IN PRAISE OF THE VOMIT BAG

Movies, and horror films especially, have had a long history of using various gimmicks to entice theater goers to dispense with their bucks at the box office. In particular, William Castle is famous for using numerous come-on's and devices (ex. the electrified theater chairs for THE TINGLER).

Perhaps no other gimmick is more nauseatingly captivating as the vomit bag. Used by many movie distributors as an advance promise of a gory frightfest, the vomit -- or barf -- bag was passed out as a freebie at the door for audiences anticipating that they might have to actually use it!

Shown below are a few examples of horror movie vomit bags, and for a good laugh, make sure you read the taglines printed on them, many of which were similar (maybe it was the same vomit bag printer they all used?).

Anyway, enjoy the. . . er, gags.

Do not re-use!

What's this on for? Popcorn?

Do not confuse with party dip!

Even the Germans got into the act.

Complete with illustrated instructions!

Bring Out the Barf Bags and Other Promotional Stunts

By Cara Buckley | March 22, 2017 | nytimes.com

There’s no publicity like barf bag publicity.

After a moviegoer apparently vomited during a Los Angeles screening of the French coming-of-age cannibal flick, “Raw,” the theater began handing out barf bags, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

It was a cinema staff member who came up with the idea to hand out the repurposed paper lunch sacks, the Reporter said, however the move is a vintage publicity stunt going back some 50 years. Among the standout bags in movie history:

• The keepsake vomit bag from the 1963 splatter film “Blood Feast” came with an encouragement, “Spill your guts out!”
• “Guaranteed to upset your stomach!” proclaimed the bag from the 1981 Italian film “Cannibal Ferox.”
• The bag for “The Beyond,” (1981) came with the thoughtfully worded warning, “Individuals with sensitive constitutions may experience stomach distress,” and advised that the bag be used only once and not overfilled.

More recently, bags were handed out at a screening of the low-budget body horror film “The Bite” (2015).

“Raw,” which tells the tale of a young French veterinarian student who abandons vegetarianism for raw human flesh, is reportedly très dégoûtant indeed. The lifestyle site Thrillist christened it the grossest movie of the year — “there’s a never-ending hairball puke fest” — and it reportedly caused patrons, or a patron, at the Toronto International Film Festival, and elsewhere, to faint (or, at the very least, to feel faint), prompting an ambulance to be summoned.

But at least one tastemaker (so to speak) says “Raw” is well worth any gastrointestinal upset: Rolling Stone has declared it a “clever feminist parable” that might well be the best horror film of the decade. Bring out the bags!