Trailer Analysis: 'Case 39'

Blogged by Anya

Questions raised:
Why were the parents trying to kill the girl?
Why were they so scared?
What is following the girl?
Why is it trying to kill those around her?
Will they escape from it?

Unlike the trailers for 'Buried' and 'Don't be Afraid of the Dark', this trailer does not instantly look like a horror movie trailer. This lets the audience fall into a false sense of security which means a bigger reaction occurs when the horror side is shown. As the trailer goes on the cuts are faster and the clips shorter which creates more and more action. The narrative of the film is shown in this trailer, a feature that the other trailers we have looked at do not share. This may be because it is a full length trailer but also because the actors - Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones's Diary) and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover), although well-known, are not usually linked with the horror drama and so the audience must be shown more of the plot to be drawn in. Also, the plot seems quite complicated and so viewers might be put off if it was not shown in the detail that it is. The end of the trailer show a lot of action and tension within the film which would be a big draw for audiences. A common feature of horror films is the use of children within the plot; the innocence and venerability of children leads to a tense and eerie tone to the film.