Day of the Dead Trailer Review

Film: Day of the Dead (1985)
Trailer Genre: Gory Horror
Mark after viewing: 3/10



What happens in the trailer?
Scenes from the movie that introduce plot points are shown, but no gore is introduced during the trailer. There is also an overview of a cinema where people are watching the movie with a zombie in the audience eating popcorn.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
There were very aspects to the trailer that were done well. The first being that the trailer used key scenes from the film that gave an idea of the plot e.g. the scene were the scientist states that Zombies out number humans by 400,000 to 1. These scenes, unlike a few horror trailers, don’t give use any hint at all to who dies throughout the film, which leaves something for the audience to work out and use their imagination. The other good aspect to the trailer was the one brilliant zombie make-up affect shown, which is the main zombie character; Bub. This helps show the audience that he is important and different from the other zombies that are shown throughout the trailer.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful, and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
There are quite a few aspects to this trailer that are done horribly and that don’t fit with how the movie actually is. The first being the cheesy voice over, it’s slightly over the top and goes a long way to ruining the atmosphere of the trailer. The second aspect is the zombie in the cinema (who isn’t in the film) is done in such as comical way that it makes the film seem like a comedy/silly zombie horror which is mis-selling what the film is truly like, this mixed with the cheesy voice over just ruins the trailer and the audience’s perception of the movie completely.

The trailer also doesn’t do enough to flog the characters, each of the main characters are only shown for a brief few seconds each and it’s not explained who they are or what they are like, it’s relying mainly on the scenes that show plot points and the fact it’s a film made Romero more than the content and the characters, which if were shown to be the cool characters they are would of made the trailer a lot better.

What was the trailer’s average score in class? Why did it receive that mark?
The average overall mark for the trailer was 3.5, this was due to the cheesy voice over – it’s over the top and ruins the atmosphere of the trailer and doesn’t help portray the film accurately. The zombie in the cinema is also something a lot of the class didn’t enjoy, as it helped mis-sell the trailer into something it’s not. This is because the zombie is done in such a comic way and leads to a misrepresentation of what the film is like.