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The Last Exorcism

My interest in actually going to see The Last Exorcism borders on sick curiosity and complete ambivalence.

However, I am thoroughly impressed by the distributers choice in digitally marketing their product.

Viral promotion is nothing new. For years the internet has provided filmmakers and studios with an outlet for reaching millions of viewers in new and creative ways. Official websites are now more accessible and user friendly. Certain films are linked in with product lines and other companies in cross promotional efforts. And more recently the use of message boards, websites, blogs etc add a new dimension to the creation of "hype" about a film before its release. Often at no expense to the filmmakers, they spread the word about a film, increase awareness, create discussions, and theoretically increase viewership.

Cloverfield is the best example of this type of marketing strategy. The teaser trailer was released almost a year before the film went public. But the content of the clips presented were ambiguous - nobody knew what Cloverfield was. The title wasn't even included in the trailers! Clearly it was a disaster/monster movie, but there was something else. Almost everything about the movie was done under a cloak of secrecy. The project was quietly greenlit in 2007, casting was done secretly - the actors were unknowns and weren't even sent scripts for their auditions, and the filming was almost completely gorilla style.

But after the film was completed, the producers continued to encourage speculation about the film. The official website for Cloverfield consists of a series of timestamped images, but little else to give any sense of what the monster is or what the film is even about. JJ Abrams, a prominent film and television producer involved in the project, included fake product tie-ins in some of his other projects like Alias and Star Trek. Theorist websites like those for shows like LOST began popping up. While most studios try to put a damper on such blogs and message boards, the Cloverfield producers allowed for the speculation to continue. Ideas and questions spread, and enthusiasm for the film's release increased. The film was a box office success, grossing over one million dollars worldwide, substantially evening out the approximately $25 million production costs.

I assume that this is what the producers of The Last Exorcism are hoping for.

Trailers have now been showing in theaters and on television for over two months. Not unlike many similar films, the advertisements are both exciting and terrifying. Their viral marketing campaign, however, is unlike anything I've seen before.

Chatroulette, developed by a teenager from Russia, is a website on which users can anonymously connect to anyone around the globe using the website at that time. As its name implies, you can chat with strangers, but should you become bored or disinterested in the person on your screen, you can click through and, roulette-style, you are paired with a new partner. You never know what or who you might find on the other. Most often, you are faced with a group of young people - often one showing the rest what Chatroulette is. More often than not though, you will find half naked men pleasuring themselves for your viewing pleasure. Click through immediately. The website became incredibly popular earlier this year, however the interest waned quickly when the novelty wore off and the male nudity became exorbitant.

Sometimes, the "people" you are paired with are prerecorded images. My personal experience involves a quick chat with all three of the Jonas Brothers. I was suspicious from the get go, particularly because I had seen a still image on the news about celebrities using chat roulette - they were dressed exactly the same when I crossed paths with them. After explaining I wasn't a fan but knew who they were, I was asked to "show tits." Awesome. I clicked through and then enjoyed a nice chat with a handsome young man in England. There are the occasional weirdos in masks or funny costumes, the girls in full makeup, the frat guys drinking beer or smoking pot, and the elusive "normal" person, who, like you, is just curious about what's out there. Most common on the website are young men, usually 15-23, in pairs or groups looking for girls and trying to convince them to flash the camera. To my knowledge, this actually happens, but I have yet to understand why.

Anyway, knowing this, someone on The Last Exorcism team took note and came up with an incredibly clever, if not a bit behind the ball, idea. Their most recent campaign is a series of prerecorded "chats" in which a young woman flirtatiously looks into the camera, postures for the men watching, and teases them by beginning to unbutton her blouse. She giggles and feigns shyness, looking down and then back up at the camera. She looks down again, but when her gaze returns her eyes are glazed over and she looks nothing less than terrifying. They then roll back into her head and she grimaces and lunges at the camera. The screen goes black, and then she reappears and lunges again. The screen goes black one last time and reveals the website for thelastexorcism.com.

It is, in a word, brilliant.

See it here at The Last Exorcism - Best Of Chatroulette Reactions

xo pep