Analysing Horror Film Trailers - 'Hereditary', 'Talk To Me' and 'Longlegs'

 'Hereditary' 

 

The trailer begins with sinister music and a slow dolly-in shot of a dollhouse. The slow, creeping camera movement immediately creates a sinister atmosphere, creating tension, suspense and anticipation for the spectator, and this type of camerawork is very common in the horror genre. Similarly, the prop of the dollhouse is a recognisable part of the iconography of horror films, making the genre easily and instantly identifiable to the audience.

The trailer then shows a funeral, denoting the theme of death which is a commonly found theme in horror films. Sound effects, the enhanced screaming, runs alongside the sinister non-diegetic music (instantly recognisable as belonging to the horror genre) which continues. 

The production company logo/ident is seen buried into the ground, further symbolising the theme of death and the supernatural. A24 are a production company known for making films from the horror genre.

The pace of the editing increases, as does the music, to create intensity for the audience. The title card 'From The Producer Of The Witch' (a reference to another film from the genre) is set against an isolated forest setting, a key location of horror films.

A typical theme of the genre, the theme of the supernatural, is introduced through dialogue, and we witness a child inflict violence upon an animal; violence and cruelty are also features of horror films, as are children as character types, particularly those who subvert audience expectations associated with innocence and vulnerability.

'Talk To Me'

The trailer immediately starts with sinister non-diegetic music that juxtaposes the image of two girls laughing (the use of contrapuntal music is very common in horror films); this makes the audience feel the tense atmosphere very quickly and sets up expectations for what is to come.

A cut to a phone shows sinister images, shocking the audience and establishing the 'threat' that is central to horror film narratives. These shots also establish the themes of death and the supernatural, two very common themes in horror films. The production logo, again for A24, is depicted as a hand/supernatural token becoming the logo. 

The music gets louder with people shouting 'do it' over the images to further create tension and fear for the audience, as the precise location of these sounds is withheld. This manipulation of the ident establishes some supernatural threat to do with the hand statue, also foreshadowing the rest of the plot. Supernatural tokens are recognisable iconography of horror films for the audience, as is creating the expectation that something will go wrong.

'Longlegs'

The trailer immediately opens with a shocking long banging noise, instantly creating a hostile atmosphere; enhanced pleonastic sound effects and impact noises are common in horror film trailers, designed to unsettle the audience and make them jump. The trailer quickly cuts to a woman who looks very frightened, typical body language and figure behaviour of characters in the horror genre, and is in her house alone. This is a commonly used feature in horror films, especially the presentation of vulnerable female characters. The lighting is very low-key and it is hard to see anything around the house, creating extreme tension as we cannot see what is about to happen to her. Again, low-key lighting is commonly used in the horror genre to scare and unsettle the audience, but also sometimes to hide a character's identity.

The word 'cuckoo' is said, which suggests that someone is in her house and that she is in danger. The trailer cuts to black quickly with a loud impact noise, which further creates fear for the audience, enhanced further with the sound of her breathing to imply how frightened she is. Amplified sound effects and impact sounds are commonly used in horror films to further tension. The lighting is incredibly dark and the editing is slow as the camera tracks the woman around her house, creating tension and suspense, foreshadowing the extreme danger she is in. Another extremely loud sound effect is heard as we can see an intruder in her house.

The title card of 'Neon', the film's production company, appears on the screen in red writing which has connotations with evil and the devil; the production company is also known for producing horror films and the colour red is synonymous with the genre.

The editing becomes faster as the trailer cuts to another scene which establishes the main character as an FBI Agent; detectives are a commonly used character type in horror films as this creates expectations for audiences as detectives fight against the evil and dark forces central to the genre. More of the plot is revealed and the trailer introduces the audience to the main villain, the genre's 'monster', Longlegs.