1. Tonal Misdirection
Similar to the false advertising complaint, trailers will often misrepresent the tone of a film, and it doesn't really seem to be in a crass way to get more butts in seats, but more a case of whoever was editing the trailer not really understanding what the film is meant to be about. Take the trailer for the superb faux-documentary Catfish; it begins by stating its premise well enough - a guy and girl start chatting online, and the guy decides to find her in real life - but things soon enough descend into tonal anarchy as the trailer tacitly suggests that things might turn into a slasher horror film scenario. Those who have seen the film will know that the resolution is sufficiently disturbing, but it's not like these guys get hacked up by an axe-wielding maniac now, is it? Though I can appreciate the attempt to prevent people from guessing the twist, to reductively market their film as a found footage horror flick seems condescending and also disrespectful to the film itself, which is far better than that. More to the point, if kids go in expecting a slasher flick and you don't give them that, it's not really very fair. Which trailers have annoyed you the most? Let us know in the comments below.
Shaun Munro
Contributor
Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.
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