This review of BL4KM4SS‘ M P4rt II contains minor spoilers for characters, themes, and structure. Thank you to Taylor Winters for his contributions to this review.

I’m alone in a crowded bar. I order a blended tropical drink and look for my contact: a man known as Clausen. My task is simple: pretend my drink is drugged, get kidnapped, and get any information I can from The Company. Within minutes, a couple approaches me, flirty, playful, and fun. They ask me to leave with them and join them for something a bit more pleasurable. Little do I know that I’m about to be handcuffed, hooded, and transported to an underground prison where people want to do me harm. Wait, did Clausen ever give me a plan for extraction?

BL4KM4SS’ M P4rt II is a 50-minute, solo immersive horror experience in Long Beach during which guests take on a new job given by Clausen in an attempt to gain information about The Company, a new group that guests are introduced to for the first time here. By the end, guests are offered a unique choice that hopefully will come to fruition. This is the fourth full-length experience from the company, following P4rt I, Prelude, and a side quest (Clausen: Inauguration). Participants are led through in a linear fashion as they are transitioned through two main locations. Contact is mainly light, but the atmosphere is always tense with anticipation.

The narrative itself continues to fill out the world of the M Series, providing more context for guests to enjoy. However, despite a stronger and more detailed storyline than any of their previous work, the plot is rife with inconsistencies and holes. It is unclear why certain characters we have met in the past are guards in this experience, especially if they are just as capable of gaining the information that we are sent in to find. Further, little to no information is given to us about The Company – if we are to make a decision in the future and this was our introduction, we’ll need to know more in regards to why we should join them.

Learning from previous experiences (e.g., Clausen: Inauguration), M P4rt II provides more interactivity for participants in spades. Numerous opportunities have guests holding back assailants, asking and answering questions, and even taking up a weapon to ensure a safe getaway. There were multiple times I was asked to help with various tasks or take the lead. One of my favorite scenes was when I was asked to play a hostage negotiator and was able to yell demands through a walkie as a man begged for his life right under me.

The two locations complement each other wonderfully. The bar is crowded and loud, yet one feels seemingly alone among a sea of people. It’s easy to imagine someone being drugged and taken without a single person noticing. The prison is dark, draped in tarps, and confined. Yet, as the action shifts, the lighting changes to an overbearing brightness that empowers participants to escape and not miss the mark. There’s little to no set pieces in here, apart from a couch, which sets an eerie tone to the blood bath guests help facilitate. There was even a section during which I was walked through a home where an older woman yelled to “get this trash out of here,” ensuring that I truly felt like a piece of meat.

Where BL4KM4SS truly shines is in their use of special effects. Unlike other horror immersives, every stab, every cut is accompanied by squirting blood. They also add in weapons that serve to heighten the tension. While I don’t want to spoil exactly what these weapons are, it’s a wonderful moment when they are put in your hands rather than watching an actor use it, like many other shows would have done. Giving participants the agency to fight back makes this battle much more personal.

While not a physically intense show, M P4rt II is definitely intense through its quick pace and tension-filled moments; easily some of BL4KM4SS’ best work. The intensity comes from the anticipation of what’s going to come next. There are a lot of new characters to explore as well as special effects. I would have liked to see things explained a little better as the story unfolded, but overall the actors are intense and the locations work with the storyline making it an enticing and engaging production.

Guests do not need to have attended previous shows to jump into the storyline. Keep up to date on BL4KM4SS shows by following them on Instagram. Check out our Event Guide for more extreme horror events throughout the year.

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