Nightmare on Elm Street Trailer Analysis

Today in class we discussed the difference in the two versions of the film 'Nightmare on Elm Street' trailers one from 1984 and the other 2009. I found this a great help as to see how the audience has changed and what we found scary back then we have become desensitised to gory horror as seen in the 80's trailer but are more afraid of the second because it is the psychological horror that we fear.

Here is the 1984 trailer of Nightmare on Elm Street:



Here is the 2009 trailer of Nightmare on Elm Street:



Genre: It is clear to see that both of the trailers are Horror films. The audience immediately can decide this by the burnt man frequently appearing in the 80's trailer and more of the silhouette shown in 09. Also the 09 shows the creepy chanting children which set and eerie ominous tone.

Narrative: Both of the trailers seem to keep closely to the same narrative. This follows the burnt man haunting people (mainly girls) before killing them in horrible ways. The audience are shown more of the storyline in the 09 trailer as we see Freddy Kruger before he is burnt and how it happens. The 80's trailer uses far more gore in the trailer which suggest the 80's audience were far more afraid of gore horror than the psychological horror shown in the 09 trailer. However both trailers follow the same catch phrase of 'Don't fall asleep.'

Representation: In the 09 trailer the 'bad guy' is never shown to the audience and so is more mysterious and therefore frightening when left the audiences own thoughts. This also gives focus to Freddy's hand with the many knives replace fingers. The innocent are dressed in varying light colours which suggest their innocence in the film. The 80's trailer uses the iconic hat and the red and black shirt that makes it so memorable. This seems to be a crucial part of both the trailers as the costumes seem to define that characters as the girls are dressed in white and Freddy in black, the colour of evil.

Audience: The classic horror theme throughout both trailer the audience know that this films target audience are teenagers ranging to 20 year old. however the 80's trailer suggests a younger audience from the more childish font shown in an not scary American font.

Media Language: In summary the trailer from 09 is defined by the characters and the location. however the 80's trailer has more blood and is set in a more suburban area with dated special effects, suggesting the change of horror from gore to psychological and the advance in technology over the past 20 years or so.