Buzz
With the increasing challenge of promoting new films in a way that captures the public's attention and fills cinema seats, film producers had to become more inventive. In recent years, this led to a wave of humorous and, at times, unsettling pranks designed to stir up curiosity and excitement. What follows are 10 such pranks that not only amused, but also managed to frighten unsuspecting participants.
10. All Eyes On You
The first Ouija movie may have failed to impress critics, receiving a meager 6% on Rotten Tomatoes, but its promotional stunt achieved viral success. A prank created by a marketing agency in 2014 gained over 2 million views on YouTube, cleverly exploiting people's superstitions surrounding Ouija boards.
The prank centers around a woman with bulging eyes, who sets up a fortune-telling booth to entice people into a ‘free reading’. Using a Ouija board to predict their futures, she then shocks her 'clients' by suddenly making her eyes bulge grotesquely from her face. As the terror escalates, a 'corpse' crashes through the floor beneath them, sending people into a frenzy.
Just a heads-up: The eye-popping scene is pretty disturbing, so if you’re squeamish, you might want to skip this one.
9. Turn Off the TV!
Picking out a new TV is a thrilling experience. It requires careful thought, especially when deciding the ideal resolution and screen size for the space you want to fill. But the last thing you'd expect while examining the TVs is for one to display a trailer for the movie Rings, which ends with the horrifying Samara crawling out of the screen.
That’s exactly what happened when unsuspecting shoppers, completely unaware of the hidden cameras around them, were startled by the sight of Samara while browsing a TV store.
Watch it, and then you die.
8. Baby, It’s Freezing Out Here
While the disaster movie Geostorm didn't exactly win over critics and audiences, it did feature some truly unforgettable scenes. These include massive hailstones the size of boulders, towering skyscrapers collapsing like a row of dominoes, and the terrifying sight of a tsunami racing toward Dubai. One of the most striking images was of people trapped in the desert and sunbathers fleeing a vicious cold front, only to be instantly frozen.
To promote this film, an extravagant prank involved a taxi cab that was rigged to broadcast a fake breaking news report. On a scorching summer day, an entire city block was turned into a frozen wasteland. Inside the taxi, passengers encountered frozen ‘corpses’ and dead birds plummeting onto the windshield. The real kicker was the shocked expressions of commuters as they realized everyone outside had been frozen in place.
7. It’s a Carnage Fest
The 2013 remake of Carrie saw a number of pranks designed to drum up excitement for the film. One of the most memorable took place in a coffee shop, where a man was mysteriously lifted and slammed against the wall after an unsuspecting ‘customer’ lost control and unleashed her supposed ‘telekinetic’ powers.
A prank set up in a Russian nightclub aimed to terrify bathroom-goers. As they washed their hands, foamy 'blood' started appearing while they rubbed the soap between their fingers. When they reached for a paper towel, the truth behind the blood was revealed.
6. Mirror, Mirror, What’s That Behind Me?
A familiar trope in many horror films involves a protagonist staring at their reflection in the mirror after splashing water on their face to shake off a nightmare. In some cases, when they open a bathroom cabinet and close it again, a different face is seen inside the mirror or a menacing figure lurks behind them.
For The Conjuring 2, a terrifying prank was staged using a two-way mirror that displayed the eerie nun, Valak, to unsuspecting bathroom visitors. As they gazed into the mirror, the lights flickered and Valak seemingly jumped out from the glass. But that wasn’t the end—watch the video to see the hilarious reaction of the last unsuspecting person.
5. Is That You, Jaws?
Sharknado is a five-film series that’s famously bad, yet incredibly entertaining for all the wrong reasons. With its awful special effects, cringeworthy dialogue, and laughable sharks spiraling in a ridiculously fake tornado, it screams B-movie. No one ever expected the first film to spawn a sequel, but here we are. With taglines like ‘Enough Said!’ and ‘Make America Bait Again,’ it’s hard not to roll your eyes.
Thankfully, there's a hilarious prank that makes up for the sheer ridiculousness of these films. For Sharknado 2: The Second One, Syfy set up an animatronic shark in a London fishmonger's store. Hidden cameras caught the bewildered reactions of shoppers as the shark sprang to life when they walked past it. Don’t miss the elderly woman’s unflappable response to the chaos.
4. Annabelle Awakens
To drum up excitement for the spinoff of The Conjuring, Annabelle, producers staged a creepy prank at the 2014 Toronto Fan Expo. They dressed a woman as the infamous doll and positioned her to look like a mannequin, allowing unsuspecting visitors to take photos with her.
As they set up for the perfect shot, the ‘mannequin’ suddenly came to life and lunged at them. Watch their startled reactions as they scramble to escape.
3. Skip the bus stop
Many claim to have no fear of any of the Child's Play films, past or future, which is understandable given that the villain is just a small, creepy doll. But imagine hearing eerie noises at a bus stop, only to have a life-sized Chucky doll suddenly spring out at you – that's a completely different kind of terror. This comedic promotional clip for the 'Curse of Chucky' movie shows exactly that happening.
Is that Ronald McDonald? Wait, no…
Though IT isn't the most frightening movie you'll ever watch, the last thing anyone probably wants to do is step into a cinema to find themselves face-to-face with a real-life version of the creepy clown. When IT debuted at Prime Cinemas in Bolivia, the staff thought it would be fun to have someone dress as the sinister clown and frighten unsuspecting moviegoers. Despite the questionable makeup and the clown resembling a poor version of Michael Myers, he still managed to deliver the scares. Of course, some people are hard to frighten.
2. Not your typical infant
The 2014 horror film 'Devil’s Due' used an unforgettable marketing stunt to promote its release. A pram was sent rolling through New York City, moving seemingly on its own. When curious onlookers went to check it out, they were shocked to find an animatronic devil baby leaping out of the pram, straight from their worst nightmares. The baby attracted people by crying, only to horrify them when they saw its monstrous face. To make it even worse, this devilish baby also had a tendency to projectile vomit and flip people off.
1. A very different kind of open house
The success of the first 'Paranormal Activity' film led to a series of sequels, including 'Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension' in 2015. In a creative promotional stunt for the latter, the real house used in the first film was turned into a mock 'open house.' Unknowing potential buyers walked through the property, only to experience far more than they expected. Let’s just say it was a warm welcome to the Ghost Dimension for them!
++ When food fights back
To promote the R-rated animated comedy 'Sausage Party,' Seth Rogen created an unusual prank in a supermarket. He placed animatronic food products around the store and then used a microphone behind the scenes to make them come to life. Some of the food items had a lot to say, with some swearing and others guilt-tripping customers by asking if they were there to eat their friends and family. Not everyone was scared, though—among the talking items were a loaf of bread, a cantaloupe, and a smoked sausage. Check out the video to watch one customer’s reaction to the bread talking to him.
