Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The Conjuring




Warning! This trailer for The Conjuring, is not suited for those who get spooked easily. Warner Brothers studio and New Line Cinema along with Director James Wan, known for his previous psychological thrillers like Saw and Insidious, explore the story of a family in the early 70's that move into an old farm house in Rhode Island. Based on a true story of a married couple of paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, this film recounts the events that occurred in 1971 when they were faced with their most terrifying case yet. I personally think that the film is a must watch for any horror film junkie, but enough about the film, lets talk about this trailer.

This particular trailer is the first official one that Warner Brothers released, and I think they picked the best one. Compared to the other trailers for this movie, this one has the ability to make you want to hide under the covers. The trailer begins with a family of mostly young girls running through the front door of their new beautiful home in a rural area. Right off the bat you can see the energetic kids playing through the empty house happily which can appeal to anyone who has ever had that feeling of moving into a new house before. I absolutely love the choice of song that accompanies the beginning of this trailer. “Time of the Season,” by The Zombies is a song that was released in 1968 and fits perfectly with the decade that the plot is set. Not only is the song historically accurate, but it creates an almost eerie vibe through its very unique verses and production. As stated in Understanding Movies, music in a movie can be seen as an "overture to suggest mood or spirit"(Giannetti, 214) and this song does exactly that. Then suddenly the music stops as a wardrobe slowly opens on its own behind the mother and a clap is heard from within. This scene in the trailer is the first real indicator that this movie will be some sort of thriller or horror movie. Also, it is usually the time that most people change the channel if they are watching it alone late at night. The next image on the screen is the words, “BASED ON A TRUE STORY.” Although this phrase is completely overused in todays horror flicks, it still creates a very realistic element to the movie and makes the viewer think “What if?” The trailer then shifts to nighttime in the house and the paranormal events start to really pick up. A string of noises, claps, and objects falling in the house lead her down to the basement stairs. She is obviously terrified and suddenly the door slams behind her locking her in the stairwell without a light. This is all building up to the climax of the trailer which is actually the last few seconds. Before we get to that, I want to touch on the fact that the main character of this trailer is the mother. I think that the director did this on purpose because the audience can feel a certain level of empathy associated with a mother figure that is greater than any other character in the movie. By putting the mother in this dangerous and scary situation, the trailer has gotten the hearts of the viewers involved. As the mother is trapped in the pitch black of the stairwell, she is forced to light a match in order to see. This creates the smallest of light that barely illuminates her face, and in the completely silence two ghostly hands appear and clap twice next to her ear just like the ones in the wardrobe. The trailer then finishes with the title displayed on the screen with very bright and simple font accompanied by a wind up toy's song eerily playing, perfectly capping off the spooky vibe of it all.

By the end of the trailer, it is very apparent that this is a horror film, and based on this three minute trailer, the viewer knows that it should be real scary. I give the trailer 5 slurpees because I think it has the ability to grab the viewer's attention well and keeps them on the edge of their seat wanting to see more.


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