Carrie movie marketing prank: Brilliant or ridiculous?

Just in case you didn't already know, there's a little remake of a pretty well known horror classic called Carrie coming out later this month, just in time for Halloween. In what might be one of the more brilliant marketing movie-related stunts ever pulled (and certainly among the most elaborate), a staged horror show took place inside a New York City coffee shop. The victims? The patrons, who had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Look, I'm all for viral marketing. It's fun. I know it's pretty played out, but I still find it amusing if it's done right. In the case of the Telekenetic Coffee Shop Surprise, it totally works. This stunt took some serious setup, and a solid acting performance from a young woman who, after having coffee spilled on her laptop, goes on a psychic rampage (a la Carrie in the original film, though buckets of blood were not involved this time out).

This marketing stunt took a ton of work, involving a stuntman, a fake wall, remote controlled tables and chairs, spring loaded books, a slew of actors and a ton of hidden cameras to capture patrons' horror as the coffee shop Carrie unleashed her fury.

If you haven't seen the video yet, well then, here you go:

Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise

Pretty good, huh? The reactions of patrons at 'Snice coffee shop in Manhattan's West Village are pretty priceless. At last check, the YouTube video of this stunt had been viewed by nearly 11 million people. Will this clever bit of viral video marketing draw more people to the theater when Carrie opens on October 18?

Now of course, I'm probably going to see the Carrie remake, starring Chloe Moretz in the title role and the nearly always great Julianne Moore as her overbearing, wackadoodle mother. That's what I do, I see movies. I guess time will tell if any of the millions who've seen the coffee shop video will shell out their cash to see the film. Sony took a gamble with this, and to me, it's probably going to pay off.

Photo courtesy of WPBF.com