Since the internet was in its infancy, movie studios have created accompanying websites to help promote their films. Some websites are cleverly designed, and engage the viewer to be a part of the film experience, while others are bland and serve only as an advertisement for the movie (this article breaks down the sites for some more recent films, and critiques their effectiveness). After a film’s theatrical run, Video On Demand, and Blu-Ray/DVD promotions have ended, film sites tend to linger online for while, then fade into obscurity. But a few have fallen through the cracks, and remain online, abandoned and forgotten.
Some of these are nearly twenty years old, which is pretty remarkable when you think how far the internet has evolved since then. As bad as they are, these sites are actually pretty fun to go through. They’re like internet time capsules, but full of garbage.
There is actually a lot of content on this site. None of it terribly good, mind you. But you can download wallpaper for Windows 95, as well as a Quicktime file to watch the trailer, so that’s something. If any of you millennials want to know what the internet used to look like, this is it.
What’s worse than the crapfest that was Wild Wild West? The answer is the crapfest that is the Wild Wild West website. What a bore. A 404 page error screen is more interesting than this site. I’m pretty sure this website was made on a dare.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Yes, this is an incredibly dull site, which was par for the course in 1997, but I will give it credit for at least trying to be a bit interactive. After some poking around, you can go to the “official” InGen site, as well “explore” Hammond’s office.
This site is probably the most baffling, and not just because of how horrid it is. The target demographic for this film was not necessarily the most internet savvy in 1998, so who the hell was this site designed for?
Though technically not a movie website, it’s still impressive that it still exists. The “Upcoming Films” section says “It’s Coming Soon…I Promise.” That’s probably not true.
If you don’t remember the 2001 Denise Richards/David Boreanaz horror film, Valentine, that’s OK, because most people don’t. If there’s something more sad than a horror film that nobody saw, its the website for that film that nobody visited. This site actually manages to be both boring and obnoxious at the same time, so that’s an accomplishment.
Mallrats (1997)
What’s interesting about this is that Kevin Smith’s View Askew website itself is updated, but the links to all of his View Askew films are not. I suppose there is little to no value to updating them, though.
If you should come across any others, please post them in the comments section below, and I’ll be happy to add them to the list.