Horror Trailer: Shutter Island

The film trailer I am looking at is the one for 'Shutter Island', which is not a traditional horror but a blend of the horror/thriller genres. I've watched the film and thought it was one of the best I've seen in the last year or so.


What I like about the trailer is that it expresses a slightly film noir quality, two detectives on a mission, slightly dated outfits and the setting of the mental hospital, which creates a sense of mystery straight away because the trailer begins with a ship taking the protagonists to Shutter Island. This leaves a lot of questions in the viewer's mind, and if I hadn't seen the film, I would want to after watching the trailer.


I like the cuts between shots from the film, showing the detectives walking towards the camera, and especially the shots of parts of the building, showing that there are many floors, again creating questions as to why it is so guarded. There are close ups of barbed wire and cells, driving rain outside the windows, which adds to the iconography of the genre.


At around 0:46 a woman mouths 'shhh' which also adds to this sense of mystery and unsafe. Martin Scorsese's name flashes up at this point, giving a good impression of the film.


Even within the trailer, the characters are asking questions or posing tricky situations, such as how the patient escaped. I think this is important for a horror, because I often find the moments of anticipation in a film scarier than when they are on the screen. This builds on that feeling.


I like the voiceovers which are mostly in the style of a briefing to the detectives, and also the loud sounds between a lot of the cuts, such as slamming gates, loud wind, and similar sounds.


There is a climax towards the end, with fast-paced editing such as Di Caprio's character holding on to a cliff for his life, being grabbed by a prisoner, running, and crying at the death of his daughter. I think the way the trailer ends with a re-establishing shot is a nice touch, making you want to know what's on the island. Then a hand is seen holding on to a rock, which flashes on the screen only briefly, a common effect used in trailers to take the viewer by surprise when they think it's over.