Is it a “Miss” or Simply a “Mismarket”?
Monsters, Mismarketing and mother!, as an example
I love movie trailers. I’ve even cried during the opening trailers at the movie theater an embarrassing amount of times. I used to watch one trailer after another on YouTube to determine what upcoming movies I was going to go see.
Fast forward to now, like most people, I avoid watching trailers like the plague. At best, they give you an expectation for the movie that alters the viewing experience.
A perfect example of this is book-to-movie adaptations. I find, pretty much always, whichever I consumed first is the version I prefer. Because once you have a set expectation for something in your mind, it’s never going to measure up. Test this out by watching a movie you expected to love and see if you find it meh vs. one you expected to hate which ends up being “actually not that bad.” Expectations are everything.
In the worst-case scenario, trailers can totally spoil a film — a kind of hilarious phenomenon that is now well-documented. But there’s some marketing you simply can’t avoid; such was the case for the 2022 supernatural horror Prey for the Devil.
Let Us Pray
Prey for the Devil is about a nun, Sister Ann, who desires to be the first woman trained under the Roman Catholic Church to perform the rite of exorcism.
Now, as I write the description of this movie, I can’t help but feel that it sounds silly. It was not praised by reviewers and received low scores from critics and general audiences. I’m not here to jump to this movie’s defense — there definitely were issues, primarily that the script, acting and direction of this film were reminiscent of a Lifetime movie, where things are overly polished, obvious and more than a little cheesy.
However, I do think it would be a challenge for even a perfectly made and marketed demonic possession film to do well in this day and age. There’s been a noticeable downtrend in both ghost and demonic-themed horrors. (Not one of Collider’s best horror movies of 2022 features demons, for example.)
Whereas the early 2010s had plenty of well-received demonic possession/ghost movies like Insidious (2010), Sinister (2012), and The Conjuring (2013), the subgenre has since declined substantially. Horror movies in the 2020s seem to focus more on physical than existential fears, with body horror, slashers and cannibalism being more prominent themes.
You can witness this downtrend in demonic horror popularity within The Conjuring series. The most recent film in the franchise is The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), which Rotten Tomatoes says, “represents a comedown for the core Conjuring films.” The latest from the Lorraine and Ed Warren cinematic universe, The Nun 2, is set to release later this year. Let's watch that space and see if it tanks.
Down with Demons?
The lack of interest in demonic possession movies may be because current American audiences are not as religious as audiences were during the age in which The Exorcist (1973) was regarded as the scariest movie of all time.
Or it may be the fact that post-Covid, where the world is still wrestling with the pandemic, as well as incredible wealth disparity, a recession, global unrest and racism/sexism/xenophobia on the forefront — we don’t have time to be worried about no damn demons.
But, I digress as this article isn’t about how subgenres reflect our nation's most prominent fears of the moment (although that might be a topic I tackle in a future article).
Let’s Talk About Mismarketing
The marketers for Prey for the Devil seized an opportunity to market off the back of another movie that they knew would undoubtedly get buzz, Halloween Ends (2022). You might remember the ads that seemed to pop up between every 5 tweets: “Halloween doesn’t end until you Prey for the Devil!”
Rather than negatively viewing their film releasing the same weekend as a horror giant, the advertisers saw it as an opportunity to piggyback off the hype — which I think was a clever idea. But, with these tongue-in-cheek ads in mind, Prey for the Devil was marketed as a fun popcorn horror — which it was not.
To paint with an extremely broad brush, horror movies generally fall into two categories: ones that are fun, and ones that aren’t.
Halloween Ends, despite its dark subject matter and some of the most ruthless kills I’ve ever seen on screen, is well within the fun category. There’s comic relief and plenty of moments where the audience would burst into cheer.
Prey for the Devil better fits into the not-fun category. Now, this is not inherently bad. Plenty of high-rated horrors, and some of my own personal favorites, would fall into the not-fun category. These could also be described as slow burns, atmospheric or moody — think The Witch (2015), It Comes at Night (2017) and Hereditary (2018).
What happens when these types of slow-burn thinkers are marketed as fun popcorn thrillers? Audiences get pissed!
Take mother! for example as a perfect case of mismarketing. I remember the news stories around mother! — that it was labeled “A Mother of a Box Office Failure” because it was only the twelfth movie (at the time) to receive an F rating by CinemaScore. When I watched it, I understood why. If you go off of the trailer alone, it looks like it’s going to be an Amityville Horror meets Strangers dynamic. It is not.
I won’t spoil mother! because it’s an excellent existential horror absolutely worth a watch. But I’ll level your expectations by explaining that the movie is one long moody metaphor where you won’t laugh, cheer or react to a jump scare. It’s the type that deeply unsettles you and burrows into your brain, leaving a lasting imprint.
This is actually reflected in the CinemaScore, which basically rates how much the audience liked it, bearing in mind what they were expecting from the film. Out of the 12 movies with an F on CinemaScore at the time of mother!’s release, over half are horror movies of the not-fun variety, including Wolf Creek (2005), The Wicker Man (2006) and The Box (2009).
Why Mismarket?
I can only speculate as to why not-fun horror movies get mismarketed into the fun category. It begs the question: Is the purpose of movie marketing to put as many butts in seats as possible or to make sure the movie is pitched to the right audience?
Not-fun horror movies are not for everyone. So marketers of these films have a unique challenge, do they market it to the right audience for better reviews or market it to a wide audience and suffer failing reviews in exchange for more ticket sales/streams?
Research points out the disconnect — typically, the movie makers don’t decide how the movie gets marketed. The task is usually passed from the production company to a marketing agency, whose goal is to “make as much money as possible.”
If a studio like independent entertainment company A24 is producing your horror movie, you may be more likely to get paired with an aligned marketing strategy. (Imagine if The Lighthouse (2019) or The Witch were marketed to be fun horrors.) But, if your production companies are Lionsgate or Paramount Pictures, like Prey for the Devil and mother! respectfully, you’re more likely to wind up with this problem.
So what does this mean for you, the viewer? Regardless of how the movie is marketed, do whatever you can to leave your expectations at the door ahead of the movie, and you’ll likely have a better viewing experience. If you’re obsessed with this phenomenon like I am, watch the trailer after the movie to see how the two line up — or don’t.
What other horror movies are mismarketed? OR totally spoiled by the trailer?