Like everything Hollywood, the shift is driven by dollars–as if anyone could have ignored the $140 million “Blair Witch” bonanza. A studio spends an average of $30 million just marketing every release. But the independent companies showed that by casting unknown heartthrobs and targeting young moviegoers, they could reduce costs and develop brand names like Dimension Films (“Scream”) that are as important to teens as Disney is to families. Zemeckis and Silver’s new “Ghost Ship” cost a modest $23 million and is headed by a TV star, “ER’s” Julianna Margulies. Warner Bros., which is releasing the film, will spend less on its combined production and marketing budget than Arnold Schwarzenegger will earn for “Terminator 3.” “If these movies work,” says Silver, “they work only because we don’t spend that much.”
Just as the independents built brand identity through horror franchises, Silver and Zemeckis are trying to create their own horror imprint. Calling their partnership Dark Castle Entertainment after cult horror legend William Castle, the two are now releasing a new horror movie every Halloween. Their first two films, “The House on Haunted Hill” and last year’s “13 Ghosts,” were modest hits, and both were remakes of Castle films. But Silver and Zemeckis are not simply dusting off his projects. They are also taking a page out of his marketing book. Castle craved cheap buzz: he took out fright insurance for moviegoers who might be scared to death watching “Macabre” and electrified theater seats for “The Tingler.” Dark Castle asked MTV to recommend bands for the “Ghost Ship” soundtrack, and after the producers chose the heavy-metal group Mudvayne, the band got a song in “Ghost Ship” and MTV made a half-hour “Ghost Ship” infomercial, featuring Mudvayne. “That’s really smart marketing,” Zemeckis says. “It goes straight to our core audience.”
Unlike smaller independents, the big studios can be scared off by their own scary movies. Universal produced–but declined to distribute–“House of 1000 Corpses” because the studio decided it was too “intense.” Lions Gate, which released controversial movies like “O” and “Dogma,” will now open the film in March. A new “Corpses” trailer even plays up Universal’s squeamishness, calling the horror story “The movie some didn’t want you to see.” William Castle would be proud.
