How many of you remember "Primeval," that "R" rated horror flick that Walt Disney Studios released through its seldom-used Hollywood Pictures arm back in January ?
Copyright 2007 Hollywood Pictures Company. All Rights Reserved
Obviously, this isn't the sort of movie that Mickey usually makes. But given that a lot of other studios have made an awful lot of money off of (More importantly, been able to launch incredibly lucrative franchises on the backs of ) gruesome little films like "Saw," Mouse House execs eventually decided to go forward with production of this Michael Katleman project.
Which -- FYI -- was originally called "Gustave." Which is the actual name of the real-life saltwater crocodile that inspired this motion picture. This 100-year-amphibian who has reportedly killed over 300 people in the small African nation of Burundi.
Anyway ... Disney's marketing department decided that -- if they kept things mysterious & didn't immediately reveal that this film's "serial killer" wasn't actually human, but -- rather -- a 20-foot-long croc ... Well, a gimmick like that might then make their movie seem that much more appealing to "Primeval" 's primary target audience. Which was young adult males ages 17-to-24.
Which is why -- as you look over all of the pictures & posters that were originally used to help promote the theatrical release of this movie -- you'll notice that there are absolutely no images of Gustave the crocodile. Just the bones of his victims and / or the stars of this film trying to get away from whatever or whomever is just off-camera.
Orlando Jones (left) and Brooke Langton in Hollywood Pictures' January 2007 release, "Primeval." Copyright 2007 Hollywood Pictures Company. All Rights Reserved. Photo by Joe Alblas
Of course, the only problem with a promotional campaign like this is that it can sometimes backfire on you. And that's exactly what happened with "Primeval." Disney's marketing team did such a good job of keeping their horror movie's villain under wraps that ... Well, this film's intended audience didn't know what to make of the movie. Which is why they ultimately took a pass on this project.
As a direct result of "Primeval" 's mis-managed marketing campaign, this Hollywood Pictures production only sold $10 million worth of tickets during the 8 weeks that it spent in domestic release. Which didn't even come close to covering the initial costs of this shot-on-location-in-South-Africa film.
So six months later -- when it finally came time to release "Primeval" on DVD -- Buena Vista Home Entertainment didn't want to repeat the same mistakes that Hollywood Pictures had made. Which is why BVHE took an entirely different approach with the promotion of this motion picture. This time around, there was no being coy. No "hiding" of the villain. Gustave the crocodile was placed front and center in all of this film's advertising material.
And notice that this film's tag line is no longer "Inspired by the true story of the most prolific serial killer in history." But -- rather -- "Inspired by the true story of the most bloodthirsty crocodile ever." Again making sure that would-be consumers knew exactly what this movie was supposed to be about.
Copyright 2007 Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Which is all well & good. Except that ... Well, given "Primeval" 's poor performance at the box office earlier this year, BVHE knew that they were going to have to do something extra in order to catch the attention of the film's original target audience. You know ? Those easily distracted young adult males ages 17-to-24 ? Which is why this arm of the Walt Disney Company then set up a most unusual website.
"What's so unusual about the 'Primeval' site ?," you ask. Well, for starters, Buena Vista Home Entertainment insists that you must be at least eighteen years or older before you're allowed onto this website. I mean, you actually have to confirm your age before you can then gain access to the games & extra features found on this webpage.
"And why is BVHE trying to keep folks 17-and-under away from this particular website ?," you wonder. Well, for starters, there's "The Hunt" on-line game. Where you can actually play the role of Gustave. And -- according to this game's description ...
" ... You have one thing on your mind -- To hunt down and destroy your nemesis, the Poacher. Your mission won't be an easy one. The Poacher's well-armed mercenaries stand between you and your prey. Elude their gunfire, but remember, they'll serve as a perfect snack to keep your energy up ! "
" ... You have one thing on your mind -- To hunt down and destroy your nemesis, the Poacher.
Your mission won't be an easy one. The Poacher's well-armed mercenaries stand between you and your prey. Elude their gunfire, but remember, they'll serve as a perfect snack to keep your energy up ! "
Or -- better yet -- how about the "Primeval" website's interactive "Blood Trail" feature ? Which -- tying back to that "most prolific serial killer in history" gimmick that Hollywood Pictures initially used to try & promote the theatrical release of this film -- presents a map of the not-so-civilized world ...
... Where -- if you click on all of the little red circles -- you can then learn about all-too-human serial killers like Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy.
To be fair, I guess I should stress here that the folks at BVHE didn't put together this online serial killer guide. Truth be told, this particular feature is a holdover from the website that Hollywood Pictures created late last year to help promote "Primeval" 's theatrical release. You can actually see the tab for that site's "Interactive Trail of Blood" in the upper right hand corner of the image capture below. Just above the skull that's facing up.
And (Again, I'm just trying to be fair here) let's remember that we're talking about a website that was deliberately designed to help promote the sales of a horror movie DVD. A film that makes no bones (Sorry about that) about the fact that "Primeval" received an "R" rating because it features " ... Strong Graphic Violence, Brutality, Terror and Language."
But -- that said ... I have to admit that I find it a trifle bizarre that the Walt Disney Company is actually paying for a website that features a "Know Your Serial Killers" guide. Where visitors can also pretend to be a man-eating crocodile and then consume -- with blood and body parts flying everywhere -- machine-gun-toting mercenaries.
Look, it's not like Disney hasn't ever been involved in the production of horror films before. Let's remember that -- back in the late 1990s -- the Mouse made tons of money off of that trio of "Scream" movies (Which were produced through the Dimension Films division of the studio's Miramax Films arm).
(L to R) Neve Campbell & David Arquette in "Scream 3"Copyright 2000 Dimension Films. All Rights Reserved
And as I watched my review copy of "Primeval" yesterday (Which hit store shelves on June 12th, by the way), I have to admit that I thought that it was a fairly well-put-together horror movie. If you like that sort of thing.
More importantly, I enjoyed the "Crocumentary" portion of this DVD. Which was a featurette that showed all of the various CG & physical effects that the film-makers used in order to help create the illusion that their version of Gustave was the real thing.
But I'm still somewhat troubled by that "Primeval" promotional website. I mean, am I being a prude here ? Or was it really going over the line (in order to help sell this DVD to young adult males ages 17-to-24) to include that "The Hunt" on-line game as well as that "Blood Trail" interactive feature ?
Your thoughts ?
Kinda sounds like a Disney take on a Jaws style film. I dunno. Interesting though, and possibly entertaining in some ways.
Hm.
I don't see anything wrong with the website.
Especially if it's age restricted.
I mean, the conten is a tad morbid, but it's for a horror movie.
Studios have gotten into trouble in the past marketing R movies to those under 18. Hope no one put it in a memo.
Otherwise, I was long ago desensitized to the R-rated trash that various Disney divisions release, and how they go about marketing said "product." The argument that these movies are profitable creates a slippery slope - how low can we go to make a buck ? Talented filmmakers can tell a story without gratuitous nudity or flying body parts (darn it). Violence in movies sometimes goes beyond telling a story and into how much gore can we get on the screen. For certain films, the violence is historically accurate, otherwise the producers are usually just trying to give you something you can't see on network tv.
I searched for some of Disney Co's R rated features and found an interesting trivia tidbit: Silver Screen Management bankrolled lots of Disney features once Eisner came to power in the mid 80's. Sitting on the board of directors for Silver Screen was your future pres George W. Since he is the "decider", it must be ok whatever Disney Co is doing with their R rated subsidiary releases.
In a word ... lame.
Well, the site sounds perfectly suitable for a horror film: perhaps I am a desensitized, young sprite, but the website sounds rather un-shocking and passe.
Considering the site looks like a mix of Wikipedia and an Atari, I'm not shocked at all. I may even rent/buy this movie now.
curmudgeon: "Sitting on the board of directors for Silver Screen was your future pres George W."
Hmmm, and Hillary sat on the board of directors for WalMart, pocketing their cash while decrying the 'evils' of 'big' business...
About the website, I have to agree with Rluke1971, looks pretty lame to me. But it doesn't rate partcicularly high on my offense-o-meter. And to JH: a serial killer "tutorial" would teach one how to become a serial killer, which is not what the "trail of blood" feature does here. It is just a list of historical facts regarding these notorious people.
It may be a little gruesome for Disney, but to be honest, I didn't even know about this movie, or its relationship to Disney until I read this story.
The one thing I question, though, is your use of the word "tutorial". Based on this description, I have a difficult time figuring out how this is a tutorial. The interactive map feature is informational - albeit about a gruesome topic - but it doesn't tell people how to _be_ a serial killer.
The game, well, that only really teaches you how to be a serial killer if you are a crocodile. And, I don't have the number to support it, but I am willing to bet that a vast majority of crocodiles still do not have access to the internet.
I'm not getting the whole tutorial thing, either. Sounds mostly harmless to me. I mean if you want to be offended at something, why focus on the website? Focus on the movie that started the thing in the first place.
Sounds like you're being prude.
"Interactive serial killer tutorial"? If this does eventually come back to bite Disney in the butt, it will probably be because of the misinformation being spread from journalists, not because of the site's contents themselves.
I have always thought it disingenuous for "family friendly" Disney to market this kind of movie.
Sure, MOST people don't connect the two, but SOME will and this just invites controversy. Is making a few million (and don't kid yourself, this aren't HUGE money makers) worth it to ruin your reputation??
Families TRUST Disney. No one trusts Nick or Warner or Universal or Viacom or MTV or NBC or ....... This is something that is invaluable and VERY few companies have it.
It would be like Toyota starting a new car brand that made crummy cars. Sure they are not under the Toyota brand, BUT people TRUST Toyota to make good cars. It is the SAME thing.
It has been proven time and again that buckets of money can be made off of high-quality family-friendly fare. Hopefully Disney will learn that this is their core competency, and that other companies can handle stuff that doesn't fall into this category.
jedited,
I agree that people trust the Disney brand and people associate the brand with family entertainment.
But I don't see how Disney is jeopardizing the public's trust by producing adult fare. This movie is very clearly marketed as a horror film for adults. It also doesn't wrap itself in the Disney logo.
I cannot conceive of an instance where a family mistakenly pops 'Primeval' into their DVD player, expecting a wholesome movie about singing crocodiles.
Maybe the movie didn't make money because the concept is tired. Killer crocs have been done before ("Lake Placid," anyone?) and "Primeval" didn't look like anything worth paying $10 for.
If I were a Disney shareholder, I wouldn't be asking "Why are you making horror movies?" I would ask "Why are you making crappy horror movies?" Besides, it was released under a different distribution company. It's not like it was called "Disney's Primeval."
And if an interactive map of famous serial killers offends you ... well, I can't quite figure out how that would offend anyone. It's not like it shows crime scene photos or anything, right?
Personally, I get very angry at the idea of Disney making horror movies. I happen to be friends with relatives of a victim of Charles Cullen. That fact makes me even angrier. I don't believe that any company should be making horror movies. If one wants to see "horror" all you have to do is turn on the nightly news.