Sunday, May 21, 2017

Movie Ad of the Week: The Many Faces of PEOPLETOYS (1974)



The "psycho kids on the rampage" shocker PEOPLETOYS -- which Sean MacGregor began directing but David Sheldon finished -- opened in Hampton, VA on May 10, 1974. The film apparently didn't do much business under this title...


...so distributor Jerry Gross retitled it THE HORRIBLE HOUSE ON THE HILL and tried a new ad campaign modeled after THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and its effective "It's only a movie, only a movie, only a movie..." tag line. The ad above is from Pittsburgh, PA on November 1st, 1974.


A year later, Gross was playing the film in some territories as 5 O'CLOCK KILLERS. Here it is in Kokomo, IN on October 15th, 1975.


After Gross' company Cinemation Industries went bankrupt in early 1976, Seymour Borde & Associates acquired the movie and rechristened it DEVIL TIMES FIVE, the title it's retained for over 40 years. Above is the ad for its Bakersfield, CA opening on February 11, 1977.

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