Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Strangers in the night

The most memorable thing about Baby Mama on Sunday was the trailer that preceded it. The Strangers comes out May 30. On paper it must read like every other horror film of the past five years: yuppie couple terrorized in remote cabin by three masked crazypeople. Then why do I want to see it? Well, obviously: The trailer. Beautifully paced. Artfully composed. And the "inspired by true events" tagline sweetens the scent of any horror film, even though these particular "true events" seem to be the Manson family murders (I can't find any other real-life parallels), rather than a more recent off-the-radar occurence. The movie is going to make a shit-ton of money, simply because it's going to attract both the bloodthirsty demographic (key to making every torture-porn film No. 1 at the box office) and people like me (who love suspense movies but bristle at torture porn). Anyway, that's all. Glenn and Gabe at Videogum already posted about points I planned to ponder: the marketing and the supposed "true events." In the meantime, here is the trailer.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am in a well-lit student center with a bunch of student athletes, and I started tearing up because I was so scared during this preview. That's serious. I think the suspense in this movie would cause my heart to explode. Lemme know how it is.

Mike z said...

What most intrigues me is at 0:51, when one of the 'strangers' walks in behind Liv Tyler and there is no loud scream of music or sound effects.

Anonymous said...

That's when I started tearing up out of fear.

J.J. said...

That's obviously the point in which the audience becomes putty. I kind of wish I'd be able to go into the movie without expecting it, though. As much as I occasionally enjoy the art of trailering, I still kind of wish trailers didn't exist.

Anonymous said...

Please update.

Anonymous said...

I saw this preview on TV last night. Even though I knew what was coming, I teared up again at the freaky part, 0:51. I can't believe this preview has brought me to fear tears twice.

Anonymous said...

the "based on true events" comes from the Keddie Cabin Murders.