Fandango Nosferatu rat upsell

Roger Eggers gifted us with a new film in the past few weeks. His take on the classic Nosferatu was, in a word, horrifying. I’m normally a big fan of horror movies, but it was a bit much even for me. That said, the cinematography was beautiful and the sound design was well-executed, so I can appreciate aspects of it.

One of the most impressive parts of the film was their use of live rats. 5,000 of the little critters were used in the movie, and Willem Dafoe stated that they were “cute” and that “he loved them” which was heartwarming.

This got me thinking about the experience of the viewer. What if there was a way to make it more “immersive?” You can imagine movie theaters making the financially unsustainable choice to make the moviegoing experience more memorable by unleashing thousands of live rats into the theater so it feels like you’re really in the movie. There could even be an upsell to place cheese on someone else’s seat.

This is horrifying and gross for anyone who is afraid of rats. If you like rats, maybe you’d love this, but when you’re talking about thousands of rats it seems pretty overwhelming. I’m not sure I’d go for this, but I know a lot of people would pay a premium for this just so they could have the experience.

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