Horror movie fans are choosing to willingly put themselves through a brutal challenge lasting seven minutes just to gain access to some free scenes.
Going to the cinema can be expensive. Very expensive.
There's a reason people joke about taking out a mortgage to buy a ticket and some popcorn, and if it turns out you don't like the film? Well, then it's not just your money you've wasted, but your own time too.
So it's no surprise people's ears began to prick up when Paramount Pictures revealed an offer to watch the first seven minutes of one of its new flicks at absolutely no monetary cost whatsoever.
No only does it give you a good insight to the movie, allowing you to figure out whether it's worth spending money on or not, but you don't even have to put shoes on to do it. Sounds too good to be true, right?
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Well, there is a catch.
You might not have to spend any money to watch the first few scenes of the film, but you do have to sit through a challenge while doing it.
Paramount has released the challenge to help promote its new horror, Smile 2, which follows global pop sensation Skye Riley (played by Naomi Scott) as she begins to experience a series of terrifying events.
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Ads for the movie show its characters holding wide, eerie smiles - so in order to get a glimpse at the first seven minutes, viewers have to adopt the same pose.
Using the webcam, responsive technology will monitor the viewer throughout the seven minutes of the movie. If at any point you stop smiling, the video will stop.
It's an unusual approach to promotion, but horror fans have made it clear they're willing to give it a go.
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One Twitter user shared a smiling GIF and wrote: "Me smiling at the FBI agent watching through my webcam lens."
Another joked about having their identity 'stolen', but added: "It was worth it for watching [seven] minutes of Smile 2."
"Only 7 minutes?" began a third, adding: "I’ll be smiling like the Joker for the rest of the day just to make sure I don’t miss anything."
Seven minutes might not sound like very long in movie terms, but if you think about it relation to your 22-minute average sitcom, those seconds quickly add up.
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Sure, you might easily find yourself laughing through a third of Friends, but holding forcefully holding that smile while watching a horror movie? I guess there's only one way to find out whether you can handle it... Take on the challenge here.
Topics: Horror, Film and TV
Emily Brown