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I'm not going to see 'Frailty' because...

post #1 of 13
4/11/02 at 1:18am
Thread Starter 
Stephen King, James Cameron, and Sam Raimi loved it. I'm going to see it because it looks absolutely fuckin' bizarre and interesting as all hell.

Sheesh, marketing for horror flicks (hell, any flick in general) has gotten mucho annoying. The only 'Frailty' trailer I've seen (on TV and in the theater) is the blurb-ridden stinker that tries to sell me based on the "Masters of Suspense" who dig the film. I mean...doesn't the studio feel confident in this flick at all?

Okay, I'll look at the reality of it: the film lacks "names" that'll attract a wide audience and the dark tone might steer many away. There must've been some....other...way to market this thing.

I haven't seen a marketing campaign this annoying since the Clive Barker debacle between 'Jeepers Creepers' and 'The Others'.
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post #2 of 13
4/11/02 at 4:01am
I think it's a decent marketing idea. How do you get people to see a horror movie with no big names and doesn't seem to have a big exploitable hook to put in your commercials like a monster or a guy in a mask? Pump it up with horror guys who say it's great. You have to discount Cameron though because obviously he's biased.
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post #3 of 13
4/11/02 at 8:01am
i'm going to see it because Paxton is not only in it but also directed it. hell, i've stuck with him in practically everything so far (yes, even "Slipstream" and "Mighty Joe Young")
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post #4 of 13
4/11/02 at 8:22am
Interesting topic choice, I was just thinking how annoying those ads are myself. Especially in light of what Rue Morgue has up on their site right now...

"The buzz around FRAILTY may have something to do with director Bill Paxton’s celebrity blitz. He recently told the press that he solicited publicity quotes from Stephen King, Sam Raimi and James Cameron after early press screenings produced some negative feedback. Apparently, the first-time director was scared that critics might not understand and support his film. Paxton was able to get in touch with Raimi and Cameron because he worked with them previously; however, he had to make a cold call to King’s writer’s office, which produced the following quote from King a month later: “It’s unique, thought-provoking, edge-of-the-seat entertainment.” We’ll have to wait until April 12 to see for ourselves if the king of plugs called it right."

Strange, don't you think? I wonder if I could cold-call King and get a quote out of him...
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post #5 of 13
4/11/02 at 10:43am
Im still wary about the Rue Morgue thang (though I have no idea how/why they'd announce inaccurate information) . I just don't want to believe that Paxton (I love this guy) would do something that cowardly. And did they see the movie that comes off as unclear to me...

As for the movie, I want to see it because it's interesteing and I think I'll like like it (and it's genre of course), and I would consider Paxton and McConaughey "names", not on the same public consciousness level as Sean Connery or Harrison Ford but I would think they're fairly well known.

Plus, horror fans will see this because it's horror and we tend to flock to anything genre related (the old take what you can get mentality, least for me), the blurbs (as blurbs always are) are for the people who are either be up in the air or not interested until they hear that booming voice announce the wisdom of Raim, Cameron, and King.

We'll just have to wait and see Friday whether it was worth the trouble of such high falootin promotion.
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post #6 of 13
4/11/02 at 12:08pm
The trailer on their official site and on apple.com was much better than the ones I've seen on the TV.
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post #7 of 13
4/11/02 at 2:31pm
I've deemed myself unworthy to be a horror fan, anymore. I went to see Frailty last night and fucking fell asleep.

I haven't fallen asleep at a movie since I was like six. I am so disgusted with myself.

The movie itself didn't put me to sleep. In fact, I was damned impressed with what I saw. It's just that I'd been running around at work all day and when I got to the theatre it was the first time I had sat down and boom, I was out like a light. I woke up about fifteen minutes before the movie ended. So, I saw just enough to get an idea of what the movie was about and then completely spoil the ending.

I should be shot...
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post #8 of 13
4/11/02 at 3:04pm
I agree with Lee, here. It sounds to me like the man is just doing what he can to get more recognition for the film.
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post #9 of 13
4/11/02 at 11:26pm
I love the ads.

I sat up straight in my chair when I heard the quotes being used in that ad. "Brilliant!" I thought. Instead of using quotes from critics or magazines, they're using quotes from 3 people that horror fans respect and listen to. "Now that's an ad that appeals to a horror audience," I said to myself.

I'm surprised that it would turn off the horror fans here. Need I remind people that the publicity for Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead benefited from a Stephen King quote? That wasn't such a bad thing, right?
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post #10 of 13
4/12/02 at 3:15am
Thread Starter 
Yes - I know King was blurbed for 'Evil Dead' but you know...the 'Frailty' ads are just so damned obnoxious. That's just me.
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post #11 of 13
4/12/02 at 1:07pm
My local theatre isn't playing this movie! This sucks instead they have changing lanes...gee wiz!
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post #12 of 13
4/12/02 at 1:35pm
I agree that it's kinda cool to see people we respect giving the film props, but the quotes are so stereotypical, they fall on deaf ears to most people now days. I'd love to see something from one of them that seemed less generic, I could find it a lot more believable then.

Maybe that's just me. Doesn't really matter, we're all going to see it anyway. Those of us that have it nearby, that is
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post #13 of 13
4/18/02 at 12:46am
From the April 19 issue of Entertainment Weekly:

It's a frightfully effective marketing campaign: Ads for Bill Paxton's directorial debut, the serial-killer thriller Frailty, costarring Matthew McConaughey, feature raves -- but not from the usual suspects. "The most disturbing horror picture I've seen since The Shining" crows Sam Raimi, who directed Paxton in A Simple Plan. "Electrifying," offers Aliens helmer James Cameron, while Stephen King calls it "edge-of-the-seat entertainment."

Paxton says collecting the blurbs wasn't as easy as calling his old bosses: "These are guys who won't put their name on until the quality goes in." And since Paxton didn't know King, he sent a Frailty screener last fall with crossed fingers. "I really just wrote him cold," Paxton admits. But why the novel approach, since reviews have been kind? "Rather than use bland quotes from critics nobody's ever heard of, we thought filmgoers might be better able to relate to [these three]," says Lions Gate prez Tom Ortenberg. No offense, Joel Siegel.
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