'Prom Night' Promo Makes 'Em Scream

In order to promote the new Prom Night remake, Screen Gems designed a neat twist on the usual standees that you see at the multiplex. The cardboard display features a set of doors, which theater patrons are tempted to open up; when they do, an usher or some other theater employee jumps out and scares the crap out of them. As you can see in the YouTube video above, the stunt has even evolved into a viral marketing tool, as clips of moviegoers getting frightened are being uploaded to the net. I'm just waiting for the one that has an old codger faking a heart attack, only to turn the trick back on the theater staff when he screams "just kidding!". Of course, there's also a good chance that these standees are indeed unsafe for people with heart conditions.

I'm not sure if I'd have wanted to participate in something like this when I was a theater employee. Sure, it looks like a lot of fun (the kid in that video is perfectly into it), and I recall a lot of regulars that I'd have loved to scare, but I wouldn't want to be the one to accidentally kill an old lady. Plus, I'd feel kind of strange aiding in the promotion of a movie that is probably less scary than I am (when jumping out of the doors, I mean). Prom Night is only rated PG-13, after all. Not to say that I'm actually R-rated. Though now that I think about it, I can easily imagine a lot of theater employees screaming out inappropriate things, especially when jumping out at young people, who presumably wouldn't mind so much.

Prom Night opens nationwide this Friday.