See a film for free.....maybe! (seefilmfirst.com)

Member Name: yahoo2003

Product:	seefilmfirst.com
Date:	10/11/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free film, opportunity to see a film before it's released

Disadvantages: Difficult to get hold of codes

It's hard knowing what star-rating to give this as on the one hand, signing up to a website and getting the opportunity of a free film every now and again isn't exactly hard work, and I'm grateful for the freebie, but then again it's not exactly guaranteed that you will get a free film.

I first came to learn about it through Martin Lewis' website MoneySavingExpert, as a company which offer previews to upcoming films so that they can start gauging audience reaction. There were free codes posted that, once input onto the See Film First website, enabled you to get free tickets. It was on a first come first serve basis so you have to be quick and they are at times which would not be convenient for everyone - 6:30pm from the two that I've been invited to. If you decide that you can't go you should notify the company otherwise those seats will be wasted. In the film I saw last night the cinema was about 75% full which is a shame for people that wanted to go but couldn't because it was supposedly full. Then, after the film, you receive a very short questionnaire asking your thoughts about the film.

So exactly how do you get the codes? Well, this is the problem and could probably be compared to Pinecone banners (hard-to-find banners which give you access to high-paying survey sites) in that they are a little like gold-dust. MoneySavingExpert has a thread that sometimes posts codes (so if you type MoneySavingExpert and See Film First into Google it should take you there) and apart from that they are apparently posted in magazines and in other promotional material, not that I have seen them anywhere else yet. If you register on the See Film First site you will apparently get sent tickets if there are still some left after anyone who found the code in a magazine or elsewhere have had the chance to claim theirs, but I don't think this happens very often at all. This means that you generally have to look out for the codes.

You may be interested to know what I saw last night. It was Harry Brown which I found a pretty harrowing and terrifying film, but once I had the chance to calm down a bit after it I decided it was pretty good. All I had to do was print off the ticket that was sent to me, which admitted two people, and bring it to the cinema with some ID. There were not any adverts so I had to make sure I was there on time.

All in all, I can't slate it as it's a freebie for doing nothing and exciting to get to see a film that hasn't been released yet for free.

Summary: A nice freebie if you can get your hands on a code, happy hunting!