With nearly every movie release, journalists are often offered a chance to sit down with the actors and filmmakers, and interview them at a press junket. During that time, they are offered a few minutes to learn more about the filmmaking process behind the making of these movies or hear a funny story about being on a set. But then there’s The Invisible Man junket.
Universal Pictures decided to prank a handful of journalists on hand to “interview a stunt coordinator” including CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg. Spoiler alert: that’s not what happened. Check it out:
This is great. Some of those people really got scared! As experiential director Josh Randall explained, they thought they were taking part in another interview. When they walked in, they were told he was in the bathroom and to hang out for a bit. The journalists could be seen fixing their hair and going over their questions when a chest just snapped shut.
A pen also flung across the room and voices started going off in the background. The leading actors of The Invisible Man, Elisabeth Moss and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, were also part of the prank and they really freaked out too. One guy just started recording it calmly and Eric was really laughing it off and saying how “awesome” it was. (And come on, it really looked like it was.)
These are real solid ways to get out of a terrifying situation. Are you taking notes, Cecilia? This is how you get back at your ex. Just laugh at him as he tries to freak you out, and he’ll be too discouraged to do anything else. Maybe?
The real finale comes when the curtain lifts like a person is actually coming behind it and running off. These are really some incredible effects being done here and certainly a taste of how effective some of the practical effects may have been on the set of The Invisible Man. Do you think Universal will adopt some of these scare tactics for its annual Horror Nights at Universal Studios during Halloween time? It seemed to scare this bunch off.
The prank makes for a great taste of how scary The Invisible Man can be. Oliver Jackson-Cohen’s character may not have fangs or some form of crazy weapon, but having something you can’t see after you is quite anxiety-inducing. Director Leigh Whannell also thought through what the audience might anticipate and weaponized it to keep them guessing.
The Invisible Man was made on just a $7 million budget, yet it’s impressed critics with an overall 90% Rotten Tomatoes score and 4.5 out of 5 review from CinemaBlend. Check out our actual interviews from the press junket below and see the movie in theaters now.
