Lionsgate's Latest Advertising "Descent"
Filed under: Horror, Lionsgate Films, Fandom, Movie Marketing
Let's make two things clear right off the bat. #1: I love, love, love the Lionsgate folks. They've given us some of the very best horror flicks of the past half-decade or so, and I'll gladly sit through their direct-to-video junkpiles in exchange for stuff like Saw, Hostel, High Tension, Frailty, and (especially) May. No snark here: LG gets my respect. #2: I seriously believe that Neil Marshall's The Descent is one of the best horror flicks of the past twenty years. Yes, seriously. (Even Rocchi liked it!)So please don't think I'm a heartless whiner when I opine that this all-new domestic one-sheet for The Descent is a big fat load of ridiculousness. (We snipped only a portion of the poster because good ol' JoBlo got the exclusive peek, and we're not about to steal his thunder.) But here's a little game you can play. Click right here to see the new American poster in all its massive ... glory. Then click here, here, and here to see how other countries have been marketing the film. I mean, I know the flick is a tough sell and all, what with the "no-name" cast and the rather simple "women in cave face horror" logline, but hell: I'd rather go with a one-sheet consisting of nothing but enthusiastic review blurbs than this "gymnastic skull-face" approach. If you knew nothing about The Descent, this new poster would make you think it's a flick about a Satanic Twister mat at a sorority sleepover. (Yes, I know it's inspired by a Dali photograph, but that doesn't make it any less goofy!)
Oh, and while I'm griping ... howzabout a release date, LG? The rest of the world already has this flick on a deluxe 2-disc special edition!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-25-2006 @ 2:45PM
Tom said...
Im going to have to agree with you on this one. I bought the 2-disc Region-2 edition after reading reviews on how good this movie is and it is definently one of the best horror movies i've seen in a long time, but this one sheet is horrible. I prefer the other ones much more. And yes, props to lions gate for their recent releases... keep em coming
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5-25-2006 @ 2:59PM
Richard von Busack said...
May's a first rate movie--I wish it had gotten a serious release outside of NY and LA.
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5-25-2006 @ 3:13PM
Peter said...
I saw that poster at AITH this morning and just laughed. I may not like the movie, but I can still respect it enough to feel bad for that abysmal piece of marketing.
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5-25-2006 @ 7:54PM
Finished.Law.School said...
I saw this film months ago. While the ending is somewhat realistic I thought the ending also killed the film and afterwards I felt like it was all a waste of time...
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5-25-2006 @ 10:10PM
thegrizzle said...
That is the assiest poster I've seen in a long time. I don't know how much posters actually do for a film anymore, but that one's not doing anyone any favors.
Descent is most definitely one of the best horror films I've seen in a long long time. Even watched on my tiny laptop screen in the middle of the night gave me bad dreams I haven't experienced since I saw the Exorcist when I was 9.
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5-25-2006 @ 10:44PM
Peter said...
Finished.Law.School, if you hated the ending it may be worth knowing that the American release has a newly edited wrap-up that cuts off the 'second' ending of the original print.
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5-25-2006 @ 10:48PM
tim said...
Are you guys kidding? I saw this movie at Sundance and the whole crowd seemed pretty disappointed. The scares are all about loud noises and quick motion - not once does this movie get into your brain. MAYBE this'll be the best horror film most people see in a given month, but the last 20 years? I don't understand the fuss over this at all.
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5-26-2006 @ 3:42AM
Peter said...
Hey, I'm with you tim. I think The Descent is nothing more than a find/replace job that scoured through the Alien franchise, replacing the word 'spaceship' with 'cave', and 'xenomorph' with 'humanoid cavedweller'. Marshall couldn't even be bothered to come up with more than a handful of shots that couldn't be found in any other similar film, especially the aforementioned Alien franchise.
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