Over the past few years, horror movie promo has gone to new extremes, but The Strangers: Chapter 1 has just taken things to a whole other level by using Ring Doorbell footage to scare fans.
That’s right, Lionsgate has used a Ring Doorbell to promote a horror movie – it's our worst nightmare come true! The video was originally live-streamed to The Strangers' Instagram showing the murderous trio stepping out of a wooded area and up to a house before coming face to face with the camera, creepy or what? Luckily one fan screen recorded the stream and posted it on Twitter for everyone to see. Watch the clip below.
obsessed with the strangers promo using instagram live as a ring camera live feed pic.twitter.com/m5ZOyZnpJkFebruary 29, 2024
Starring Riverdale's Madelaine Petsch and Cruel Summer's Froy Gutierrez, The Strangers: Chapter 1, the first film of an upcoming trilogy, follows a young couple on a cross-country road trip to the Pacific Northwest. However, when their car suddenly breaks down, they are forced to spend the night in an Airbnb where they are terrorized by three masked strangers.
The upcoming flick is a spin-off from the popular 2008 genre favorite The Strangers. The original, starring The Lord of the Rings’ Liv Tyler and Underworld’s Scott Speedman, follows a couple whose relaxing visit to their isolated vacation home turns into a living nightmare when three masked assailants turn up at the house and stalk them like prey.
Due to the rise in popularity of the Ring Doorbell, which is essentially a doorbell fitted with a camera that connects to your phone and alerts you when someone is near, this is quite a genius marketing scheme. Earlier promo for the movie included eerie bloodstained Polaroid pictures of a road trip, starting with a wooded area, a diner, and the ‘Welcome to Oregon’ sign.
This isn't the first time a horror flick has brought on-screen scares to real life as a marketing tool. Back in 2022 Paramount Pictures infiltrated a bunch of baseball games with creepy smiling actors to promote Smile, not long after in 2023, Scream 6 jumped on board by hiring actors to dress up as Ghostface and walk around Los Angeles scaring civilians. This year it looks like studios are taking full advantage of digital marketing with live streams, videos, and picture clues to keep fans on their toes. Earlier this year Neon teased upcoming horror flick Longlegs with a string of ominous videos.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 hits theatres on May 17, 2024. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies, or keep up to date with upcoming horror movies heading your way this year.
