Class trailer review: 'Cloverfield'

Film: Cloverfield (2008)

Genre: Action Horror

Your Mark: 6/10

What happened in the trailer:

This is a scene trailer from the start of the film where thee characters are putting on a leaving party for their friends, it is all being filmed on a film camera so it is all hand held. The party is then interrupted by a loud thunderous noise so they all go to the roof, only to watch new york start to be blown up, we then watch the characters scramble to escape into the building and onto the road just before the head of the statue of liberty is blown into the road.

What positive aspects of this trailer would you like to use?

I like the enigma that drives this trailer with the ending, as audiences don’t ever see what is blowing new york up, this enigma keeps audiences thinking about the film after the trailer has ended and more likely to go to the film. Because it is filmed with a film camera a hand held camera it makes the audience feel like they are the one holding the camera and this draws them into the narrative effectively. At the end of the trailer I particularly like the use of Dramatic irony when the man say’s ‘it’s going to be a good night’ when as the audience we know that it isn’t going to be. I think that this was a very bold move by the producer as a jump scare is more typical of the horror genre however I think that this is more memorable and entertaining.

What negative aspects of this trailer would you avoid using?

I think that one of the things that were disappointing about the trailer was as a horror trailer the audience would be expecting the generic feature of some sort of gore, however there is no gore and no suggestion of gore at all in the trailer and this might put of horror fans from this film. The beginning of the film was a little bit slow with a bit too much emphasis on the introduction of characters rather than selling the film and its plot.  I personally also found the jerkiness of the handheld camera quite disorientating and sickening, this made the trailer hard to watch therefore audiences are more likely to turn off and forget about the film therefore making the trailer unsuccessful.

What was the trailers average score, why:

7.5 because although it was a strong trailer with a good enigma, the characters were interesting and engaging however  I personally feel the trailer did nor feature enough of the generic horror conventions for  horror fans to be excited about the film and want to go and see it.