Can a movie go too far?

In coming couple of weeks, the great RGV’s Phoonk is going to release. It’s a horror movie and there is a challenge supposedly in which any person who watches it alone in a theatre completely will be awarded a sum of 5 lakh rupees. On knowing this plan, the first question that came to my mind was who was going to pay for the rest of the seats in the empty theatre because obviously every next guy will perhaps want to make some quick bucks and the theatre owner can’t possibly allow so many empty shows on his own cost. Anyways, on a similar line, there was one yester-year movies by the name of “Jaani Dushman” also which had thrown such sort of challenge to the viewers. I wonder if such sort of promotional gimmick is also played in Hollywood or other woods.

This and the following few posts will be dedicated towards the various promotional tools and strategies used by the torture genre movies. This particular post will look into the taglines used by these kind of movies. The tagline is normally a catchy phrase which intends to make the reader curious about the movie. And at the same time it has the task of delivering to the reader what he or she can expect from the movie. Going forward, I am going to enlist some of the tag lines used by various movies.

Let me start with my favorite one which I am not sure I should categorize as horrifying or funny. This tagline is from the remake version of a movie named House of Wax and stars Paris Hilton. Paris Hilton perhaps needs no introduction and if there is a rating for few of the most hated celebrities, she perhaps will definitely come in the top three. And the movie promoters perhaps wanted to utilize this particular wave to promote their movie. Check one of the tagline:

a. On May 6th...See Paris Die!

Below enlisted are the various selected taglines along with their movie names. I have selected few of the taglines which perhaps are not as usual and which might dare the readers to try on the movie:

House of Wax (the original one, made in 1953):

b. UNLIKE ANYTHING YOU'VE SEEN BEFORE! (original print ad - all caps)

c. Nothing that has gone before can compare with this!

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

d. What you know about fear... doesn't even come close.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

e. Banned for over 7 years! Now finally released INTACT! UNCUT!

f. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

The hills have eyes (2006)

g. The lucky ones die first.

Hostel (2005)

h. Shen mer tsui huai neng fa sheng (What's the worst that could happen)

Paidia tou Diavolou, Ta (1975)

i. The lucky ones simply got their brains blown out.

j. The movie that the censors don't want you to see

Cannibal Ferox (1981)

k. They must pay for their crimes with blood and pain. For what they have done, Make Them Die Slowly

l. The most violent film ever made!

m. Banned in 31 countries!

The Incredible Torture Show (1976) – Yes, you read it right. That’s the name of the movie

n. Join The Fun!... Human Dart Boards... "Home Style Brain Surgery"... Dental Hijinks!

And finally coming to the last movie: Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

o. Ripout! Barbeque! Devour! How long can you take it?

p. They eat and they are eaten!

q. The most controversial movie of all-time

r. The most savage and brutal film in modern history

s. Can a movie go too far?

t. Better to rest in peace in the warm body of a friend than in the cold ground

u. The men you will see eaten alive, are the same who filmed these incredible sequences

v. You won't believe that what you're seeing could have happened!

Cannibal Holocaust perhaps alone is sufficient to engulf all the types of taglines that are used for such movies. And the above are only few of the taglines used for the movie. What’s common in the different taglines is their nature to dare the reader, to make question the reader if he can really take it. And to make him curious about the movie, e.g. all the tag lines telling about the controversy or ban makes the reader think what exactly could it have been that it created such controversy or was banned. Well, atleast that was what sucked me into going from one link to other researching on these movies and trying to find out what was picturised in the movie. Tell me, won’t you get sucked in?