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MGM's classic horror films rise from dead on Snapchat

Film studio MGM and distribution partner Fox Studios are reimagining famous scenes from classic horror films for the mobile, social age via vertical videos on Snapchat, Twitter and other social platforms that promote the iconic movies in time for Halloween. 

Halloween content is flooding social media feeds as the holiday draws nearer, but the film studio?s interpretation is sharing an innovative concept exciting users on the pop-culture references to promote the classic collection. Social media users can follow MGM on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or Fox horror on Snapchat for a social media interpretation of famous scenes from its horror classic collection, such as a scene from Misery in vertical video form with text reading ?where am I? in the well-known Snapchat format.

?Leveraging new media for classic films is a creative way to get younger generations interested in older movies that they may have never seen,? said Ken Morris, principal at Boston Retail Partners. ?Engaging thousands of social media followers will extend the promotional reach of the campaign and has the potential for it to become viral.?

Modern vintage 
The iconic film studio has a history of creating classic villainous films, often celebrated during the month of October for the Halloween holiday. Fox is tapping into the consumer interest for these films and revisiting them through Snapchat, which MGM is sharing as well through its multiple social media accounts along with other new interpretations of the clips. 

Snapchat users who follow Foxhorror are being treated to clips of their favorite films with the updated twist. Users can view its film clips on the story feature of the mobile application but in typical Snapchat fashion, in vertical video format along with the white text with a gray bar behind it. 

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MGM is sharing these clips on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook but also with other modern clips of its old films. For instance the studio took the well-known scene from Carrie in which the title character gets pigs blood poured on her during prom and shared it in a GIF format. 

The film studio also shared a Snapchat video on multiple platforms of the same film, but as a montage of the fateful last few scenes in which Carrie becomes distraught and burns down the gymnasium after being teased. The vertical clip features the mash up along with text in the typical Snapchat format from the character?s point of view such as ?aren?t they beautiful,? shown with her corsage for the prom and ?don?t laugh at me? while she is being made a fool. 


The snippet also showcases emojis such as the icons of a girl and crown, displayed while she?s walking to the stage when she thinks she being crowned Prom Queen under false pretenses. 

Fox innovations
Fox has become innovative in developing methods of promoting its films. 

For instance, the film distributor took a unique approach to marketing via mobile for the upcoming release of its remake of the classic film Poltergeist by terrifying unsuspecting social media users (see more). 

Also, in Uber?s first coordinated, multi-city event through the application, film studio 20th Century Fox is giving users of the ride-sharing service a chance to win exclusive passes to an advance screening of the film, "Kingsman: The Secret Service,? (see more). 
 
?Consumers spend nearly $7 Billion on Halloween and horror films are commonly a part of that mix,? Mr. Morris said. ?Many people think about horror films during the Halloween season and increasing awareness via social media may help inspire impulse purchases of MGM?s classic horror films.? 

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer