There are many things that are icons of horror trailers. This could be from various characters in the film to object which have significance on one way or the other. I will go through the most revealing icons from horror films which are very popular.
Characters/Monsters
Werewolves and Vampires;
From Dracula to viscous these mythical super natural fiends have become the trademark for horror films over the past century. Dracula bing one of the first Vampire films showed the world the characteristics of a vampire were and what they would do if they actually existed. This has led to films created in the present day such as 'Lesbian Vampire Killers' and 'Van Helsing'. Even though werewolves are not as popular as vampire they are still referenced in a lot of horror films to present day as people do not like to image the beast like nature that they possess., these wolves have inspired films like 'The Howling' and 'The Hair of the Beast'.
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Possessed Adults or Children;
This is becoming the new icon of a horror trailer. Mainly aimed at young adults and grown ups who are thinking about having children or already have children. This films show young females and males find an object or something that possesses them in an evil way. People react to these as they think of their own families or people that they know and compare the film to their own lives which causes the reaction the director wants. Film such as 'Paranormal Activity 3' and 'The Possession' both focus their stories on young females as the stereotype for a young girl around the age of 6-8 years old is sweet, kind and innocent. Not evil, possessed and fatal. However 'Insidious' used a young male for the role and the ratings and comments form critics were outstandingly positive. For my horror trailer I am think of using a young female just because it seems to be the Favorited option when they are being possessed.
Murderers/Psychopaths;
These films generally have no super natural occurrences in them what so ever so people ask, 'Why is it a horror then?'. Through editing and other effects the director has the challenge of making the main villain as deadly as possible. In these types of films they usually packed with gore and horrid deaths. This ranges from graphic suicides to brutal body amputation. The film 'Psycho' directed by Alfred Hitchcock is the most famous horror film of all time as there was one scene in this marvellous piece of artwork. The shower scene today is still known as the most famous horror scene in the history of film. The newer film 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' put its foot down on the horror industry by coming out with the most gory film the world has ever scene. People called it 'Uncomfortable to watch'. However achieving 7.5/10 from IMDB shows that is was a complete success. I intend to put some gore in my trailer but no where near the scale that this film put into theirs.
Zombies/Living Dead;
Zombies started off being one of the scariest things to enter the horror industry. But as the years have gone on they have slowly decayed. They have started to become a mockery. Films such as 'Shaun of the Dead' they create an image which isn't scary but funny! 'World War Z' tried to save the zombie franchise. It was a good attempt as it was one of the first attempts of a zombie film where it effects increase to a world wide scale and that run faster than any human could run. The film was still very successful as people liked the difference it portrayed. it received 7.1/10 which is very good for this type of film.
Objects
Ancient Artefacts;
Nearly every film about someone who is possessed is because they have been passed down from their family or have found it. 'The Possession' it is a box a girl buys at a traditional american garage sale. This box contains a ring that the girl puts on and the the evil enters her body. Other items have also been used like this. Such as Voodoo and other jewellery.
Dolls;
The film trailer I am going to make is that the doll will be the object that possesses the child. I want to create a doll of a ancient image so I fond or buy a doll which will look the part. The doll from a real film I am going to try and relate to is Chucky. This is because it looks the part and it symbolizes the fear from an still object when it becomes animated.
Books;
A historic or non fiction book is always being shown in movies when the characters are trying to find information on the monster or evil character to see if they have a weakness and then can spend the rest of the film trying to pin point and target the weakness so that they can kill the evil. A book will appear in my trailer for that specific purpose. This always appears in trailers so people know that they could have a solution.
Weapons;
Iconic to some trailers as the evil villain sometimes is not a supernatural beast but a psychopath. This would mean having a weapon or weapons of some sort to commit evil deeds with. For example the villain in 'The Texas Chainsaw massacre' has the weapon of a chainsaw. Other weapons that have been featured are knives, guns and axes (The Shining).
