How Hulu is selling a unique take on the body horror genre.
Set in the innocent era that was the late 1980s, Bad Hair is a story of how far someone will go in order to achieve their goals. In the movie, directed and written by Justin Simien, Anna (Elle Lorraine) aspires to become a DJ at the height of the popularity of music videos as cultural touchstones.
Told she doesn’t have the right look for the job, Anna decides to get a weave, but doing so has a terrible cost when it turns out the hair is, for lack of a better term, haunted. In fact, it seems to have a mind and desires of its own, and is using Anna to act in the world.
The movie, which has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 63% “Fresh,” costars everyone from Vanessa Williams to Jay Pharoah to Blair Underwood to Lena Waithe and a host of others. Its campaign has been chilling and atmospheric.
The Posters
It’s hard to not thoroughly enjoy the fun being had on the poster (by marketing agency Gravillas), released at the beginning of October. A head of hair, turned upside down, has a hand reaching out of it as if someone is trying to escape. Meanwhile the copy “Terror takes root.” is just spot-on perfect. The message here isn’t that it’s a satire or horror comedy, but that the story will have a wicked sense of humor that shouldn’t be missed.
The Trailers
The first teaser (89,000 views on YouTube) finally arrived in mid-August, opens with Anna entering a hair salon for a new style that we see quickly becomes more than she bargained for and much more dangerous than she anticipated. Her new extensions, we see, are not just a betrayal of who she really is but also have an agenda of their own and begin to exact a terrible price, throwing her life into chaos and endangering both Anna and those around her.
A full trailer (5.5 million views on YouTube) came out from Hulu in early October, offering a more complete look at just what motivates Anna to seek out a change in hairstyle while showing roughly the same look at what happens when that cursed hair starts trying to take over and cause all sorts of mayhem.
Online and Social
Nothing, but Hulu did promote it on social media channels.
Advertising and Promotions
The movie was among those premiering at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it received pretty good reviews and buzz. Hulu acquired distribution rights toward the end of the event and finally gave it a release date in mid-August, but that date was shifted to October. Neon, which partners with Hulu, announced a limited drive-in theater release for just prior to its streaming debut.
A handful of creepy spots were shared on social media that showed the extent of the closeups on Anna’s hair will be.
The cast and crew participated in a virtual New York Comic-Con panel earlier this month along with others talking about Black horror as a unique genre.
There were also promotions for Hulu’s larger “Huluween” campaign that included this title along with the other scary films and shows it was debuting or showcasing.
Media and Press
While at Sundance Simien was interviewed quite a bit about how he developed the idea for the story, how the marketplace has changed since his last festival feature, how the movie is a tribute to the women in his life and more. He was joined by the cast to talk about the realities of showing off natural black hair.
Lorraine was interviewed about this film and its story, Hulu’s release and more, including broader topics like diversity and inclusivity in Hollywood.
Overall
As with most horror films, your receptivity to the campaign for this movie will vary based on your fandom for the genre as a whole. But – and this was the point of the NYCC panel earlier this month – Black horror is having a moment over the last few years, and seems uniquely suited to serve as a metaphor for the lengths Black individuals are expected to go to in order to fit in or succeed in White-dominated society.
This campaign hits that on the head. While that’s not an experience I can speak to in any way, I’m aware enough to know when a story is being told that is outside my worldview or unusual in the kind of project being made.
Picking Up The Spare
Pharaoh appeared virtually on “Kimmel” to talk about the movie and more.
Hulu has released a number of music videos for songs featured in the movie.
The movie’s producers talked more about the movie after it was released.
Coverage here of the hair brands that got a promotional boost from the film.
The filmmakers discuss the 90’s soundtrack for the movie in a new featurette that came out after the movie was released. Later on there was a conference call with the director and cast to reflect on the film.
In the new movie Queen & Slim – written by Lena Waithe and directed by Melina Matsoukas – the story focuses on a first date that has a terrible ending. Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) have had a decent time getting to know each other. When the night is drawing to a close and they’re leaving the date, the pair are pulled over for a minor problem, but the attitude of the police officer escalates the situation to the point Slim, in self-defense, seizes the officer’s gun and shoots him.
Cinematic Slant 