haunted maze run would just be too busy in the age of COVID. Instead, the Larsons got together and—with 16 year-old Jacob spearheading the effort—developed a haunted show that would dive into the backstory of the maze’s mythology. The result opened for its first weekend run this past Friday in the form of The Pirates Cave: Origins.
There are all sorts of different ways to do a haunted show, with differing levels of guest engagement or interaction depending on how deep one wants to go. Some haunted shows feature purely programmed animatronics and effects. Others incorporate projections and video effects to add a more modern, technologically-advanced component. Some will include some element of live actors too, in order to maintain that sense of dynamic interface that can’t be replicated by pre-programmed sequences.
He eventually met an untimely demise, however.
The Pirates Cave: Origins opts for the latter two, mixing video, projections, theatrical effects, and a live cast to recreate the legend of Calico Jack—one of the most feared pirates in the high seas whose saga was silenced after he met an unwitting end from divine providence itself! Calico Jack was once one of the most brutal buccaneers who ever sailed the oceans, plundering and killing with no mercy. However, it was an attack on a leper ship and execution of good, kind sailors simply trying to help the misfortuned obtain better treatment to ease their suffering that ultimately led to his end. Cursed by a higher power, Calico Jack and his solders became hideously disfigured, and their ships were swept over by ferocious storms that battered them to and fro. It was enough for his men to stage a mutiny and overthrow their captain, sending him to a grisly demise. And yet, as it seems with all powerful villains, his spirit could not be contained, and the forever-damned pirates still manifest every year at around this time.
Watching The Pirates Cave: Origin was like being pulled into a swashbuckling saga. Jacob Larson has expertly mixed video clips from several movies and overlaid dramatic audio tracks to craft a new story that looks slickly and professionally shot. All the while, a live cast composed of his friends must also perform in line with the stage cues and effects and storyline beats in an example of live theater. There are also practical effects—air blasts for some startle scares timed with sudden jolts in the action, water sprays to simulate the ocean waters, and even the reuse of last year’s kraken through a scrim during a climactic moment in the plot.
This show would be impressive enough if it was professionally done. The fact that this is a home haunt done by “amateurs” (heavy use of quotes there, as the status speaks to nothing about the immense quality) is even more impressive—and the fact that those “amateurs” are largely in high school is even more commendable. This is professional level work, produced and developed by precocious kids, and it is absolutely awesome. It’s a testament to the passion and commitment of the team, and a fantastic way of expressing their creativity through the performing arts.
But death could not fully contain him, or his cursed crew.
From a health safety side, the Larsons have done a nice job of providing socially distanced viewing spots for groups and limiting capacity per show. There are moments where the monsters will do jump scares toward the audience or move close, but the stage side is clearly demarcated and blocked off from the audience side, and the monsters generally maintain their social distance away from guests. All viewers are required to wear masks too, which limits the risk of Coronavirus spread. My only wish list would have been for the actors to also be masked, since even though the risk of Coronavirus impact to them as teenagers is low, they could still potentially spread the virus to others more vulnerable. But they have to play both life pirate and undead pirate characters, and there wouldn’t have been as easy of an opportunity to disguise the masks. Instead, the strategy has been to simply limit proximity.
That critique aside (needed in order to allow you the reader to make a risk evaluation for your own potential visit), The Pirates Cave: Origins is a tremendous and terrific achievement in spooky storytelling and a superb attraction for this Halloween season. Everyone has put in terrific work, from the show sets repurposed from the maze to the general lighting and having crew stationed for guest flow logistics and crowd management. In my opinion, this excellent haunted show is a must see for anyone in the City of Orange / Villa Park / Tustin area and for haunt fans in general!
The Pirates Cave: Origins builds with tension until its climactic finale, which also features the live actors coming out and scaring the audience with mild, somewhat distanced soft scares.
The Pirates Cave is located at 2548 E Garfield Ave, Orange, CA 92867 and continues its run this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, from 7:00 - 10:00pm. Admission is free (they do accept donations on site and donations via Venmo), and no advanced reservations are required. I’d avoid Halloween night—which figures to be extremely busy in the neighborhood—if possible. The show has been a huge hit in its first weekend, with guests raving about the experience, so go check it out if you’re interested—safely and healthily, of course
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
