Movie gimmick
A movie gimmick is an unusual idea intended to enhance the viewing experience of a film, and thus increase box office sales. Many of these have been used for just a few films, proving unpopular with either audiences or cinema owners. Smell-o-vision, which involved releasing relevant odors during the film, only appeared in the film Scent of Mystery as audiences did not enjoy the experience. Sensurround, a method for enhancing sound pioneered for the 1974 film Earthquake, was abandoned as it sometimes resulted in damage to movie theatres.[1] Other 'gimmicks' have gradually become more common in cinema, as technology has improved. Examples include 3-D film and the use of split screen, which was originally achieved through the use of dual projectors in cinemas.
William Castle
Horror film director William Castle had a particular reputation for gimmicks, being termed 'King of the Gimmicks' by James Waters.[2] For the 1959 film The Tingler, which concerns a creature growing at the base of the spine that can only be killed by screaming, some cinemas installed vibrating devices in the seats which were activated at random during one of the film's scenes, with a voice encouraging the audience to "Scream - scream for your lives."[3] For the 1960 film 13 Ghosts, the onscreen ghosts could either be seen or hidden by the viewer through the use of different coloured cellophane.[4]
Table of gimmick films
3-D films have been omitted. See List of 3D films pre-2005 and List of 3D films.
| Film | Year | Gimmick |
|---|---|---|
| Napoleon | 1927 | Polyvision |
| Macabre | 1958 | $1,000 life insurance policies given to audience members against "death by fright" |
| My World Dies Screaming (Terror In the Haunted House) | 1958 | Psychorama subliminal images |
| Behind the Great Wall | 1959 | AromaRama |
| A Date With Death | 1959 | Psychorama subliminal images |
| Horrors of the Black Museum | 1959 | HypnoVista prologue |
| House on Haunted Hill | 1959 | "Emergo" flying skeleton |
| The Tingler | 1959 | Percepto! seat vibrators |
| 13 Ghosts | 1960 | Illusion-o cellophane filters |
| The Hypnotic Eye | 1960 | HypnoMagic audience participation |
| Psycho | 1960 | "No late admissions" policy |
| Scent of Mystery | 1960 | Smell-o-vision |
| Homicidal | 1961 | "Fright break" prior to climax and "Coward's Corner" |
| Mr. Sardonicus | 1961 | "Punishment poll": audience vote for alternate ending |
| I Saw What You Did | 1965 | advertised an audience seat belt "shock section" (not actually implemented) |
| Mark of the Devil | 1970 | "Rated V for Violence" & sick bags distributed to audience |
| Wicked, Wicked | 1973 | Duo-Vision split-screen |
| Earthquake | 1974 | Sensurround |
| Midway | 1976 | Sensurround |
| Snuff | 1976 | marketed as an actual snuff film |
| Rollercoaster | 1977 | Sensurround |
| Battlestar Galactica (Saga of a Star World) | 1978 | Sensurround |
| Polyester | 1981 | Odorama scratch and sniff cards |
| Basket Case | 1982 | "free surgical masks - to keep the blood off your face" |
| Clue | 1985 | Three different endings distributed to different theaters |
| Rugrats Go Wild | 2003 | Aroma-Scope scratch and sniff cards |
| Fast & Furious | 2009 | D-Box Technologies' motorized, vibrating seats |
| Kurt Josef Wagle og legenden om Fjordheksa | 2010 | scratch and sniff cards |
| Spy Kids: All the Time in the World | 2011 | Aroma-Scope scratch and sniff cards |