"A Nightmare On Elm Street" Teaser Trailer Textxual Analysis

A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American film remakeclassed as a Slasher. The trailer 2 minutes and 8 seconds long which breaks the conventions of a typical teaser trailer which is usually between 30-90 seconds long. The reason it is still classed as a teaser trailer is because it was released around 6 months before the film was released.

The film centres around a group of teenagers being stalked and murdered in their dreams by a man named Freddy Krueger, eventually discovering they all share a common link from their childhood that is making them targets for Freddy.

The trailer starts with establishing shots of factories. They seem mundane, yet the dark and mist makes them seem typical of the horror genre.  A man then appears running away from cars that are chasing him. He is a silhouette against the car headlights and therefore we cannot see the man’s identity. This makes him mysterious and intrigues the viewer. Drums can be heard as non diegetic sound, seemingly reflecting the man’s heartbeat and adrenaline. At this point the villain is shown to be the people chasing him, however, this is misleading as further on in the trailer we learn that the villain is actually the hunted man and he is believed to have murdered members of the mob’s children. The use of dialogue in of the man shouting “Krueger, you sick bastard” informs the viewer that this is the infamous Freddy Krueger of the original Nightmare on Elm Street. Kreuger is shown from a high angle shot, presenting him as vulnerable, and his protests that he hasn’t done anything wrong which presents him as seemingly innocent. A shot of who seems to be the leader of the bob is a low angle, this represents him as having power over Krueger at this point. The introduction to the trailer indicates the movie to be a mysterious and haunting that those people had made a terrible mistake and will pay a price, also the quick close up shot of the woman’s face expressing her reaction which was connoting fear and horrified form her non-verbal communication.

The directors name is then shown, which would appeal to fan’s of the director’s other movies and those familiar with his reputation. The font is use on the poster as well as the trailer, which creates a sense of continuity and reinforces the movie as a brand. The use of the colour red is typical of the horror genre as it connotes blood and violence. There is then a flashing image of three old fashioned little girls skipping, which is a disturbing as they showed an image of children alongside a convicted child murder burning to death  which is is disturbingly frightening. 

This is then followed by a diegetic dialogue of a girl describing her dreams featuring Krueger. The use of a frightened attractive teenage girl is typical of the horror genre. This is then followed by a close up of the “Elm Street”, further promoting the treatment and brand of the movie. The violent imagery of Kreugers claws emitting sparks and a girl sitting upright in bed screaming presents Krueger as a frightening, supernatural villain. And shows us that he uses dreams to scare his victims. The image of the children that follows this again seems out of place and disturbing. 

This is then followed by what the audience assume is the characters dreams, including a huge hand rising out of the bath tub to murder the woman. Diegetic sound of children singing a nursery rhyme is played over this, this has a chilling effect as the rhyme is innocent and childlike, yet is linked to violence and fear. Throughout this sequence there are many shots of children with claw marks on their dresses, this leads us to believe that these are Kreugers original victims and that the singing is from those victims. The nursery rhyme quits and replaced by what sounds like rhythmic breathing, which connotes fear, as a young teenage boy is shown running from Krueger in the factories that were shown at the start of the trailer. This makes the trailer seem circular, and implies that the as a lot of Kreugers behaviour is determined by his past. The iconic claws on his hand are then shown in a close up, implying violence and appealing to fans of the original. 

The clips of characters dream’s becomes faster and more frenzied, creating suspense and fully capturing the audiences attention. This is intersected with images of a silhouette of Krueger against a golden light, walking closer towards the camera in a threatening manner. This reinforces his power over his victims as a villain.  

The sequence ends with a scream which then cuts to the title which is in the typical red front for the horror genre. The tagline for the movie is “Don't fall asleep” shown in the title font of the movie, helping to create a sense of continuity. It references Krueger’s individuality as a villain, he can only reach his victims through their dreams, which would appeal to an audience, as this is a different kind of horror movie villain.

Although unconventionally long for a teaser trailer i believe
this is very effective as it establishes the main character and location and it shows you just enough to understand the story but still want to see the film.