Elevator Murder Experiment (Photo : YouTube)

With the always changing landscape of online media, movie studios need to find different ways to promote their movies to potential consumers. With that in mind, makers of Colin Farrell's new action thriller "Dead Man Down" are taking their marketing strategy to a whole new level. They are leveraging the success of YouTube and viral videos by making a viral video of their own. It's called "Elevator Murder Experiment."

The video (below) is essentially a prank on unsuspecting people walking into a NYC elevator. There are hidden camera's planted in the elevator that capture people's reactions when they walk up to the open elevator to find one man strangling another man with rope. The two men are just actors, but the people don't know this at the time.

At the end of the nearly two minute video of quick clips capturing various people's wide array of reactions, the video asks what you would do if you walked into a murder in progress? Run, call 911, watch, record video, attack, or get revenge?

The video is worth watching because the drastically different reactions are amazing to watch. A number of people scream and run away. Others call 911 or threaten to call 911. There are some brave people who actually physically try to stop the murder from happening. One man just stands calmly and records the murder taking place on his camera. I'll be honest I'm not sure how to feel about that gentleman. Was he recording it for evidence at the murder trial or just to upload to his personal YouTube page? Either way, that didn't seem like the most appropriate response.

"Dead Man Down" starring Farrell and Terrence Howard comes out Friday March 8. It is about Farrell's revenge against Howard who is playing a NYC crime boss. How this relates to witnessing a murder in an elevator I don't know. Maybe it has nothing to do with it and the movie's makers wanted to create a viral video that would have the movie's name associated with it. Either way, some people don't feel the YouTube video is in very good taste. The New York Post called the video "sickening."

Judge for yourself. What do Mstarz fans think of the video "Elevator Murder Experiment?"

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