Since we live in the age of advanced screenings, studio leaks, and bloggers with inside information, moviegoers sometimes need to make an extra effort to avoid learning too much about films before they see them. Some fans who took these steps to avoid spoilers for Splice, though, wound up seeing a movie quite different than what they were expecting.
The TV Spots and Trailers
The trailers and TV commercials for Splice show biochemists Elsa (Sarah Polley) and Clive (Adrien Brody) creating a new life form. Shocking moments like Elsa's arm getting pulled into an incubator and a victim being whisked off by an unseen creature also make appearances in all the TV ads and trailers. Music in the spots is ominous and the film's title and release date appear in red lettering on a black background.
Anyone who saw these ads would invariably conclude that Splice is a monster movie, one that is loaded with scares.
Visions of Horror
A quick sampling of moviegoers who attended a recent screening of Splice in Mississauga, Ontario, suggests that the ad campaign did entice some horror aficionados to see the film.
Oksana, an avid fan of horror films, felt let down. "I saw the commercials and thought this was going to be an awesome horror movie," she said. "But it wasn't. I wouldn't call it a horror. Don't know what you'd call it, actually. "
Engineering student Miguel, another horror film buff, concurred. "I thought it was going to be like Alien or [the Cronenberg version of] The Fly. It turned to be not that scary and just...weird."
When asked how he would have marketed the film, Miguel suggested, "I'd make the commercials more offbeat. Maybe focus on how Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley become parents for [the lab-created] Dren. There's some weird s--- going on there, so I'd use that."
Retired truck driver Larry also had thoughts about the TV ads. "I remember when commercials and [print] ads gave you a pretty good idea about what a film was going to be like. Not anymore, I guess. You see what looks like a great movie in the commercials but get something completely different once you plunk down your money."
When asked why he felt Splice was marketed this way, Larry offered, "Maybe the studio couldn't figure it out, didn't know how to sell it. Hell, I just saw the movie, and I'm not sure I have it figured out."
Keeping an Open Mind
Despite the marketing, some fans went into Splice without preconceptions.
"Sure, I saw the commercials," admitted Janine, a Web designer, "but I've seen [other Vincenzo Natali films] so I figured this one wasn't going to be a hardcore horror movie. It was different, it wasn't bad ."
Similarly, retail store manager Rashid did not believe Splice would be a straight horror. "The commercials and the movie's Web site got me interested, sure. But I've seen too many trailers to get suckered by them. They spin the movie one way [in the commercials] to lure in kids or whoever but then they give you something different. They do this sort of thing all the time."
Front-End Ticket Sales
While the ad campaign did help produce a top 10 debut for the film, it seems to have done so at a price. Horror fans drawn to Splice in its opening weekend are spreading the word about its genre-mixing act, which has had a negative effect on its box office total. Even largely positive reviews failed to keep Splice from taking a 60% dive in ticket sales in its second week. Like other horror-based marketing campaigns, the Splice ads generated front-end sales but are unable to maintain the momentum after people have seen the product.
Anthony Sin - Anthony Sin has been writing a while now, since The Beatles abandoned the clean-cut look in fact. Much to his surprise, he made it out of ...
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