Summer is typically when horror films are released in cinemas. And this summer, Netflix decided to launch A Classic Horror Story; an all-Italian film that pays homage to the great classics of the genre. As the title suggests, this film is full of horror clichés: the car won’t start, dead cell phones, a dark house and many more.

But how could we engage an even wider audience into the world of horror films?

By creating something that could intrigue even those who aren’t horror fans.

To launch the film in Italy, we had to make people experience fear in real life.

Horror movie fans enjoy the thrill of terror whilst knowing they are safe because it’s all fiction. But at the same time their deepest darkest fear is that it could happen for real. That’s why we made a Classic Horror prank. How? We brought fear into the streets of Milan thanks to a 10-meter digital billboard fitted with motion detection and made a mysterious cloaked figure stalk passersby, following them like a shadow. Just when people think the experience is purely digital and they start to feel safe, a real-life demon appears from the side of the screen to scare them, a classic horror prank with a perfect mix of new technology and an old horror trick.

There are many tropes in horror films that have made their way into our collective imagination. They have become clichés that everyone knows, yet despite their predictability continue to scare us. The experience had to involve even those who aren’t horror fans with the aim of being memorable but also to amplify the conversation around the title, it’s meta-narrative and the horror genre in general. For this reason, we chose to surprise (and scare) people with an interactive billboard that mixes technology with ATL with the intent of creating an IRL experience of A Classic Horror Story.

Two nights before the film's release, people of Milan had to run from their fears. We installed a 10mx2 digital billboard in a strategic position, between the city center and the nightlife area. With its kinect cameras, the digital OOH was able to capture the movement of pedestrians. Thanks to a perfect mix of new technology and an old horror trick, the monster followed them in real time on the LED screen, following them like a shadow. Nothing to be afraid of, until they arrived at the end of the screen and a real monster came out from the side of the billboard, surprising people who thought the experience was over.

The billboard scared 200 people and was seen by many more attracted by word of mouth. Thanks to the launch, the film debuted in second place in the film rankings of Netflix Italy and fifth in the world. A record, considering that horror is the most polarizing genre that many don’t have the courage to watch.