A new seemingly terrifying found footage horror movie is gaining major interest from horror fans not only for its chilling contents but also because it can only be viewed in theaters, as the filmmakers vow they will never release it online.
Creators and stars Nick Toti and Rachel Kempf have chosen not to release found footage horror film It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This on streaming services, or sell digital and physical copies after its short theatrical run in the US. The whole idea started as a joke when making the movie’s first trailer, but the pair have decided to stick to their word.
“We were like, ‘Oh, it kind of needs something,'” said co-director Toti to Variety. “So we put the scroll at the end. It just says, ‘The producers of this film regret to inform you that it will not be released online. See it in theaters.'”
It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This follows two horror fans who buy a creepy abandoned house to shoot their own horror movie in, but things go awry when the pair find cult members gathering outside. Much like one of the best found footage horror movies of all time, The Blair Witch Project, the film blurs the line between fiction and reality by having the central three cast members, including Toti and Kempf, use their real names.
So why the secrecy? Toti says that the limited release is to avoid piracy but also to shake things up as his other projects were not getting any traction. “I’ve been making movies for 15 years now, and almost every single movie I’ve made has been released for free on the Internet, and nobody has paid any attention to any of them,” he said. “Nobody has cared about any of them. So I was like, ‘Oh, well, this is something new.'”
Although you would think this would limit the amount of people seeing the movie, the exclusivity of the whole thing has actually had the opposite effect. Horror fans have become desperate to see the movie, leading to sold-out shows across the US. This is quite an impressive feat when the team had virtually no marketing budget and relied solely on word of mouth. However, we are still hoping that the movie will be released online one day, just so we all can see it!
Visit DieDieBooks for more information on when It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This is screening in the US next. For more, see our list of the best horror movies, or keep up with other upcoming horror movies.