Stephen King‘s novella, “The Mist” (which appeared in Skeleton Crew), is finally hitting the big screen thanks to Frank Darabont. The good news is that the cast looks great. The bad news is that the trailer isn’t going to do jack crap as far as getting butts in seats. And it gives way too much about the movie away.
Take a look, then I’ll give you my version of a teaser trailer after the jump.
Direct link for the feedreaders.
Okay, here’s how I would have done the trailer. I really liked the Dawn of the Dead remake trailer where a zombie horde shuffles up to the back of the screen, as though they were about to come through it and feast on your entrails. It was nicely unnerving. So this is a play on that same “screwing with the audience” theme.
(Screen begins in blackness. The mist rolls in, and the screen becomes a ghostly grey white.)
SOUND FX: A fly buzzing.
(One of the big Fly Things HITS the upper left hand corner of the screen as though landing hard onto the glass of a window. It’s seen only in silhouette, a black monstrous thing. This happens suddenly, designed specifically to scare the living shit out of the audience.)
ON SCREEN: FROM THE MIND OF STEPHEN KING
(Something Even Larger Than the Fly Thing POUNCES on the fly, then bounds away. Even though it’s all black shapes, we can tell the large Fly Thing has been attacked by a Predator. We hear the Fly Thing shriek as it dies. Maybe the Predator Thing tears at its catch as it leaves. This is, again, designed to scare the crap out of the audience.)
ON SCREEN: THE MIST
ON SCREEN: NOVEMBER
Now…which do you think would get your attention more?
