10 Movies That Failed To Live Up To Their Trailers

Picture this: You’re sitting in a movie theater on opening night as the end credits roll. You’re feeling confused. Let down. A little angry. Maybe your friend sitting next to you decides to rub some salt in the wound by saying something to the effect of “I can’t believe you dragged me to that!” 

We’ve all been there. Tricked into the theater by a diabolically effective trailer cut together by an equally diabolical and effective marketing team to witness a genre flick that at best did not meet expectations and at worst was a total mess. That feeling of betrayal may never totally go away, but, with the help of the Internet, at least we can keep future generations from sharing in our disappointment.

Here are 10 movies that felt short of their trailers: 

The Village

It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time when M. Night Shyamalan being involved with a movie was a selling point. In the case of 2004’s The Village he was pretty much the selling point. Well, him and the cool monsters that the trailer seemed to craftily keep hidden. Spoiler alert, there were no monsters. Separated from its marketing campaign, it may be possible to enjoy The Village for what it is: a slow character study on a technology-hating cult with an admittedly badly-telegraphed twist. In context though, the movie is a career-killing let down.  

White Noise

If you’re a minute into a two-minute long movie trailer before you see even a second of actual footage, it should be a red flag. The thing is, that first minute of the trailer for White Noise is really good. It consists entirely of creepy electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) clips of disembodied, static-heavy voices saying ominous things like “Get out of my house!” or “I will see you no more.” The movie itself is dull, dragged down by a lot of bad CGI and for the most part totally forgettable outside of the fact that Michael Keaton is in it.

I Am Legend 

From the shots of Will Smith and his faithful pooch walking down a deserted New York City street to him hugging a rifle in a bathtub while trying to drown out the snarls of unseen threats, the I Am Legend trailer is full of somber, iconic moments. It’s also home to big explosions and car crashes. Factor in the limitless potential for great buddy-movie interactions with his German Shepherd best friend and this seemed like the ultimate Will Smith vehicle. Poor creative decisions and some of the worst CGI to find its way into a blockbuster ensured that wasn’t the case. We’ll always have this trailer though and the thoughts of what might have been.    

The Happening

Even as the quality of his films nosedived, M. Night Shyamalan still found a way to shoot enough coherent footage to put together a heck of trailer. Like The Village before it, the previews for The Happening danced around the movie’s true villain – in this case, spoiler, nature – but never gave audiences that money shot confirming what was going on. There are eerie scenes of people falling off of rooftops or standing frozen in the middle of a city en masse. Unlike The Village, this time there’s no question about the quality of the film itself. “The Happening” is a perfect storm of horrible performances, tortured writing and violence that reaches “South Park” levels of absurdity.      

Ghost Ship

The basic premise set up in the trailer – a salvage team thinks they’ve hit the jackpot when they find an aging, abandoned ocean liner, but when they get on board, things take a turn for the spooky – is sound. The rusted out, dank interior of the ship seems destined to make for a fantastic backdrop for some cool ghostly goings-on. That setting is indeed great, but unfortunately those cool ghostly goings-on never materialize. The film’s opening sequence is a wonderful signature moment, but everything that comes after is too by-the-numbers to make any sort of impact.

The Gallows

At least in trailer form, The Gallows was poised to be a winner. A group of kids break into their school at night to do a little found footage vandalism and get themselves attacked by the brutal hangman ghost who haunts it. There’s a little flair thrown in with that foreboding red filter. We even get that fun new trend of moody-ing up a pop song by stripping it down. In its fullest version, however, The Gallows is grating, bloated with jump-scares and exceedingly dumb.

Ghosts of Mars

The trailer for “Ghosts of Mars” promises a fun action-horror hybrid. Ice Cube trades cool, tough guy/gal one liners with Natasha Henstridge, he runs while shooting guns at things on either side of him, also Jason Statham and Pam Grier are both there. The antagonists are these Cennobite-looking dudes who’ve been possessed by ancient Martian ghosts. Something for everyone, minus an actual, watchable movie. “Ghosts of Mars” winds up being hamstrung by bad dialogue and performances and a confusing tone. 

The Devil Inside

The sight of people contorting their bodies in unnatural ways, their joints cracking and popping, will always be unnerving. That’s an essential shot in every possession movie trailer. Sadly, it’s also the only arrow many of them have in their quiver and so they never manage to do more that be a good trailer. A contortionist’s work is on full display in the The Devil Inside trailer. Stretched out to its full run time, the film hems too closely to the familiar beats of the found footage and possession subgenres and caps all of that off with a downright rage-inducing cop-out ending. 

Prometheus

Even before that nerve-jarring screaming siren sound effect kicks in near the end of its trailer, Prometheus”seems a shoe-in to take its place among unquestioned horror/sci-fi classics, a fitting lead-in to Ridley Scott’s Alien. Then Michael Fassbender drops the “Big things have small beginnings” line and if you’re not screaming “Take my money!” to the screen at that point, there’s something wrong with you. The movie version of Prometheus is at best OK. There are a lot of grand ideas, some of which pay off, some of which don’t. The movie seems unsure of itself and that keeps it from clearing the bar set by its pitch perfect trailer.

Chappie

If you only watch the first trailer for Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie, you might think of the film as an action flick with art house, Oscar-bait sensibilities, a la Blomkamp’s District 9. If you watch the rest of the trailers or the movie itself, you’ll know that’s not what it is at all. Chappie certainly has its moments, but the first trailer, with its mournful score and its words appearing slowly on screen, just feels important and epic in a way the movie never comes close to. Try not to cringe in the trailer when Chappie gets hit with the Molotov cocktail or cheer when he pumps his fist while riding in the car. The same scenes in the movie, sans sorrowful accompanying tune, don’t hit nearly as hard.