Saturday, June 13, 2009

Three time's a charm.

Back in 1988 Paramount Pictures were producing a film called Jason Takes Manhattan. With a micro-budget compared to the movies before it, Jason Takes Manhattan was more or less Jason Takes The Class Of 1988 because of huge budgetary restraints which also pretty much snuffed out the special make-up effects department.
The publicity department did not have an easy time either-- they had a presumably great poster art for the movie and it was funny and something everyone would notice. The only problem is that it was too noticeable with a bloody knife ripping through an "I love NY" banner. Censors did not like this and demanded that it be toned down and the blood was removed from the knife. The only problem now is that the New York State Department of Tourism did not like it, in fact it was a copyrighted image that Paramount Pictures could not use without their consent. Of course, since they could never get the rights to use this as a poster for a horror movie we get the ever-boring Jason silhouette over the New York City skyline.

In the end, the poster art was as unimaginative and low-rent as the movie itself. Jason Takes Manhattan raked in a meager $14.3 million in it's theatrical run, the lowest box office turnout of any of the Friday The 13th films. Some fans who love this movie claim it was the horrible marketing, however it may have very well been the product

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