10 Desperate Ways To Market Horror Movies

4. A Public Funeral, The Power Glove & 3D - Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

Sam Jackson Snakes On A Plane
New Line Cinema

Just when you thought the shark had already been well and truly jumped, the Elm Street franchise took 'ridiculous' to an entirely different level with Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare.

Released in 1991, Freddy's Dead was overflowing with tacky gimmicks both on-screen and off, as New Line Cinema continued to make sure that the Krueger cash cow was milked dry.

In terms of the marketing around the movie, so adamant was New Line to hammer home that, yes, Freddy really was dead, a faux funeral took place ahead of Freddy's Dead's release. The cast and crew of the production assembled at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, with the associated press invited along to see see a funeral service and an open casket featuring Krueger's famed sweater and fedora.

Freddy's Dead also tried to strike up a promotional tie-in with Nintendo and the company's swanky new Power Glove, although Nintendo turned down this offer. Still, the movie decided to use the Power Glove anyway and thankfully Nintendo opted against suing.

Of course, this sixth Elm Street offering tried to drum up further publicity by making its final ten minutes an entirely 3D experience. Unfortunately, that 3D experience absolutely sucked.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.