Movie Trailers.

Do you guys think that box office turn outs are affected by movies trailers showing to much of the movie. I mean comedies are the worst, they show all the funny parts in the trailer. It bugs me. I am intrigued by trailers that are secretive example being Cloverfield!

Hell I love movie trailers!!!!

I like movie trailers too! I can watch the Comcast On-Demand movie trailers ALL DAY!!!

I sometimes go to movies just for the previews, ala I Am Legend w/ The Dark Knight.

I think Box Office numbers are down because of the dvd. You can purchase a dvd for the same price as a movie. Not only that many people have better setups at their home to view movies rather than go to a theater.

Trailers are great and effective if done right. However... often a MAJOR plot point will be revealed in the trailer, whereas it should have been kept a complete surprise. For example... <SPOILER AHEAD> (LOL)



The superior (and original) 1979 version of WHEN A STRANGER CALLS has a shocking surprise during the first 20 minutes or so, as the babysitter is receiving numerous creepy 'crank' calls - "Have you checked the children". After being reported to the police, the next call is traced.... and it's coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE! (just a major shock, and built-up with scary music, and also the horror on actress Carol Kane's face).

"We've traced the call and it's coming from inside the house" (she is told), and true. At the time, to my knowledge this shock element had never been done in a movie... and you wonder how (back then) someone could call another phone from inside somebody's house (no cell phones then). I haven't seen the film in a long time so I don't remember how they indicated it was done.

Well, now a few years ago the lame 2006 sequel is being advertised, with a trailer that GIVES AWAY this awesome (classic) shock element right there within a 2-minute trailer. As soon as I saw the trailer, I told a friend "well, they just blew it with the marketing of this film", and of course the film was panned by critics/fans, and did little business.

ONE MORE THING... trailers have the bad habit of editing scenes/images, etc out-of-context, obviously to get your attention. A great trailer does NOT indicate the movie is going to be good, however! (as we all know).

One memorable (excellent) trailer I can remember was for THE FUGITIVE (1993), which is a great film too by the way. As I write this, I can't remember if the particular trailer I'm referring too is included on the disc (sorry) - I'll have to double-check with the one supplied.

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on Apr 1, 2008]

Don't get me wrong i love movie trailers but I don't like having the movie spoiled for me in 2mins. I mean when I first saw the trailer for The Mist I was so intrigued that I had to read the book. The Wall-E trailer is another good example, you get too see what it looks like but all the fun stuff is saved for the movie!

Here's a better summary of the WHEN A STRANGER CALLS movie I mentioned above...



A young high school student, Jill Johnson (Kane) is babysitting one night for a physician and his wife. During the evening, a mysterious phone caller begins taunting her. Sometimes he simply says nothing, other times he asks, 'Have you checked the children?'. Jill eventually becomes frightened for her safety and calls the police. The police successfully trace his next call and discover something horrifying - the calls are being made from INSIDE THE HOUSE! Police are immediately dispatched and Jill narrowly escapes into the arms of Lt. Clifford (Durning). Officers soon discover that the children had been savagely murdered hours ago by the caller, who had been using a phone the parents never had disconnected. 7 years later, the murderer (Tony Beckley) escapes from a mental hospital and resumes his demented mission - this time going after Jill's husband, Steven - and their children. And Clifford - now a P.I. hired by the father of the murdered children - is also hunting the murderer...

Viewer comment (imdb.com) -

When a Stranger Calls boasts the scariest opening in film history. Wes Craven completely ripped this intro off in Scream. It's that good. Too bad the rest of the film isn't. It goes completely downhill after the beginning. It's so scary and has such a tense start that you can hardly watch it without holding your breathe. My girlfriend couldn't watch it period. She had to turn her head and keep asking me when it was over. It's very subtle, slow, and deliberate, and very frightening. The rest of the film can't live up to the energy generated by the beginning. But still, I recommend this because the beginning alone is better than most fright flicks in their entirety.

> GREAT ANALYSIS of the film (more details)



-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on Apr 1, 2008]

It's 'movie' trailers Tim! (like these)













-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

HAHAHA That is great Tim!