Warner Bros. `""House On Haunted Hill'' Lures Moviegoers With Million Dollar Promotion; Prizes Include Instant Cash And 300,000 Free Rentals From Blockbuster Video
When filmmakers Robert Zemeckis and Joel Silver created Dark Castle Productions, they dedicated the company to ""the spirit of the late William Castle,"" the horror-film impresario who made his name with outrageous publicity stunts to promote his films. And, in the spirit of Castle's dramatic promotional gambits, Warner Bros. is staging a Million Dollar Promotion for Dark Castle's forthcoming chiller, ""House On Haunted Hill,"" opening nationwide October 29. Moviegoers who buy tickets to the film will, like the movie's intrepid characters, have a chance to walk away with cash and prizes that total over a million dollars. The announcement was made Friday by Brad Ball, President, Domestic Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures. Said producer Joel Silver of the new film, ""We've updated the thrills of this movie tremendously and this promotion follows suit. In the original film, the house's inhabitants were offered $10,000 each to spend the night; in our movie the reward is a million dollars, so we felt the promotion should be the same."" In the ""House On Haunted Hill"" game, each ticket purchased by an adult moviegoer (age 17 or older) comes with a game card marked with the signature bloody handprint that is seen in the movie's advertisements. It conceals, under a simple ""scratch off"" coating, an instantly redeemable prize - from one of 300,000 free video rentals to the top prize of $100,000 in cash, with cash prizes of $20,000, $10,000 and multiple $1,000 prizes in between. From the late `50s through the `60s, William Castle devised ingenious ways of scaring and startling an audience as he promoted the openings of his movies. His publicity stunts included parking an ambulance and several medical attendants in front of the theatre in case an audience member would be scared literally to death at the premiere of Castle's 1958 version of ""House On Haunted Hill."" He also offered death insurance to anyone whose heart gave out from fright while watching his movies, and he wired theatre seats to vibrate when the lights went out at showings of his film ""The Tingler."" At showings of ""House On Haunted Hill,"" a skeleton would also fly over the audience's head just before the chilling finale. A reinvention of Castle's earlier film, Dark Castle's ""House On Haunted Hill"" is a macabre tale that combines classic, white-knuckle terror with dark humor and cutting-edge special effects. It follows five strangers who have been offered a million dollars each to spend one night in a house with a hideous past. There's only one catch: they have to survive the night. The ""House On Haunted Hill"" game offers moviegoers a chance to relive the experience of the movie - without the accompanying maiming, death and gore. Warner Bros. Presents A Dark Castle Entertainment Production: ""House on Haunted Hill,"" starring Geoffrey Rush and Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, Ali Larter, Bridgette Wilson, with Peter Gallagher and Chris Kattan. The Film Editor is Anthony Adler and the Director of Photography is Rick Bota. The Co-Producer is Terry Castle and the Executive Producers are Dan Cracchiolo and Steve Richards. The story is by Robb White and the screenplay is by Dick Beebe. ""House on Haunted Hill"" is produced by Robert Zemeckis, Joel Silver and Gilbert Adler, and directed by William Malone. It is distributed by Warner Bros., A Time Warner Entertainment Company.