10 More Horror Movies That Lied About Their Premise

7. Case 39's Trailers Completely Skewed The Real Plot

Titane 2021
Paramount Pictures

If you've watched the trailers for 2009's Case 39, you'll have been expecting a vastly different movie to what was actually served up.

That preview footage - which purposely included scenes never intended to be in the final film - saw Renee Zellweger's Emily as a social worker who takes young Lily into her care after the child's real parents tried to burn her alive in their oven. From there, those trailers show Emily and Lily plagued by all kinds of horrors, with the two seemingly targeted by some sinister, eerie presence.

In reality, Case 39 is a film which, yes, has Emily take Lily in after her parents tried to kill her, but it becomes apparent early into the movie that Lily is the sinister, eerie presence of the picture. If this was some final act reveal, it may have been fine, but because this is established so early into the film, it basically renders the marketing of Case 39 as pretty darn false.

Still, there are some fun deaths to be had here; not least Bradley Cooper's Dr. Ames breaking his own neck after being attacked by a bunch of insects that had come out of his ears.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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.