Today, Zach gets in the octagon with the marketing campaign for Nurse 3D...which, incidentally, arrives in super-limited theaters and VOD this weekend! Do you agree with Zach's angry stance? Sound off in our comments below!
Almost consistently, I am defending the horror genre against critics who are fairly ignorant when asked about its scope and the sub genres that exist within it. People see a new Saw sequel and take that as the face of horror, failing to see the indie films that subvert genre expectations and deal with complex issues that only these types of movies can deal with.
However, then I come across a film like Nurse 3D, a self-proclaimed “B” movie that looks like a more erotic rip-off of Single White Female. The trailer looks mediocre, with almost every element ringing familiar from a variety of different films. Then I saw the advertisement, as seen below.
Advertisements like this make it that much harder to defend the genre, especially when major horror sites are marketing and pushing the film, encouraging the buzz that is surrounding it. After doing a little more research on the movie and its production history, I beg the question as to why there is buzz. It definitely cannot be that the film looks original, because as I said, it reeks of Single White Female but with lesbian erotica. The advertising wears a “trashy” and almost grindhouse persona, but I am not sure if that is what the film is going to represent. The popularity exists simply because it features some attractive actresses, which is illustrated on the embarrassing and poorly designed poster. Clearly this film’s intentions are low, but this ad does not even try to hide that the sole appeal of this movie is naked women. It is frustrating that something like this could become so widespread and public, as it just holds horror back and gives non-fans more reason to hate the genre and label it sexist, because that’s exactly what is going on here. The women displayed in the campaign are just being used to sell the movie, which isn't surprising at all (unfortunately), but this blatant promotion of sexist advertising is disheartening, causing me to wonder how much horror has actually progressed if the community continues to support this.
I’m not going to comment on the movie itself or the filmmaker’s intent because I have yet to see it, but this advertisement is embarrassing to horror fans, especially because of the amount of promotion it is receiving. Until the genre moves past campaigns like this, it will be difficult to step out of the shadows of cinema.
I’m sure defenders of this marketing strategy will claim that it is “bold” “daring” and “offensive,” but I’m not offended by the poster because of its nudity, I’m offended because of its laziness.
I am not bashing Paz de la Huerta – she may be fine with it and can do whatever she wants with her body, but I am bashing what the poster represents: a blatantly sexist, lazy and flat out poorly composed poster that is dressed up with an “it’s supposed to be bad” mentality. And the horror community wonders why horror struggles to be taken seriously.
-Zach
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