I just got word that Fox Atomic will not be screening The Hills Have Eyes 2 for press. This is very disappointing, as I much enjoyed last year’s remake (probably a lot more than I should have). I don’t understand why Fox would be so afraid to let critics into the advance screenings in the first place? Could the movie really be that bad? Does the studio really believe that horror fans won’t buy tickets because a movie review they read on the inetenet said it wasn’t good? When was the last time a horror film got great reviews anyway? And how often do the badly reviewed films make big bucks at the box office?
There is obviously a disconnect between critic and average movie-goer opinion when it comes to genre films. It’s too big of an issue to go into here. 300 is the biggest recent example, receiving huge praise from the general public but average to bad reviews in print. But it didn’t seem to hurt 300 did it? The average to negative reviews just added to the mega-publicity push.
And I’m definitely not saying that the critic’s job has become obsolete. We are needed now more than ever in a world of the long tail. We are a filter to champion smaller releases and non genre films. We still have a place in this new digital world.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Hmmm… they seem to be screening it here in the UK, as I saw some peoples going to see it the other day when I was at Fox (going to a screening of Sunshine)…
weird.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Is it possible that the screening you saw was for studio executives, exib or the general public? In San Francisco they are not screening it for press, although I’m pretty sure I saw a general pass at some store for a WOM screening (word of mouth).
March 13th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Yeah true, thats more than possible.. it looked like a small list
March 13th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
That seriously blows, man. Here I was all set to check this out next week (free, of course) and now I have to pay to see it? No way, no how.
[/joking]
Guess I’ll wait until it gets a DVD release.
p.s. You’re spot on about the changing role of critics in the New Media Age(tm).