The trailer for the horror film You’re Next is one of the most interesting that I have seen in a long time. It’s about a group of, what look like, people wearing animal masks that terrorize a ‘perfect’ family.
The trailer starts as any other would. Showing the house that the family live in, or the parents of the main characters live in. Also, during this time, there is an introduction to the family in question. This allows the viewer to understand the family and see that are good people and haven’t done anything to deserve what is going to happen to them in the rest of the film. Also, during this time there is also the song Perfect Day by Lou Reed being played over it. This backs up the idea that this is a ‘perfect’ family enjoying their day. Not only that, but during this sequence we see the family sitting around the table for dinner. The character at the head of the table, whom we presume to be the father, is praying. Again, this shows that this is a religious family, suggesting that they are good people who have never ‘sinned’ and do not deserve what is going to happen to them.
During the first scene in which we are introduced to the family, we can see titles appear on the screen in between the clips of the family and the song playing in the background. These titles, at least one of them, are synced to the song that is playing. For example, as Lou Reed sings the words “Perfect Day” the words “The Perfect Family” appear on the screen. This further plants the idea that the family is ‘perfect’, this is also given more weight by the fact that word “Perfect” is both on the screen and in the song.
But, the mood of the trailer suddenly turns from being cheery and upbeat to scary. This happens when a title appears on the screen saying the words “But in one moment”. Also at this point, the music in the background fades out fast, making room for a sound of a muffled scream to play to the viewers.
We can then see a woman (the daughter?) at the kitchen getting a drink of water. We are looking at this through the window, as if spying on her, possibly through the eyes of the person looking through. We can then see a reflection of a man in a cat mask appear in the window. This makes the viewer feel uneasy and uncomfortable about what is on the screen in front of their eyes. This also makes the viewer feel intrigued about what the film is going to hold and who this person is.
After this point, we can see a man looking out of a window noticing something in the background. He then says what the audience is thinking: “What is that?” It’s here that the audience realizes that the characters do not know what is going to happen to them, and that they are in the same frame of mind audience.
Just after this moment, presumably the same one who was looking out of the window, we see a man standing at the dinner table. This is almost the same shot as when they are all sitting down to have dinner. This shot type allows the viewer to become fully immersed in the chaos that has happened, and realize how much has changed in such a small amount of time. From serenity to chaos. We see the man fall to the ground whilst holding his, something hit him when it flew in from the window in the previous scene.
The next few moments of the trailer show the people within the house running around, locking doors, windows and trying to find a place to hide. During this time we can hear various people asking what is happening. Both of these things, the video and the audio, add up to make the viewer feel sorry for the characters, that they are in such vulnerable positions, and intrigued to find out what is attacking them.
After this sequence has taken place, the pace of the trailer becomes slower. This represents the strange quite that the characters would be experiencing. They have locked all the doors and windows, and are now waiting for something to happen to them, no one wanting to say anything.
We can hear a man saying the words “They’ve been watching us for days.” This allows the viewers to see that this wasn’t just a random attack on the seemingly ‘perfect’ family, but something that has been carefully planned and executed. There is then a point when we see that whatever has been attacking them, has made its way into the house.
This is the point when the viewers fear and interest will reach its peak. This is when they really want to know what has been attacking them and what has now found its way into the house of the ‘perfect’ family.
We can see a woman leaning against a door with a terrified expression on her face. To her left, we are able to see a hole in said door with light shining through it. Then, the light is blocked out by someone (something?) standing on the other side. At this point, the characters realize that this is really happening and whatever had made its way into their house is a real threat to them. Here, the viewer is also wondering, What is on the other side of that door?. Making them grow more interested in the plot and wanting to watch the full film.
There is then a hard cut to an exterior-long shot of the house that the family are living in. At first, we can see that all of the lights are on within the house, but in an instant we see that all of the lights (and any sign of life) is quickly switched off.
There is then another hard cut to inside of the house, we are looking at a mirror in the house, with the words “You’re Next” sprawled across it, in what looks to be blood. Possibly the blood of the man who was killed earlier on in the trailer. After this we see a woman being grabbed by an arm that breaks through the window. This shows the danger that the family is in, because before now, we hadn’t seen anyone being directly attacked. We then see another woman falling over with a bunch of knives, each of them scattering across the floor. This shows the urgency of her actions, the urgency to protect herself and her family.
It is just after this that we finally see what has been attacking the family. A man in what looks to be a Panther mask walks into the room and stands above the woman on the kitchen floor. Seeing this antagonist for the first time allows the viewer to get a sense of what to expect in the film, and making them begin to wonder what this person or persons motives are.
After that we then see the true fear on the womans face as she is about to have a sledge-hammer swung at her. She rolls out-of-the-way of the falling hammer. We then see a close up of the hammer hitting the floor, in the background the woman is lying beside it. There is also a slight focus pull, from the woman to the hammer. This shows the audience the direct danger that each of the family members are in, whilst the antagonists are also in the house with them.
There is then another hard cut to a CD player, which what looks to be loading a disk before cutting to the timer on the player. When the time then ticks to one second, the same music from the beginning of the trailer begins to play. This provides a huge contrast from video to audio. The audio is calming and relaxing, whilst what is being shown on the screen is distressing and disturbing. Whilst this music is being played, there is a sequence of shots that show the family in various different scenarios within the house. We are able to see a man with a knife in his hand, a woman lying on a bed crying (then soon after a ‘cat’ looking over her) and another woman walking into a room that looks to have a trap set on the floor. All of these things add up to suggest to the viewer that the house has been trapped, and that they are being hunted and killed one by one.
During this time, more titles appear on the screen. They say “The Animals. Will Hunt. You” These fully backs up the idea that these animals are there to ‘turn the tables’ on the humans. By hunting them, the animals are turning from prey to predator. This also explains the traps that we could see around the house in the scenes before.
The speed of the transitions between each shot begin to escalate after the last title has been shown, and the music begins to fade out, making way for a low, dull noise to takes its place. This sound builds up the tension once again and spells fear within the audience. The transitions eventually speed up to where about six different shots are being shown every second. This makes the viewer become overwhelmed by what they are seeing, but also make them more and more engrossed in the trailer for the horror film.
At the end of the trailer, the typical Convention is seen. A woman is looking under a bed, when suddenly a cat (the same one we saw in the kitchen?) very quickly appears on the other side, directly in front of the woman. This is something that the view is not expecting to see, because this trailer hadn’t featured any up until now.
Overall, I think that this is one of the most effective trailers that I have seen, not just for a horror film, but for any genre of film. I think this because it supplies the perfect amount of action, gore and mystery to the viewers. It doesn’t directly give away the plot of the film, but shows a lot of what will be involved in the film.
Sam Stroud 