Thirteen Ghosts (2001) Solo Trailer Review

Thirteen Ghosts (2001)

Mark after viewing: 7/10

What happened in the trailer?

A man inherits his Uncle’s mansion which unknown to him and his family contains deadly ghosts. The house locks down and the ghosts escape hunting them. They can only be seen through plastic goggles and they terrorise the family which was the Uncle’s plan.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?

The use of quick montage makes the trailer fast paced which helps build the tension. It starts by setting the scene with the Uncle’s death which is the starting point of the tragedy. We then see the house being admired by the family which shows the enjoyment before the tragedy that’s about to begin, building the tension for the audience. In the quick montages a flash of a ghost is shown which is followed by the mirror scene where the ghost is shown and drags the girl away. This builds the tension for the ending as everything goes back to normal for a while after that little jump scare. The voiceover is good as it has an eerie quality to it which adds to the development of the trailer and the suspense. The ending is good as the quick sequences are show between the counting up of numbers to thirteen. These are red and look like they are written in blood which makes it scarier and the quick sequences make it more dramatic and show different scenes. The music also builds towards the end which creates tension and suspense for the audience.   

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful, and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?

There are a lot of fades used throughout which split up the action in the trailer making it lose suspense. Even though the mirror scene is the scariest part of the trailer it still isn’t a big enough jump scare to make the trailer seem like it’s advertising a true horror film. The trailer is also a bit longer than average trailers which allows it to reveal too much of the plot. Overall it is not scary enough and has no gore which might put its target audience of seeing the film.