Personal Trailer Reviews: The Exorcist

The Exorcist

Year: 1973

Genre: Horror

Personal Mark: 7

The exorcist utilizes several horror conventions in order to establish genre and appeal to their target audience. The first of which is setting and character. The suburban nuclear family is clearly represented from the get go. This is to appeal to a mainstream audience, thus making as much profit as possible on release. However that being said its subject matter and use of isolation (trapped within the home) would hopefully appeal to outsiders, thus using the genres conventions to appeal to a wide audience. Another key convention they use is both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. This is used throughout the trailer and is used to create a sense of urgency and unrest. They do this by increasing the pace/ tone of the music and character dialogue, alongside using several sound effects for key scenes, such as in the bedroom when it begins to be destroyed. They also use mystery well. They do not, at any point, reveal the face of the protagonist (The exorcist) or the antagonist (possessed girl). This is also complimented by the mise-en-scene. The character body language aids to show character relationships and advance the narratives, while the general use of props and clothing establishes character roles (i.e. Priests) and establishes the general narrative for the audience without giving too much away.

This being said there is still room for improvement. While I understand an air of mystery may provoke intrigue and thus a captivated audience but we do not see our protagonist until the very end. While it interests us as to the who?; It means we are not shown the full scope of the narrative and cannot then invest with the central protagonist.  The use of a very generic setting also bores the audience. While it’s understandable the key action would take place in the bedroom a few varied location shots wouldn’t go amiss, even if just to stimulate the audience.

Overall the trailer is relatively well put together, building pace through sound and cinematography, but it could be improved with a variety of locations and the establishment of the antagonist.