8 Devious Ways Movie Posters Trick You Into Seeing Terrible Films
Jonathan Ross once massively praised Batman Forever just so he could be on a VHS cover. Yes, that happened.
It's a scene we've all starred in at one time or another. You're strolling through a DVD store, browsing Amazon or deciding what to catch at the cinema when a film catches your eye. It has unbelievably glowing reviews - a plethora of four and five stars adorn the poster alongside quotes from esteemed critics singing its praises. So why not give it a go?
You know where it goes from here. You naively watch the film only to find out it's a steaming pile of disappointment, leaving you asking how any real, professional reviewers could give such positive write-up to such a terrible film? Well, most of the time they probably didn't.
The distributors of these terrible films have made an art out of twisting what the critics say into marketable lines that can be plastered over trailers, posters and DVDs with nary a care for if that's what the reviewer ever intended. No doubt a key motivation for general audience's growing mistrust of the conventional critical body (their only exposure to their reviews is often through these ads), it only serves to hurt the industry, making endorsement a rather flat treat.
Today we're going to bust the case right open, looking at eight ways movies twist what the critics say so you unwittingly hand over your cash to see terrible films. You'll never look at posters in the same way again.