10 Best Movie Trailers Of 2018

After years of anticipation, writer/director Drew Goddard finally made his big-screen return this year with his first proper Cabin in the Woods follow-up, Bad Times at the El Royale. And you'd be hard-pressed to find a trailer this year that feels more like it has the director of the actual film's fingerprints all over it than the first trailer for El Royale does.

From the precisely executed visuals and editing to giving audiences scrumptious little morsels of the still-unbelievable ensemble cast delivering mere portions of the feasts of dialogue in the script, this trailer has Goddard written all over it.

It's also remarkably well structured. The first half of the trailer devotes its time to establishing the setting, environment, and ensemble cast. The latter half of the trailer then ditches the upbeat music and lushly photographed daylight shots for something much more sinister, conveying that all is very much not as it seems at the El Royale.

The use of the crescendoing percussive hits in the last minute as Cynthia Erivo's vocal rendition of This Old Heart of Mine soars over the top of them builds tension in an unexpected yet incredibly effective fashion, all of which comes to this gorgeous culmination with the full title reveal.

Also, any trailer smart enough to give audiences a look at a shot of shirtless, dancing Chris Hemsworth deserves praise.