>I Got My Money Back: ‘Bug’ Used False Advertising!
“The bug of ‘Bug’ is that it has no bugs, and Lions Gate knew it.”
To some extent or another, we all realize that movie trailers can be misleading, and in recent years, pretty much give away an entire film. However, with William Friedkin’s “Bug” from Lions Gate (the king studio of most things horror nowadays), different boundries were crossed — the lowest of lows — complete deception in advertising.
Most studios know when their film sucks. It’s not difficult to hire NRG to hold test screenings in certain key locations around the country and figure out that audiences hate your latest and greatest. At this point, depending on how much was already spent on producing the film, the studio will create and spend on a marketing campaign that makes the biggest splash on a Friday and Saturday night as possible, because that’ll be the only chance at capitalizing on their best cash-earning window for a crappy movie. When it comes to Lion’s Gate, who wrote the book on how to market horror films in the last five years, the tried and true movie trailer was their best bet to get the audience, that’s wrapped around LG’s marketing finger, into seats. And it worked beautifully. Movie patrons across the land were laughing and yelling at the screen, and walking out of the film the entire weekend — an excellent chance to complain to the management of the theater and get your money back (or at least a free ticket) based on grounds that your movie-going experience at their establishment was terrible.
Lions Gate affectively fooled the horror-loving public to go see this movie about the “invasion of bugs” “from the director of ‘The Excorcist!’” As a filmmaker, William Friedkin got the last laugh, because he tricked Lions Gate into financing an experimental film about paranoia that has a great cast (though someone needs to intervene with Ashley Judd and rip her from the streak of lousy scripts she’s chosen in the last several years). This film might have had a chance and, perhaps, even called “brilliant” had it been released 35 years ago and marketed like “Clockwork Orange.” But instead, the bug of “Bug” is that it has no bugs, and Lions Gate knew it.
For those of you who don’t realize, however, Lions Gate is one of those studios who knows how to make a profit and this movie is no exception. The trailer and cast alone (BTW, Harry Connick Jr. stole the movie) has sold this film over seas in a New York minute, and the DVD will put the studio in the black again. Guesses are the film cost $15 million to produce, and has reaffirmed that the studio can release just about any horror film they want and make money if it fits into their proven formula. God bless those sneaky, cocky bastards for keeping the “biz” in “showbiz.”
I won’t waste my breath or your time reviewing the film (even though the confused lesbian kissing scene between Ashley Judd and Lynn Collins was interesting). Just know that it is NOT a horror film.
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