This Might Be The Most Metal PR Gimmick Of All Time

Winter is coming... but before that, Halloween will be here. A lot of readers here love the horror film genre (I'm looking at you, HIM!) so I just had to share this little side hustle opportunity: a finance company is looking for someone to watch 13 hours of horror flicks while monitoring heart rate and emotional response. The whole deal is about interpreting a film's budget to it's success at scaring the crap out of people. Now, one person does not a scientific study make, but this is a fun gimmick for the horror fan chosen to earn an easy $1,300 while literally doing nothing but watching movies. I tip my hat to FinanceBuzz because I doubt I ever would have mentioned them on this site, but this idea just screams metal.

Comments

[Him]

Thanks for the shout out, Allyson! Much appreciated. Obviously, I heard about this. And so I went a-researching.

The first thing that caught my attention was this: "You'll help us discover whether or not a movie's budget impacts just how dread-inducing it can be by wearing a Fitbit to monitor your heart rate while you work your way through the list of 13 movies." I know this is all in good fun (and for good PR), but doesn't sound very scientific!

My second point of attention was this: "The person will watch 13 of the scariest movies ever made . . . ." Really? So what films? And so it goes: "Saw, Amityville Horror, A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place Part 2, Candyman, Insidious, The Blair Witch Project, Sinister, Get Out, The Purge, Halloween (2018), Paranormal Activity and Annabelle." Hmm? Some of those are good. But 'the scariest movies ever made'? Nope.. You are clearly telegraphing just how much this is a PR gimmick. But that's cool. Again, this is PR. And any PR that at least gets some people to watch horror movies is a good thing.

My picks (among others)?

The Shining (1980).

The Haunting (the 1963 Robert Wise version, not the horrid 1999 version).

Carnival of Souls (1962).

Psycho (1960).

The Exorcist (1973).

The (original) Halloween and Friday the 13th.

The Babadook (2014, Jennifer Kent is a great director; see also her The Nightingale [2018]).

The Void (2016, just because Steven Kostanski is a person to watch).

Ti West's films, when he is inspired and isn't shackled to producers and timelines!!!

Hope everyone is well.