Sorority Row Trailer Analysis

Sorority Row is a 2009 American slasher film and a re-imagining of the 1983 slasher film The House on Sorority Row. The film is about a group of sorority sisters who try to cover up the death of their house-sister after a prank went wrong, only to be stalked by a serial killer.

The trailer for the film represents various conventions of a horror trailer, such as the main setting for example is in the house in which the girls live, a confined space where the girls are trapped as the killler repeatedly enters the house, invading their own personal space. The setting of a mine is also present towards the beginning of the trailer where a girl's body is dumped down the mine along with the tire iron (the weapon used to kill her) to hide their secret after a prank went seriously wrong. Before this an iconic scene is shown where a party is taking place with characters and props the audience would expect to see at a typical end of year party such as girls dancing, pillow fights, loud music and couples kissing in which the prank the girls set up goes wrong and one of their frinds is killed.

The trailer then cuts to a scene eight months later where the girls all receive the same text, an image of the bloody tire iron, the weapon used to kill Megan. Ignoring the texts and believing it is merely a sick joke from Garrett (the person who accidently killed Megan) the girls continue with their lives unaware of the consequences that are about to happen. A series of clips are then shown where each girl who knew about the murder is killed off one by one. This is a typical convention of a horror film as the audience is already aware that there will be a 'Final Girl' who will stand out from the others throughout the film and will have the courage to face and kill the killer. Normally this character shows androgynous features however this film slightly challenges this because despite the character Ellie wearing glasses and being more alert than the others she is still seen as a sexual object for men when her glasses are removed towards the end of the film, challenging the typical androgynous final girl role. However, the other girls in the film represent stereotypical roles of young girls in horrow films and are dressed and made to be sexualised. This could possibly support Laura Mulvey's theory of "The Male Gaze" as they are there for the purpose of the typical target audience for horror of 15-24 year old boys.

In terms of the technical code within the trailer, Close Ups and Extreme Close Ups are repeatedly used on the girls faces throughout to allow the audience to capture their reactions closely. Also, fast paced editing is used when Megan is killed in order to dramatise what has happened and emphasise the panic that the girls are then left facing. Generally long shots are used on the killer to establish to the audience that he is there, however close ups of the covered face is shown when the killer is incredibly close, making the audience feel scared as the killer is then invading their own personal space. At the end of the trailer a long shot is again used on the killer but is placed on a straight angle so that when he throws the weapon, it appears as if he is throwing it directly at the audience. This is a typical convention of a horror/thriller trailer as it creates tension for the audience, creating an adrenaline rush.

The theme of the film is based around the idea of something coming back to haunt the girls "Return of the Repressed" as someone from outside the group has discovered their secret and is out to get them. This works well as a horror convention as the audience is never completely sure as to who is the robed killer who has discovered the girls secret. This is then played out until near the end of the film when the killer is identified, however like most horror films a cliff hanger is always left at the end of the film, normally to create tension and get people to leave talking about the film, as well as leaving an opening for a possible sequel.