Movie marketing in general has been in the toilet. I’m still shocked that last year, there was a new Spike Lee movie with Denzel Washington as the lead and I didn’t hear a peep about it until two weeks (!!) before release, and that was in a newsletter from the AFI Silver Theater. I did see ads for Primate and The Bone Temple but it was in front of other movies, not much elsewhere. It’s like Hollywood decided we need ten new movies a week but only heavily market four per year.
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR broke me too when I read it. I met Dallas shortly afterward at my first Necon in 2000 and told him the book messed me up. He replied that he was glad it messed me up, because he wouldn't want to meet the kind of person it didn't.
Roleplaying. Omg. I miss playing edition two of Vampire the Masquerade so much. That was the BEST. And with the storm rolling in right now, we’re about to run a family D&D campaign.
The only over the air TV we consume is local news, national news and a mind boggling amount of sports with the emphasis of pro and college football. I tend to turn of my attention span when commercials run, but in this case we were carpet bombed with commercials for Primate and The Bone Temple and saw at least a few for the latest Silent Hill. So at least in the case of the first two films they both got plenty of TV promotion. No idea what that means about the demographics. We live in the Rocky Mountain area maybe that figures in some way.
I think the lack of advertising for a lot of movies is a part of the studios desire to just get rid of the theatrical experience and move everything to streaming.
As far as PRIMATE...my wife, who hates Horror movies, decided that she needed to get my unemployed ass out of the house and cheer me up a little, so she bit the bullet and endured a killer monkey movie. Which she ended up loving, go figure. I had a great time, too. Fun, gory, nature-run-amok throwback.
What a great piece of writing on Ketchum, Brian. As you know, he was one of my biggest inspirations as an author, if not the biggest. Receiving praise from him was one of the highlights of my life. Though I never got to know him well, I met him on a handful of occasions, and he was always gregarious and encouraging of my writing. In that regard, he was a gracious man, as well as an immense talent. While most known for "Girl" and "Off Season," I recommend readers pick up "The Lost." It's my personal favorite. His storytelling is immaculate.
About once a month or so I go onto youtube and type "upcoming horror trailers." This way even as a 50 year old guy, or over 5000 as my daughter tells me I apparently am, this way I can see every new trailer available. Just a cheat sheet for yall older dude and gals like myself. Stay safe during the storm.
I told my husband I've seen no ads for Return to Silent Hill. I've known about it because I watched the Silent Hill Transmission video Konami did a few years ago. They announced the movie and games.
The Silent Hill groups I'm in have been talking about it since a release date was revealed.
Whoa, what?! There’s another 28 Years Later?? Thank you so much for this! I also thought it was the same movie that came out a few months ago. I really love your emails btw.. You mentioned the film Dinner in America in one of them, and we decided to watch it based on your recommendation—it has now become one of our favorite movies. Thanks again!
To back up what another person in the comments said, it's not true that Primate and Bone Temple were not promoted, though I can imagine it might appear that way if you are siloed off from certain sections of the pop culture landscape. Both of those movies, Primate in particular, were relentlessly advertised, among other places, on ESPN during hockey and football games. I also saw an enormous amount of positive hype for Bone Temple across multiple social media platforms, as well as a number of glowing reviews from major outlets. That said, I saw far less about the Silent Hill movie, which did seem to come out with almost no fanfare whatsoever. Strange for such a long-running franchise.
Thank you for this. Always love learning and hearing more about Ketchum. He's an inspiration for me and regret that I never got to meet him. This week's newsletter inspired me to revisit his talk on "Writing from the Wound" and put some words down myself. Thank you.
I really enjoyed this one! Thanks Brian ❤️
Movie marketing in general has been in the toilet. I’m still shocked that last year, there was a new Spike Lee movie with Denzel Washington as the lead and I didn’t hear a peep about it until two weeks (!!) before release, and that was in a newsletter from the AFI Silver Theater. I did see ads for Primate and The Bone Temple but it was in front of other movies, not much elsewhere. It’s like Hollywood decided we need ten new movies a week but only heavily market four per year.
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR broke me too when I read it. I met Dallas shortly afterward at my first Necon in 2000 and told him the book messed me up. He replied that he was glad it messed me up, because he wouldn't want to meet the kind of person it didn't.
Roleplaying. Omg. I miss playing edition two of Vampire the Masquerade so much. That was the BEST. And with the storm rolling in right now, we’re about to run a family D&D campaign.
The only over the air TV we consume is local news, national news and a mind boggling amount of sports with the emphasis of pro and college football. I tend to turn of my attention span when commercials run, but in this case we were carpet bombed with commercials for Primate and The Bone Temple and saw at least a few for the latest Silent Hill. So at least in the case of the first two films they both got plenty of TV promotion. No idea what that means about the demographics. We live in the Rocky Mountain area maybe that figures in some way.
Thanks, Brian -- wonderful words about Dallas. He was one of our very best writers, and a real friend.
I think the lack of advertising for a lot of movies is a part of the studios desire to just get rid of the theatrical experience and move everything to streaming.
As far as PRIMATE...my wife, who hates Horror movies, decided that she needed to get my unemployed ass out of the house and cheer me up a little, so she bit the bullet and endured a killer monkey movie. Which she ended up loving, go figure. I had a great time, too. Fun, gory, nature-run-amok throwback.
What a great piece of writing on Ketchum, Brian. As you know, he was one of my biggest inspirations as an author, if not the biggest. Receiving praise from him was one of the highlights of my life. Though I never got to know him well, I met him on a handful of occasions, and he was always gregarious and encouraging of my writing. In that regard, he was a gracious man, as well as an immense talent. While most known for "Girl" and "Off Season," I recommend readers pick up "The Lost." It's my personal favorite. His storytelling is immaculate.
About once a month or so I go onto youtube and type "upcoming horror trailers." This way even as a 50 year old guy, or over 5000 as my daughter tells me I apparently am, this way I can see every new trailer available. Just a cheat sheet for yall older dude and gals like myself. Stay safe during the storm.
I'm going to have to read this book, aren't I? (insert extremely squeamish face emoji)
I told my husband I've seen no ads for Return to Silent Hill. I've known about it because I watched the Silent Hill Transmission video Konami did a few years ago. They announced the movie and games.
The Silent Hill groups I'm in have been talking about it since a release date was revealed.
My husband and I plan to see it next week.
28 years later part 2 was an great movie. Picks up where the 1st one ended. Great scene with with Iron Maiden song.
Thank you for the motivation to re-read The Girl Next Door.
Whoa, what?! There’s another 28 Years Later?? Thank you so much for this! I also thought it was the same movie that came out a few months ago. I really love your emails btw.. You mentioned the film Dinner in America in one of them, and we decided to watch it based on your recommendation—it has now become one of our favorite movies. Thanks again!
To back up what another person in the comments said, it's not true that Primate and Bone Temple were not promoted, though I can imagine it might appear that way if you are siloed off from certain sections of the pop culture landscape. Both of those movies, Primate in particular, were relentlessly advertised, among other places, on ESPN during hockey and football games. I also saw an enormous amount of positive hype for Bone Temple across multiple social media platforms, as well as a number of glowing reviews from major outlets. That said, I saw far less about the Silent Hill movie, which did seem to come out with almost no fanfare whatsoever. Strange for such a long-running franchise.
Thank you for this. Always love learning and hearing more about Ketchum. He's an inspiration for me and regret that I never got to meet him. This week's newsletter inspired me to revisit his talk on "Writing from the Wound" and put some words down myself. Thank you.