The Great Mental Models Volume 3: Systems and Mathematics

by Rhiannon Beaubien

Advertising materials were fair game too. After Color Me Blood Red (1965) used the tagline “You must keep reminding yourself it’s only a motion picture!” on posters, similar sentiments followed for films lacking the clout to warrant it. Last House on the Left (1972) advised viewers, “To avoid fainting keep repeating, it’s only a movie…only a movie…only a movie…” Hallmark then reused essentially the same marketing for Don’t Look in the Basement (1973) and The Horrible House on the Hill (1974).26 Makers of exploitation films had to keep coming up with new ideas to get a response. Any part of a film that got a reaction was fair game for copying, which deadened future responses and made viewers more skeptical of marketing materials. A clever new title structure might be a surprise to audiences at first, but copies wore them out.