A new horror movie is using Ring doorbell footage for its marketing campaign, and it’s a whole new level of creepy
Horror movie promo has just got crazier with The Strangers: Chapter 1
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Over the past few years, horror movie promo has gone to new extremes, but The Strangers: Chapter 1 has just taken things to a whole other level by using Ring Doorbell footage to scare fans.
That’s right, Lionsgate has used a Ring Doorbell to promote a horror movie – it’s our worst nightmare come true! The video was originally live-streamed toThe Strangers' Instagramshowing the murderous trio stepping out of a wooded area and up to a house before coming face to face with the camera, creepy or what? Luckily one fan screen recorded the stream and posted it onTwitterfor everyone to see. Watch the clip below.
obsessed with the strangers promo using instagram live as a ring camera live feed pic.twitter.com/m5ZOyZnpJkFebruary 29, 2024
StarringRiverdale’s Madelaine Petsch and Cruel Summer’s Froy Gutierrez, The Strangers: Chapter 1, the first film of an upcoming trilogy, follows a young couple on a cross-country road trip to the Pacific Northwest. However, when their car suddenly breaks down, they are forced to spend the night in an Airbnb where they are terrorized by three masked strangers.
The upcoming flick is a spin-off from the popular 2008 genre favoriteThe Strangers. The original, starringThe Lord of the Rings’ Liv Tyler andUnderworld’s Scott Speedman, follows a couple whose relaxing visit to their isolated vacation home turns into a living nightmare when three masked assailants turn up at the house and stalk them like prey.
Due to the rise in popularity of the Ring Doorbell, which is essentially a doorbell fitted with a camera that connects to your phone and alerts you when someone is near, this is quite a genius marketing scheme. Earlier promo for the movie included eerie bloodstained Polaroid pictures of a road trip, starting witha wooded area,a diner, andthe ‘Welcome to Oregon’ sign.
This isn’t the first time a horror flick has brought on-screen scares to real life as a marketing tool. Back in 2022Paramount Pictures infiltrated a bunch of baseball gameswith creepy smiling actors to promote Smile, not long after in 2023, Scream 6 jumped on board by hiring actors to dress up as Ghostface and walk around Los Angeles scaring civilians. This year it looks like studios are taking full advantage of digital marketing with live streams, videos, and picture clues to keep fans on their toes. Earlier this yearNeon teased upcoming horror flick Longlegswith a string of ominous videos.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 hits theatres on May 17, 2024. For more, check out our list of thebest horror movies, or keep up to date withupcoming horror moviesheading your way this year.
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I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for SFX and Total Film online. I have a Bachelors Degree in Media Production and Journalism and a Masters in Fashion Journalism from UAL. In the past I have written for local UK and US newspaper outlets such as the Portland Tribune and York Mix and worked in communications, before focusing on film and entertainment writing. I am a HUGE horror fan and in 2022 I created my very own single issue feminist horror magazine.
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