Sleeve titles that differ (a bit) from the actual movie

[arcadeaction]

Hi,

Yesterday I came across the movie "Alien vs Zombies: The Dark Lurking"  in a Dutch shop. As I did not recognize the title, I bought it (hey, it was cheap anyway).

The cool-sounding "Alien vs Zombies" part of the title is on the DVD sleeve only, the actual movie is an Australian horror movie presumably released in 2010 and simply called "The Dark Lurking", they didn't even bother to add the AvZ title to the actual movie itself.

I was just wondering if this is common practice, to make the title just "cooler" on the sleeve and not anywhere else.

Regards, Vincent

[Raffine]

Lion's Gate used to buy up what amounted to home-made shot on video horror movies and slap titles on them that made them seem to be a part of a established series. Maybe they still do.

[The Burgomaster]

I have a copy of the Alastair Sim version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL.  The DVD box uses this title (which was used for the U.S. release), but the movie itself uses SCROOGE, which was the title used when it was released in England.

I also have DR. BLACK AND MR. HYDE, which was released under several titles.  The DVD box uses this title, but the movie itself has the title edited out.  My guess is the print they used for the DVD used an alternate title (such as THE WATTS MONSTER), so they cut it out to avoid confusion.

In addition, I have the western BOSS, starring Fred Williamson.  The DVD box says BOSS, but the movie itself uses the more controversial title BOSS n****r.

I'm sure I have several others where the box uses a different title than the print (particularly movies made outside the U.S.).  I just can't think of the others at the moment.

[Flick James]

It wouldn't be the first time I've seen the title of and Aussie film get altered or changed for release in the states. I watched Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior on NetFlix the other day, which is really just called The Road Warrior normally here, and the opening title sequence still had the original Aussie title of just Mad Max 2.

The exact reasoning for the alteration is obvious in the above case. Nobody in the USA at the time had any idea about the original Mad Max, so releasing Mad Max 2 here would have probably led to confusion and it probably wouldn't have caught on like it eventually did. In either case, it all comes down to marketing and what they think people will buy.

[retrorussell]

Twitch Of The Death Nerve has a million different titles.  One of which is Bay Of Blood.  This title is what is shown at the beginning of the film on the Image DVD.  The sleeve indicates the film is Twitch Of The Death Nerve.  Regardless, it's the uncut original.

[JayJayM12]

I have a dvd of the movie "Christmas Evil" (on the box) that I'm almost positive goes by the original title "You Better Watch Out" in the movie itself.  Great movie by the way...

[arcadeaction]

I like those stories :)

I'm the living proof that some people really are affected by marketing... I only bought the mentioned movie because the titled interested me :)