These horror trailers took the saying, "show, don't tell" way too literally.
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00:00 Cutting together a film trailer is a very difficult job.
00:02 Essentially, you need to cut down an entire film into a one or two minute trailer that
00:07 encourages viewers to see it.
00:09 However, executing the perfect teaser is extra difficult when the genre is horror.
00:14 So what do most horror trailers do?
00:16 They show everything!
00:18 Every jump scare is revealed, every gory scene is on full display, every twist is spoiled,
00:24 and sometimes even the ending is ruined.
00:27 Before you ask, of course, major spoilers are ahead, so beware if any of these are on
00:32 your to-watch list.
00:33 Also, I apologize for my voice, I am a little bit sick, but so are these horror movie trailers
00:38 that went and spoiled the plots of their movies, so yeah, that hangs together, let's go!
00:43 I'm Jess from WhatCulture and here are 10 horror movie trailers that gave away the entire plot.
00:48 10.
00:49 What Lies Beneath
00:51 In Robert Zemeckis' supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath, Norman and Claire Spencer
00:55 are a happily married couple until their life is turned upside down after a ghostly encounter.
01:01 For the first half of the movie, Claire suspects that her neighbor murdered his wife,
01:06 and the spirit is seeking vengeance, although this turns out to be a red herring.
01:10 In reality, the ghost belongs to a college student called Madison, who had an affair
01:14 with Norman.
01:15 When Madison was about to make the affair public, Norman murdered her.
01:20 Now that Claire knows the truth, Norman is forced to kill her too.
01:23 Because the film spends so much time setting up the neighbor as the killer,
01:27 the big reveal is made far more shocking.
01:30 At least, it would have been if you hadn't seen the trailer.
01:32 The teaser makes it so abundantly clear that Norman is the murderer,
01:35 it doesn't even feel like it's meant to be a plot twist.
01:38 In fact, most of the promos don't even mention the neighbors.
01:41 Although the film has a lot of great jump scares and clever misdirection,
01:45 all of this was pretty much ruin for anybody who saw the trailer.
01:48 9.
01:49 Get Out
01:50 In Get Out, a black man called Chris is anxious about meeting the family of his
01:54 white girlfriend, Rose Armitage.
01:56 When he arrives at their family estate, the Armitages appear friendly on the surface,
02:01 but Chris suspects that they're hiding a terrible secret.
02:04 Get Out was critically acclaimed, smashed it at the box office, and even snagged an
02:08 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, which is a massive rarity in the horror genre.
02:12 But if you watched the trailer, you'd assume Get Out was horror schlock,
02:16 instead of an unnerving psychological thriller.
02:19 Not only does the teaser make the film look generic, it gives away way too much.
02:23 In several shots, we see Rose's father Dean donning a surgical mask and prepping his
02:28 medical tools while Chris is tied up.
02:30 Although the viewer couldn't guess what sort of procedure Dean is going to perform on Chris,
02:35 it's disappointing the trailer felt like including these clips.
02:38 Even though first-time viewers might assume that the Armitage family holds ill will towards Chris,
02:43 you'd still assume that Rose has genuine feelings for him.
02:46 That is, unless you saw the trailer where she has a rifle trained on his head.
02:50 So, that one's out of the bag.
02:52 Number 8 - Morgan
02:54 In Luke Scott's film debut, a bunch of scientists make an artificial human
02:58 called Morgan from scratch.
02:59 When her intelligence and abilities grow exponentially, the team worry they won't be
03:04 able to stop her if she decides to turn against them.
03:06 The first trailer is a perfect example of how to sell a horror film.
03:10 The premise is clear, the titular character comes across as intriguing,
03:14 without giving too much away.
03:16 There is mention of Morgan causing a dangerous incident,
03:19 but we aren't told or shown the exact details.
03:22 More importantly, the trailer makes it sound like Morgan is really a force to be reckoned
03:26 with without actually showing us what she looks like.
03:29 Unfortunately, the second trailer shows everything the story has to offer,
03:33 discarding all intrigue and subtlety.
03:35 We see Morgan's face, causing the character to lose her mystique, the incident which was
03:40 hinted at in the initial promo was revealed in the second trailer clear as day, and not
03:44 only does it show Morgan attacking and killing people,
03:47 it reveals that the character has psychic powers.
03:50 Unfortunately, if you've seen this preview, you can probably work out everything that's
03:54 going to happen in the film beat for beat.
03:56 Number 7 - Hereditary
03:58 Hereditary begins with Annie dealing with the death of her estranged mother.
04:02 As she tries to pick up the pieces, she suffers another personal tragedy that
04:06 turns her entire life upside down.
04:08 As scary as Ari Aster's film is, Hereditary is far more terrifying if you watch the whole
04:13 thing not knowing what's coming around every subsequent corner.
04:16 It's a long movie and the scares are spread out, but each one is totally worth it since
04:21 this is one of the few horror dramas that takes its time developing the story and characters.
04:26 Unfortunately, the trailer was cut in a way so the film looks like a jump scare frenzy.
04:32 On top of that, it showed the most unnerving moments,
04:35 including one of the main characters being burnt to death.
04:38 You also see Censored smacking their head off the attic door, spoiling one of the most
04:42 terrifying shots in the entire movie.
04:44 Fortunately, most of these shots, but not all of them, are at least revealed in jump
04:48 cuts, so maybe you won't understand what's happening without context.
04:52 That said, it's still way better to go in cold.
04:54 Number 6 - The Devil's Advocate
04:56 In The Devil's Advocate, ruthless lawyer Kevin Lomax wins a seemingly unwinnable case,
05:02 inspiring the world's biggest law firm to accept him into their ranks.
05:05 In his new job, he's tutored by the firm head,
05:08 John Milton, who promises to change Lomax's life for the better.
05:12 Although he earns more money than he can spend,
05:14 Lomax becomes wary of Milton's hedonistic lifestyle.
05:18 Over time, Lomax realizes he has to get away from the law firm before it destroys him,
05:23 body and soul.
05:24 Even though there are hints Milton is more than he lets on, it's not revealed until the final act
05:29 that he is the devil himself.
05:31 But in the trailer, this fact is made unmistakably clear.
05:34 We see him cursing God, talking about how he's had "so many names" over the ages,
05:39 and how he's been around "since the whole thing began."
05:43 Just to ensure the viewer doesn't misinterpret Milton of being poetic with his words,
05:47 we see him boiling holy water with his finger.
05:50 It's a solid film, but if you've seen the trailer, there's no surprises to be seen.
05:54 Number 5 - From Dusk Till Dawn
05:56 From Dusk Till Dawn follows a pair of bank robbers who go on the run
06:00 after one of them kills a bank clerk.
06:02 To evade the police, the duo take a family hostage and force the father to drive them
06:07 all across the Mexican border.
06:08 After passing through, they hide out in a strip club,
06:11 only to learn the residents are vampires.
06:14 What makes this discovery all the more mind-blowing is that the first half of the movie
06:18 plays out like a straight action drama.
06:20 There's no hint whatsoever the movie's going to take a supernatural turn,
06:24 but at the 50-minute mark, vampires pop up and the rest of the movie turns into an undead gore-fest.
06:30 Of course, anybody who caught clips of the movie beforehand knew what was coming.
06:34 Not only does the teaser show all sorts of vampiric monsters,
06:38 it spoils the best shots, kills, and one-liners.
06:42 If you keep your eyes peeled, you can see one shot depicting several characters
06:46 escaping from the strip club during the day, proving that they survived the night.
06:51 So not only does the trailer spoil the big surprise, it spoils who makes it out alive.
06:56 Number 4 - Quarantine
06:58 Wreck was a Spanish fan footage horror released in 2007.
07:01 It was a smash hit which inspired an American remake only one year later called Quarantine.
07:07 The film follows a TV reporter called Angela and her camera operator getting
07:11 trapped in a building that's been quarantined by the CDC.
07:14 After a bit of exploring, they discover the residents have been turned into murderous mutants
07:20 after being infected by a virus.
07:21 The trailer shows many shots you'd expect, like Angela being chased and attacked by the infected.
07:27 The very last shot shows Angela desperately trying to crawl to safety
07:31 before being dragged into the darkness by one of the creatures.
07:35 This shot became so iconic it was used for the movie's poster.
07:39 What people may not have realized upon seeing this shot in the trailer is that it's
07:42 actually the shot from the very end of the movie.
07:45 Once Angela is dragged away, that's it. Credits roll.
07:49 It's completely understandable that a trailer highlights the most exciting moments in a movie
07:53 to sell tickets, but that's no excuse why the preview for Quarantine spoiled the very last frame.
08:00 Number 3 - Retreat
08:01 In Carl Tibbets' thriller Retreat, Martin and Kate are a couple who've grown distant
08:06 from one another after suffering a miscarriage.
08:08 Hoping to rekindle their marriage, the pair journey to an island and settle in a remote cottage.
08:14 While there, they discover a mysterious man who reveals a terrifying secret
08:18 that may well change the world forever.
08:20 On paper, Retreat sounds like it ticks all the right boxes.
08:24 It has an intriguing premise and a wonderful cast, but if you were thinking about checking
08:28 the film out, you have to avoid the teaser at all costs.
08:32 Not only does this movie spoil the ending and the twist, it just spoils the whole thing,
08:36 straight from start to finish. The absolute worst kind of trailer.
08:40 Retreat's trailer is so good at covering every facet of the story,
08:43 it feels like it was strategically designed to ruin the movie.
08:47 If you watch it, congratulations, you've basically seen the whole thing.
08:51 Retreat isn't great, but if you're curious what happens,
08:54 check out the preview and save yourself two hours.
08:57 2. Dreamhouse
08:59 In Dreamhouse, Will Atterton moves into his new home with his wife and two daughters.
09:03 Everything seems hunky-dory at first, and then Will discovers that a man called Peter Ward
09:08 supposedly killed his family in the house five years prior. Not ideal.
09:13 Because Ward was recently released from a mental hospital,
09:16 Will becomes worried that he may return to the house to kill again.
09:19 When Will visits the institution that Ward stayed at, he discovers a horrifying truth.
09:24 He IS Peter Ward. Worse still, the family he's been living with is nothing more than
09:30 a well-constructed delusion that he conjured in his mind.
09:33 Sadly, plenty of people who saw the film were not as surprised by this revelation,
09:37 because the trailer told them about it.
09:39 Even though the premise alone was intriguing enough to fill a trailer, the two-and-a-half
09:43 minute long teaser spent a good 75 seconds repeatedly telling the viewers about Will's
09:49 true identity. The trailer doesn't spoil every twist, but a lot of potential viewers were
09:54 turned off by it, believing the entire film had been ruined for them.
09:58 1. Carrie
10:00 In this Stephen King adaptation, a teenager called Carrie is bullied relentlessly by her
10:05 overzealously religious mother and mean classmates. As she grows increasingly frustrated,
10:11 Carrie discovers she can harness her emotions to move objects with her mind.
10:15 When a popular student, Tommy, invites Carrie to the prom, she believes things are finally
10:19 starting to look up. However, Carrie doesn't realize Tommy and his colleagues have rigged
10:24 the ceremony ballot to ensure she's elected the prom queen. When she's on the ceremonial
10:29 podium to collect her crown, the students drop a bucket of pig blood on her, humiliating
10:34 the poor girl. This prank causes Carrie to snap, using her telekinetic powers to kill
10:39 everybody in the room.
10:40 Of course, whoever cut the trailer together couldn't help but ruin this iconic climax.
10:45 Not only does the preview show Carrie's murdering everyone at the prom, we also see
10:49 her use her telekinesis to kill John Travolta's character, crucify her mother, and burn her
10:55 house down. Just to prove Hollywood never learned anything, or just assumed everyone
10:59 knows the plot to Carrie by now, the 2013 remake spoils everything with its poster and
11:04 trailer as well.
11:05 That's the end of our list, but do let me know down in the comments if you can think
11:09 of any other horror movies that spoiled the entire plot in the trailer.
11:13 As always, I've been Jess from WhatCulture, thank you so much for hanging out with me.
11:17 As always, you can come say hi to me on my Twitter account, where I'm @JessMcDonald
11:21 if you want to, but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more great lists.