Horror Trailer Analysis

The Human Centipede

In this trailer for 'The Human Centipede', a number of the conventions of horror trailers are followed. For example, inter-titles are displayed which hint at the plot in support of the video, such as 'A demented surgeon... will wield any instrument... to perform the unspeakable'. Later, a few appear such as 'No consequence... no mercy'. This is common in movie trailers to make them more memorable, and also leaves the viewer asking questions about the lack of consequence and mercy, which makes them want to see the film.

The mood of the film is set very early on, with a contrast of friends talking on the phone to a rainy night where the two protagonists get a punctured tyre in the middle of nowhere. They then traipse through the woods to the antagonist's house, who already appears scary, and from here on the audience's fears are backed up by the scenes of blood, surgical equipment, sick, a lamp being used as a weapon and so on.

The name of the movie appears at the end, followed by a short sequence, which again is becoming common in trailers to take the viewer by surprise, and in the case of horrors, leave a feeling of suspense. A personal pronoun is used in the inter-title 'Your flesh is his fantasy', which also has the effect of feeling more personal to the audience, adding to the scare and thrill for the average horror fan.

Eden Lake

The central characters of the film are introduced in this trailer, enjoying their life together and going on a trip in their car through the luscious woodlands and laughing. This is a common feature of horror trailers which I find really effective, as it later contrasts with the scary scenes, and you can almost tell something is going to go wrong before it happens. The scenes of nature are juxtaposed with the teenagers kicking bikes and playing music loudly.

Again, inter-titles are used which have a common theme; '... '. The fact that it is described in this way already suggests that the characters are in dangerous territory, where they won't be able to get help. The mood of the film is displayed at about 0:55, where editing techniques use a flashing red and black effect, connoting blood and danger. There are various fades to black which break up the trailer and add to the suspense.

The title of the film appears at the end, and is followed by a brief scene tilting to show the female protagonist, or final girl, in the state she's in. It leaves a lot of questions to be answered, making viewers want to see the film, and also has a four-star rating from 'Empire' magazine, which becomes almost part of the iconography.