Ghouls, ghosts and goblins

Factory of Terror makes its annual return to Fall River

By JAY PATEAKOS

Herald News Staff Reporter

FALL RIVER- When ghouls, goblins and ghosts return to familiar haunts on Spring Street this Friday, expect things to be a different, darker, and scarier, ready or not.

    Tony and Sue Luizinho have re-created their 35 room Factory of Terror, a Fall River institution during the past eight years.  The Luizinhos said they plan to bring back old haunts this year and introduce a few new ones.

    "Every year, we make changes to make sure to keep the show fresh, to keep people coming back," said Tony Luizinho.  "People get spooked enough that their mind is going in so many directions, that they don't always see everything we put into the factory."

    Luizinho was mostly mum on what new attractions the factory is offering this year, but did say that there will be a new room devoted to Lizzie Borden and the return of last years big hit, the endless tunnel called the "black hole."

    Annually in September, the Luizinhos hold auditions for actors who will comprise the 34 to 36 characters who will work each night during the Factory's 25-day season.  A large number of last year's actors have returned this time around and will be supplemented by 37 new additions this year.

    According to the Luizinhos, the new actors, hired from a pool of more than 100 applicants, will fill existing slots or remain on stand-by duty throughout the season.

    "We are very strict on how we hire people.  They have to have talent," said Luizinho.

    "If they are deadbeats, we will get rid of them immediately.  We try to hold onto our actors and treat them right.  Inside the Factory, we are like family."

    Luizinho said he prefers to liken the Factory of Terror and its ghouls to the classic television series " The Addams Family" and "The Munsters," rather than more gruesome cinematic productions of recent years.

    Luizinho is usually the last person seen leaving the Factory of Terror.  He is customarily decked out in regular, everyday attire, minus makeup and costumes, and offers a stark contrast to customers who usually exit the building screaming for light.

    Luizinho said he always tries to talk to people on their way out of the Factory to be certain that they had an enjoyable experience. 

    "When I stand at the exit, if I ever get a group that says something (negative) about the factory, I can tell that there was a slacker (worker) in one of the last rooms," said Luizinho.  "We have to stay on top of everything.

    "You can 'take' the public once, but you can't 'take' them twice.  We want to make sure that we give them their money's worth."

    Back in the mid-1990s, Luizinho retired from a sea scalloping wholesale business and desired to open a seasonal business.  Along with Sue, he opted to create a haunted attraction that would evoke the best qualities of the fall season in New England.

    "We wanted to create something with taste, something that wasn't offensive.  Sue and I are not into the gore parts of things and we don't watch gory movies," said Luizinho.

    Luizinho noted that many church groups patronize the Factory and have never been offended by their work.

    "You can always do something geared toward the negative, but we look towards the positive, festive side of Halloween and the great fall season."

    Originally planning to open the Factory of Terror in Providence, the Luizinhos found a more suitable location in Fall River that featured easy access to major highways.

    Since its 1996 opening, Luizinho said that attendance has steadily increased at the Factory of Terror.  He attributed that success to learning from experience.

    "People don't understand that when we first moved in there, it was basically a big, empty space.  After that first year, we realized that we would either have to step up to the plate (invest more money) or go by the wayside, like so many other businesses do, " Luizinho said.

    After that first season, the Luizinhos invested nearly 400,000 in the business to improve the overall structure and props.

    Along with those improvements, a key turning point in the second year of operation ensured long-term success.  Luizanho convinced an artist from the Joe Blasco Studio in Orlando, Fla., make-up artists from Walt Disney World, to come to Fall River and teach his Factory of Terror artists the secrets behind the craft.

    The Blasco influence survives today at the Factory of Terror.  Instead of donning fake rubber masks, the terror portrait characters rely on painted faces to generate nightmare responses.

    "The Factory of Terror will continue to work very hard to make the public happy and we hope that they will be impressed with this years performance," said Luizinho, who stressed that the future of the business is bright.

    "We have a 20-year lease, so we plan on being around for awhile," he said.

    The Factory of Terror will be open Fridays and Saturdays only in September.

    The facility will open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays during the first two weeks in October, including Columbus Day; from Thursday through Sunday during the third week of the month; and from Tuesday through Halloween.

    Admission to the Factory of Terror is $12 for children younger than 10 and $16 for adults.

    Coupons worth $2 off the price of admission are available  through the Factory's Web site at www.factoryofterror.com. 

    Jay Pateakos may be reached at jpateakos@heraldnews.com. 

Fright Factory

For those looking for ghouls, spooks and hideous monsters, this Fall River warehouse manufactures first class horror

              By JAMES FINLAW

              Herald News Staff Reporter                                        

                      FALL RIVER-  These ghouls take their spooking seriously, and Sue Dias wouldn't have it any other way.  "Let me see your fangs, Luis!" shouts Dias, issuing the command  with a shriek of delight.  In response, a young man clad in black from head to toe strikes a menacing pose.  Sneering, he opens his mouth to reveal a  set of sharp vampire teeth.  Beneath the rose-tinted spectacles his eyes courtesy of a set of red contact lenses, glare demonically.  Dias, the only person in the room not dressed as some sort of evil spirit or monster, instantly breaks into applause at the sight.  Simultaneously, several garish figures in the dimly lit room let loose with enthusiastic whoops and cheers, obviously impressed by Luis' frightening display.

                    For the past five autumns. Dias and Tony Luizinho of Berkley have specialized in filling an old warehouse on Pearl Street with the most frightening collection of demons, spooks and ghouls this side of Hades. But at the Factory of Terror, the 35-room haunted house the couple owns and operates in the heart of the city, not just any witch, vampire or goblin will do.  You see, Dias is not content to simply scare customers by having men and women in Halloween masks leap from the darkness to yell boo.  She demands real terror.  To achieve that, each September  she holds formal auditions when assembling the Factory of Terror's cast of 37 creepy characters.  As a result, many of the monsters who roam the elaborately decorated halls and rooms the haunted factory have backgrounds in acting or performance art.

                    Rebecca Paiva, a 24-year-old Swansea resident currently employed at the Rhode Island School of Design, is one of those who auditioned and landed a role.  Wearing a wispy, gothic dress, wild hair and an insidious sneer, the aspiring actress demonstrates the spooky skills that earned her a place in the Factory's frightening family. "Teddy bears are evil, they are bad, they make mommies very sad," says Paiva in a creaking, tremulous voice.  As she continues with the twisted poem, her rouged lips part to reveal  a set of pointed fangs.  Dias smiles, eyes widening as she gleefully takes in the performance.  "...they kill little children in their sleep," concludes Paiva, finishing the piece with an evil leer.  "I liked it and I hired her," says Dias, applauding Paiva's efforts.

                    All of those who work at the Factory of Terror must meet Dias' standards.  She sits at a small table and the actors, as though auditioning for a theatrical role, perform monologues before her.  Since she designed all of the differently themed rooms in the haunted house, Dias slots the actors for the roles she thinks will maximize their particular terrifying talents.  She laughs when recalling what she said to Danielle Oliveira, a 27-year-old New Bedford   resident who is readying to pursue a master's degree in acting. "When she came in for an audition, I said, 'I want you in the bedroom,' and everyone laughed," says Dias.   Of course the Factory of Terror's bedroom is a  place where the bed levitates, ghastly pictures adorn the walls, and Oliveira's "madwoman" waits to frighten all who enter.  "Dominique is a madwoman... who kills and dismembers her husband, so they take her children away and lock her in a mental hospital," explains Oliveira of the character she created.

                     When Chris Lyndon, a 27-year -old New Bedford resident and actor who has experienced working at Disney World in Florida, came to audition, Dias  instantly tabbed him as the spectral presence that would first greet the Factory's guests.  Dressed in a dark cloak, with blood running from his eyes and mouth, Lyndon launches  into the eerie monologue in a deep, foreboding voice, Dias looks on intently, clapping as he finishes the piece with a maniacal cackle. "As soon as I heard it, I said, 'That's it. You're in the first room,'" she says.

                    For someone so adept at creating spooky sets and hand picking the actors that will chill and thrill Factory visitors, it is surprising to hear Dias say that she has no conception of where her macabre ideas come from.  "If somebody was to tell me six years ago that I'd be involved in a haunted house, I'd say they were crazy," she says.  Back then, Luizinho had just retired from the seafood business, and he and Dias were looking for a new business venture.  During a car ride, Dias says Luizinho mentioned opening a haunted house.  "I said, "A what?'" recalls Dias. "I never even watched the 'Friday the 13th' movies or anything like that." But soon she was smitten with the idea, and the couple settled on the four-story brick building at the corner of Pearl and Spring streets as the location for their new business venture.

            "We figured it had a central location between New Bedford and Providence, it was right off the highway, and we thought it looked spooky," she says.  In a year  they were up and running.  Soon hordes of thrill-seeking Halloween revelers were lining up for tickets.  "Every year we get better.  Thousands come through the doors and thrill to Halloween delights. I have a blast doing it," she says. While the acting skills of Factory employees play a large role in shaping the spooky atmosphere that pervades the old building, Dias equally credits her four expert make-up artists with making a walk through the factory a harrowing experience.  "We have very talented make-up artists: Dave Mello, Bob Perry, Linda Corr and Tony Medeiros," says Dias proudly.  The artists are crucial in bringing characters like "The Butcher" vividly to life.  Played by Joe Stephens of Assonet, who is one of the few Factory players without a background in drama or performance art, "The Butcher" is a gruesome sight.  Stephens' character wears a blood-spattered butcher's apron, a black vest, and sports a deep gash atop his head.  Blood drips from the the open wound, from which ribbons of glistening flesh hang.

                    Make-up artist Bob Perry, who doubles as an actor at the Factory, explains why he enjoys creating bloody wounds and severed limbs.  "I like killing people," he says, adding an evil chuckle.  However, not all of those who inhabit the haunted house are intent upon frightening the wits out of people.  Tony Medeiros, a 35-year-old Fall River resident, has provided comic relief at the Factory for the past four years.  a professional clown by trade, Medeiros is full of humorous quips, one-liners and retorts.  Once again this year he will be entertaining the crowds on the sidewalk outside the haunted house.  As customers await admission, Medeiros performs magic tricks, tells jokes and regales them with silly stories.  Fittingly he is outfitted as Beetlejuice, a wisecracking evil spirit made famous by actor Michael Keaton in a 1988 feature film of the same name.

        As one of the Factory's graybeards, Medeiros explains why so many actors return to perform at the haunted house year after year.  "It is cool and it becomes like a family. You're with your friends and it is a good time," he says. The Factory of Terror is open now until Halloween from 6 to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; and 6 to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.  It will also be open on Columbus Day from 6 to 10 p.m., and every day of the week preceding Halloween.

                     For the strong of heart, the Factory is also presenting its own twisted version of the hit television show "Survivor."  Those who register for the contest must spend an entire night in the Factory.  "You have to survive the night, and you will win a trip for two to Universal Studios in Florida," says Dias.  "It is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.  They have to survive certain tasks, and we can throw them out if they don't do a  certain thing," adds Dias, not elaborating on the nature of the contest. Those interested in registering for the survival competition can learn more at the Factory of Terror's Web site:  www.factoryofterror.com. 

Fright is serious business at this Factory

By KATHERINE IMBRIE 10/1998
Journal Staff Writer

Journal photo/SCOTT KINGSLEY

Chucky's there, Freddie's there, the scary guy from Scream is there ­ and they are all awaiting visitors at the Factory of Terror in Fall River, one of dozens of Halloween spectacles open this month in Rhode island and nearby Southeastern Massachusetts. Located just over the Braga Bridge, about a 20-minute drive east of Providence, the Factory of Terror is in its third year, the invention of Tony Luizinho and Sue Dias of nearby Freetown, Mass., who started planning in March for this year¹s Halloween extravaganza, which runs nightly through Oct. 31."Our big thing is detail," says Luizinho. "Like at Disney World in Florida ­ the attention to the details of how things look is very important there. Instead of using rubber masks, our characters have painted faces." How things look at the Factory of Terror is, in a word, scary. Visitors are let into a maze of dark corridors inside a brick former factory building whose entrance now bears a large sign for "Factory of Terror" and a lurking gargoyle. It takes about half an hour to wend your way through Factory ­ longer if you¹re not too frightened by the monsters and creepy characters jumping out at you to pause and admire the craftsmanship of individual tableaux, such as skeletal bodies in crypts and mad doctors' laboratories. "Don't touch the monsters," visitors are instructed as they are let into the maze. "They will be in your face, but don't touch them!" They ARE in your face. Some 30 people dressed as madmen, devils, dead bodies, werewolves and characters from well-known horror movies taunt and generally bedevil small groups of quivering customers (who have paid $8 to $10 a head for the pleasure) in the 30 small rooms that make up the factory. It was scary. The two boys I went with (13-year old Michael Nestell of Warren and 12-year old Joe Sturm of Barrington) bore it manfully, but we made a pretty funny-looking conga line or terrorized humanity as we shuffled along the corridors with Michael's mother, Andrea, bravely bringing up the rear. "I like to be in the middle," said Joe later. "If you're either at the beginning or the end, they tend to bother you more."

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