5. Monsters
Monsters was a surprise hit back in 2010, gaining a massive cult following brilliant reviews and the enticing story of director Gareth Edwards creating all the special effects using consumer level technology. The film itself puts the focus on the trials of a photographer, escorting the daughter of a wealthy client through a Mexico ravaged by aliens. Its a downbeat, slow moving affair that cares more about the tension between the characters than of the impending threat of the actually rather docile creatures. Taking the handful of scenes involving visual spectacle, the trailer is a mish mash of quick cuts designed to make it look like a big, brash creature feature. The quotes from various online reviews are so carefully chosen to focus on the creatures that their use could be called false advertising. The final quick fire montage, a mainstay of action trailers, is particularly laughable. We get the typical loud beats, but the images it is playing over aren't particularly tense or shocking. Its obvious why this was done; Monsters as a film doesn't promote itself, being a low key, character driven piece that had minimal appeal to the masses. But as with Prometheus, this type of misleading marketing led to some degree of disappointment; the film audiences got, while better than what was promised, wasn't what had been advertised. The film itself questions the motives of the creatures, pointing the age old question that perhaps we are the true monsters. The trailer isn't anything beyond a scary thrill ride. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_-gL3U1T5Y