Ahead of the release of upcoming horror title Devil's Due, the marketing team behind the the upcoming 20th Century Fox release have come up with a novel way of promoting the film: by scaring the crap out of unsuspecting New Yorkers on the streets of the Big Apple.

Devil's Due
Devil's Due arrives in US cinemas in January and in the UK the following month

Much like the viral campaign for last year's remake of Carrie, the marketing team behind the new horror title have decided that traditional posters and trailers aren't enough for their film. The result is a sketch video showing some priceless reaction from the people of New York, with the 'devil baby' scaring everyone who came across it. Well, everyone except for the stone-faced street cleaner at the 1 minute mark.

The video includes a quick look at how the animatronics team put together the remote-controlled pram and devil baby combo, going on to show the results of the devil baby's rampage through the streets of New York City. When the pram stands motionless, a pre-recorded crying track begins to play, prompting well-meaning New Yorkers to lean in and see what's occurring. When they do, the devil baby jumps up and scares the crap out of most of them. That guy in the yellow jacket though, he's seen it all before.

Real or fake, the prank is the latest viral campaign by a Hollywood studio to take the public's attention and begin generating buzz for the upcoming title. Yet however popular the clip is, it might not result in success at the box office, as Carrie learnt last year. The film only managed to gross $35 million at the US box office throughout it's run, only 5 mil. more than its budget. The film failed to make much of an impact in the international market too, so if the producers of Devil's Due are after a box office smash, they better hope their material is as good as their marketing campaign.

Devil's Due is out on 17 January in the US and arrives in UK cinemas on Valentines Day, 14 February.

Check out the trailer for Devil's Due