As 2021 started, most films were still going direct to streaming or choosing a hybrid drive-in/virtual approach, which continued on throughout the summer – with some theaters returning to at least partial capacity by the fall. You know Team Smarthouse was still on the lookout for ALL THE FILM MARKETING things, and while some of those marketing campaigns got pushed along with release dates, we still saw some great trailer and poster campaigns, unique promo items, and some “killer” swag deliveries.

Here’s what we noticed this year.

CANDYMAN (2021)
With a release date delayed three times, this update Directed by Nia DaCosta was hotly anticipated by the horror community. CANDYMAN started its media blitz by dropping an amazing teaser trailer featuring stunning shadow puppetry depicting the legend of Daniel Robitaille. Universal Pictures also sent swag packs out to horror-film critics and creators, and created an AR experience where users could dare themselves to say “Candyman” 5x into a virtual mirror to see what happens … plus, check out its two stunning posters below.

HOUSE OF GUCCI
Character poster drops have been popular in the last few years, and HOUSE OF GUCCI’s portraits are definitely museum-worthy! With a cast packed full of big names (Gaga! Pacino! Driver! Irons!), these portrait style posters are all stunning but OF COURSE the huge surprise here was the first reveal of infamous method-actor Jared Leto, completely unrecognizable as Paolo Gucci.

AIRWAY
Jessica Redish’s short film AIRWAY brought the perfect promo to its film festival screenings: a branded barf bag! What better way to promote a comedy about flight anxiety? Check the shot of the Writer/Director posing with one above.

@hauntingseason
#michaelmyers gave me stuff #halloweenkills #halloweenkillsfilm @halloweenmovie @universalpics #horrortok #presskit #influencersbelike #halloween #boo
♬ Halloween Theme - John Carpenter & Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies

HALLOWEEN KILLS
Blumhouse ramped up the anticipation for HALLOWEEN KILLS by sending promo packages to horror influencers, but instead of *just* mailing them, they had the boxes hand-delivered by Michael Myers himself! Check out TikTok user @hauntingseason’s chilling video of the experience above.

They made a second big promo splash by presenting a one-day event called Haddonfield Kills: The Hunt for Michael Myers on the backlot of Universal Studios, where they transformed the lot into the town of Haddonfield and created an immersive experience where guests were invited to join the mob hunting down Myers before he could kill again.

LAMB
A24 always pulls out the stops for every release, whether it’s a full RPG or a Bear in a Cage – and in addition to managing to fool everyone into thinking LAMB is a horror film with the trailer and selling some soft and cozy pullover fleece, they ran a social media contest to “Adopt ADA” with the winner bringing home a one-of-a-kind Baby Ada Doll AND, even better! They had an online screening of LAMB hosted by real shepherd couple, Jenny and Bobby, and their flock of Icelandic sheep.

MEMORIA
NEON caused quite an uproar when they announced that their latest release would NEVER be on VOD, streaming, or Blu-ray/DVD. The film MEMORIA will be screening exclusively in theaters (a risky move considering how fast COVID regulations and mandates have been changing the past 2 years), moving from city to city each time. FASCINATING! But will this release model work to create successful buzz? Only time will tell.

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
While there was an extensive amount of marketing done for the latest installment of the Spiderman franchise (some might say almost too much) one of the last promos to come out before the premiere was Liberty Mutual's Daily Bugle newsstand in New York that was stocked with limited-edition copies of the fictional Daily Bugle newspaper with exclusive movie content.

AMC Theaters also offered a Spider-Man NFT to the first 86,000 ticket buyers.

THE HARDER THEY FALL
Film critics get bombarded with “For Your Consideration” swag packs in the latter part of the year, and while Seattle-based writer Kathy Fennessy has a pile of great stuff here, the thing that really stood out to us was the cocktail set for THE HARDER THEY FALL.

YOUNGSTOWN
Indie film YOUNGSTOWN printed up bumper stickers with a line from the film – we can totally see these becoming inside jokes for Youngstown locals, and badges of pride for anyone who was at the original film premiere!

@zillowtastrophes
Reply to @missanonymousgirl1111 This listing is creepy AF. Who’s going to watch #ahouseonthebayou with me tonight? #horrortok sponsored @blumhouseofficial
♬ Creepy Violins - Apollo Nove

A HOUSE ON THE BAYOU
In another ingenious marketing movie, Blumhouse brought in TikTok user @zillowtastrophes to do a feature on a Zillow listing for a possibly haunted house. Most viewers assumed this was an actual real estate listing since this creator followed her usual formula for the video – you have to look closely at the clues planted within the video and watch til the end to find news of the film itself.

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS
The newest MATRIX film has done a lot to get both old and new fans hyped! When they first released the teaser trailer in September, they directed viewers to choose between the films iconic Blue and Red pill, and depending on what ‘pill’ they chose people were given a different preview clip from the movie.

The American Red Cross also ran a sweepstakes/giveaway for the chance to win a private hometown viewing of the film.

Other things that caught our eye: The Ecto-1 delivering themed treats by Randy’s Doughnuts for GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE; a fan art contest for RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY; and a red carpet parade of Lexus cars with custom wraps for each ETERNALS character.

And here are the 2021 posters that we’d want to wallpaper our bedrooms with: