MovieChat Forums > Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) Discussion > The infamous test screenings with 13 yea...

The infamous test screenings with 13 year old boys?

posted 4 years ago by zombihntr (91)
6 replies | jump to latest

Or 12 years old or 14 or whatever. I see this being repeated more and more as though it were fact. The source of this is an interview with Marianne Hagan in which (I thought) she was clearly being somewhat hyperbolic. I highly doubt this is anywhere near the reality of it...

A) 13 year olds are not the target audience for this series and never have been. B) How would the sneak preview of an unrated horror movie end up with an audience of kids? Even movies for kids aren't packed with nothing but kids! C) No studio is going to blindly follow editing and narrative suggestions of children unless (maybe) the film is aimed at them. And even then... :-/
D) Why would Marianne know details of who the audience was and what they had written on the questionnaires? I don't think actors would be involved in test screenings or even be made aware that any were occurring. There's no reason for them to be. and E) How many 13 year olds would even bother filling out a questionnaire? I know I wouldn't have and if I did it would be random inappropriate b.s., nothing relevant.

Is anything known about these screenings...like how many were held, locations, etc?

[–] Sandman81 (1509) 4 years ago

I don't think it was literally 13 year old boys. She was exaggerating because she was upset that the producers listened too much to the test screening audience who she felt weren't smart enough to follow along with the plot. So the director panicked and reedited it to make it just a simple slasher movie that didn't make that much sense in the overall arch of the series.

I wonder if anyone in the test audience suggested that she not wear granny panties for her underwear shot early in the movie? That might have been the one to to listen to the audience about.

[–] zombihntr (91) 4 years ago

I know she wasn't being literal, that's my point. This keeps getting repeated in documentaries and reviews as simple fact.

As far as the panties...not enough of them apparently. The only thing they got right was cutting her annoying "wigga" brother out of the movie. Now he only has a couple lines and a death scene. He used to have a bigger part.

[–] TommyJarvis82 (2587) 3 years ago

13 year old boys may not be the official target audience, but the people making and starring in these movies are not stupid. Hell, I was already a fairly big horror fan by age 5 or 6.

[–] WilloughbyStain (195) 3 years ago

The writer, Daniel Farrands, discusses the test screening in this interview, say "13 year olds" was indeed an exaggeration.

https://anchor.fm/halloweenunleashed/episodes/Episode-53--Daniel-Farrands-Part-V-Series-Finale-eba63c

[–] TommyJarvis82 (2587) 3 years ago

Apparently, the R-rated "Tank Girl (1995)" had test audience members as young as 14.

[–] enriquesingh (1812) 3 years ago

You seem to think that 13 year olds are 5.