The debate about which one between the script and the performance is the heart of a cinematic masterpiece lives on. However, the truth remains that, no matter where the heart lies of the silver screen opus, marketing remains the backbone. And the 2024 lineup has been a testament to the same with It Ends With Us and Longlegs. Cast drama aside, the latter presented a masterclass in horror movie campaigns, a niche category that has been setting the standards paranormally high in marketing for decades.

With Smile 2 approaching closer, the horror genre is once again dropping a friendly reminder wrapped around a dead pigeon's head in a box at your front door that if the movie does not scare you, then the promotions definitely will.

Scary marketing campaigns may have now become synonymous with consumption and the lengths a movie goes to spoon-feed either propaganda, products, and in fortunate cases a meaningful story to us, the term at the surface level is tied to something almost as scary: marketing campaigns of horror movies. True to their name, here are seven horror movies that made audiences scream even before they bought the tickets.

With a sequel coming out soon, a rarity given the state of the horror genre today, Smile stands as the perfect modern psychological horror tale. While its top spot on Netflix ensures that it does not leave the platform anytime soon and the hype surrounding it on social media speaks for its quality, the real star of the show was the marketing campaign, which cunningly sent actors with unsettling grins into public spaces, tasked with nothing more than terrifying the unsuspecting masses.

This tactic definitely turned the tables telekinetic style for the movie that was not even meant for a theatrical release as it brought about $22.6 Million on the opening day, another rare feat for a horror movie, putting forth the question, who knew a 'smile' could sell so well?

Another horror hit from 2022, M3GAN is an example of a modern-day marketing masterclass. The movie put to use the easily available weapon that is social media as it made its main character, the iconic doll, a viral sensation. From giving the creepy Model 3 Generative Android, her own X account where she would regularly engage in debates with fellow psychopathic doll Chuckie and later even metaphorically give 'off with their heads' orders to critics following the movie's release, the M3GAN marketing campaign, much like the movie itself was a double-edged sword with its humor and horror blend.

The pièce de résistance of the M3GAN phenomenon on social media however remained that creepy dancing of the doll which was later even infused in the movie's premiere with actors dressed as the doll dancing to Taylor Swift's 'It's Nice To Have A Friend'. One can only tip their hat (or head, as M3GAN might prefer) to the marketing team, who used two of the most lethal weapons, social media, and Swfties, to make the movie a $181 Million success.

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Horror movie marketing campaigns in recent times are forced to be more innovative owing to the nature of competition and the depleting attention spans. However, in 2002, inspired by the 1998 Japanese horror movie Ringu, Gore Verbinski, created a horror movie like no other, except of course its Japanese counterpart. What made the American version hit the ball out of the park was bringing the script to real life.

More specifically, the marketing campaign of the movie used the core of the plot, which happened to tape, which, when watched, would result in the death of the viewer within seven days, in real life. Loosely. The masterminds behind the marketing curated their own tapes that would just start rolling on television with no context. And to take the evil up a notch, the movie allowed people to enter the number of a person they would want to be 'haunted', which would be followed by the said number receiving a message about the cursed videotape, along with the tape attached to it.

The cherry on top being, the voice call that followed with a creepy voice muttering "seven days". A strong plot on its own. The movie with this marketing trick gave fans not only a good viewing experience but perhaps the best tale at the campfire.

One of the most recommended movies that almost every horror genre fan holds on a pedestal is The Blair Witch Project. Curated off of snippets of real camera footage of three students filming a documentary about the Blair Witch in Maryland, who following a series of eerie events, get lost. The aim of the movie was to help in the search for the three students, with missing posters of them being left in the movie-goers' vehicles. To further aid the cause, police investigation reports were also made public. Or so fans thought.

What worked like magic for The Blair Witch Project, more than its plot and eerie filming techniques, was the time during which it was released. The movie was fortunately released in 1999 when Internet access was limited and most of all 'gaslighting' was not recognized as a real horror that plagues the society. In reality, there were no students who got lost. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez went the extra length of printing out missing posters while also making fabricated police reports and articles about the disappearance.

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All this, along with the actors agreeing to lie low and the Sci-Fi channel releasing a fake documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch, helped the movie raise even the tiniest hair on the audience's skin, and of course its box office collection to $250 Million as an independent film.

In an era where the complaints about the entire movie being summarized in a trailer are never-ending, Longlegs dropped perhaps the most vague of all trailers in 2024. Despite having a star power like Nicolas Cage at the forefront, the movie stuck to creepy messaging as its weapon of choice for promotions. Taking a page from Alfred Hitchcock's book during his Psycho promotions, the movie kept its cards close to its heart, which, owing to the social media's undying thirst of wanting to know more, worked greatly in its favor.

To toy with the audience's minds, the film scattered cryptic messages around town. The Seattle Times even published a bizarre poem signed, “Printed at the request of Longlegs,” reminiscent of the Zodiac Killer's cryptic flair. The production went a step further, unveiling haunting images of family deaths alongside eerie 911 calls.

Although not a classical horror given the elements of curses and ghosts are missing, the movie tapped into all the real horrors prevalent in today's times to churn out a collection of $34.8 Million.

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Which of the above horror movie marketing campaigns, according to you, are the scariest? Let us know in the comments below.