Stanley Kubrick's bold advertising slogan for the “scariest movie in the world” could have cost him the chance to direct The Shining 14 years before its release

When it comes to the horror genre, few films are as iconic and terrifying as Stanley Kubrick’s The glow. Based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, the film has become one of the best horror films of all time since its first release in 1980.

But long before his visionary adaptation of King's novel hit the screen, his bold and daring promotional plans in his quest to make the scariest film in the world almost cost him the cult psychological horror film.

Stanley Kubrick's risky pitch for the scariest film in the world

After trying out several genres early in his career, Stanley Kubrick was intrigued by the idea of ​​delving into the horror genre. He wanted to give audiences the ultimate scare experience, a film so terrifying that audiences would leave the theaters in fear.

As described in the book, Kubrick: An Odyssey, The filmmaker wanted “The world's scariest film, consisting of a series of episodes that appeal to the audience's nightmarish fears.” His vision and belief that he could achieve this goal led him to propose a bold advertising slogan.

The offer included a money-back guarantee for anyone who could endure the entire film without succumbing to the horror. Kubrick was convinced that the film would be so terrifying that people would have to leave the cinema in fear. His wife Christiane Kubrick recalled his claims:

He decided to make a horror film so scary that he would advertise it by saying, “You'll get your money back if you stay until the end.” That was the idea – that the film would be so scary that people would have to leave no matter what.

Although he was still interested in making a truly terrifying horror film, he eventually had to admit that the “money back” slogan was not the most effective way to attract audiences to theaters.

Christiane Kubrick shared: “Then he grew up and said it was a bad idea.” Fortunately, the filmmaker has abandoned the risky strategy, as its failure was an obstacle to the realization of iconic projects such as The glowa masterpiece that cemented his legacy in the field of horror cinema.

Stanley Kubrick finally found the ideal horror story to adapt

Despite dropping his promotional plans, Stanley Kubrick was still interested in exploring the horror genre and continued to search for a meaty story, even attempting to acquire the rights to Ira Levin's 1967 novel. Rosemary's Babywhich has already been sold to Roman Polanski.

But he did not give up his search, and his persistence paid off when he came across Stephen King’s manuscript for The glow. King was already a popular author and film adaptations of his books were just beginning to emerge.

Brian De Palma's adaptation of King's novel Carrie In 1976, The Last Scream was a huge success and even became one of the most popular films of the year. John Calley sent the manuscript to Kubrick in 1976 and he was immediately fascinated by it and decided to go ahead with it.

The glow is available to stream on Prime Video.