10 Recent Horror Movie Trailers That Showed Way Too Much

In The Black Phone, a 13-year-old boy called Finney is kidnapped by a serial killer called the Grabber. The teenage lad awakens later inside a basement with a rotary phone. Though the phone is broken, Finney receives calls from the Grabber's previous victims, who give him tips on how to escape.

Now, an innovative premise like this is likely to catch the attention of plenty of horror advocates. As such, there's no reason to know anything else.

But the trailer couldn't help itself. Although the first two minutes are solid, the last minute unveils far too much. It reveals Finney's psychic friend uses her visions to find the house Finney is abducted in. Finney is seen to escape, only for him to be recaptured. One shot depicts the Grabber drenched in blood while uttering the words, "Look at what you made me do?" to Finney. Since The Grabber lives with his brother, it's not hard to work out what fate has in store for him. Just to really tick people off, the trailer ends by showing Finney's last stand against his captor.

With trailers like this, it feels like the marketers are under the impression that "selling the movie" means "showing the movie".