Class Trailer Review: Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Name of Film: Dawn of the Dead

Year Released: 2004

Genre of Trailer: Horror

My Mark (After Viewing): 6/10

What happened in the trailer?

A slow start with Anna, the main character, being introduced. Then, then zombie outbreak occurs with Anna escaping to the mall. We then see a montage of clips followed by the title.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?

-          During the montage, we see the scenes freeze at the same time we hear the blaring siren/static sound. I particularly liked this as it heightened the tension in these scenes and freaked me out slightly.

-          The effect of the film reel burning out after the montage before fading to white to allow the title to appear. I thought this was a very clever way of ending the montage as it didn’t take away from the drama of the montage, and instead made it seem more horrific, as if the events in the montage were so scary the film instead burnt up out of fear, or if someone burnt it to hide what happened in the montage to keep others from being scared.

-          The news report over the radio and on the television adds a dose of reality to the trailer, making it seem as if these events could actually happen. This scares people more as seeing horror films as something that could happen to you scare the viewer more and leave a longer lasting impression.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful, and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?

-          The lack of a jump scare at the end of the trailer meant that the trailer didn’t end on making the viewer jump. Jump scares help leave a lasting impression in the mind, while those without jump scares end up fading quickly from the mind.

-          This movie has a heavy emphasis on gore, however in the trailer there is next to no gore at all. This means that the target audience for this film would view this trailer, think there is no gore in it and avoid watching it, when in reality there is plenty of gore for them to enjoy.

What was the trailer's average score in class? Why did it receive that mark?

There average score from the class was 6.5 out of 10. This was because the trailer was good and interesting, generate curiosity about the movie, but it did not really feature any true thrills or scares for the viewer.

Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LUzJAsa-gg (unable to embed video)