The trailers for ‘Halloween’ (1978) and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (2003) promote both films and capture the attention of their primary teenage audience who are targeted through the use of a predominant teenage cast. The issues explored through the narrative show how 'Halloween' and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' are used as a tool to discuss issues that exist within the American society, particularly amongst teenagers.

The openings of both trailers adopt technques which carry shock value and in essence, subvert the audience's expectations of the slasher genre. In the trailer for 'Halloween,' the killer's identity is kept concealed from the audience to generate tension and excitement -the two necessary criteria's for a film trailer. In a typical point of view shot, where the audience can only see the film through two round cirlces depcting the eyes on a mask, the audience is confronted with an unexpected scene of a child with the dagger and the mask. Similarly, the opening of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' completely employs the characteristics of the romance genre; the string music in the background plays softly whilst the sun begins to set, and the characters inside the van are shown in relationships. This immediately represents the film as being atypical of the slasher genre where, as seen in 'Halloween,' the opening of the trailer features a brutal stabbing scene. Again, there are similarities with the 'Halloween' trailer in that the cast used are teenagers. If one attempts to merge a teenage cast with the glory and violently fanatic slasher genre, it becomes clear why there are current issues debating the influence of media, and especially media which depicts violent as "cool" on children. For example, older children are likely to interpret the trailer of 'Halloween' as fun; the child is placed in a powerful position through the killings he can commit but also through the fact that the act of killing puts you in a position where adults become scared of you. Furthermore, it can also be argued that the romantic opening of ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ represents these acts of killing as an act of art - another threat indicating the influence the media is capable of exerting onto its audiences.

In both trailers the characters who kill are represented as “outsiders” of the community. In the ‘Halloween’ trailer, the child is shown wearing a clown’s costume. This suggests that the child is seen within the family circle as a humorous character who is not considered in a serious light. These acts of killing then are shown as a cry for attention, further reinforced through the psychiatric comment which creates a sympathetic view towards the child. This is a typical convention of the slather genre; these killers do not kill aimlessly and although not explored explicitly, both the trailers for ‘Halloween’ and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ hint at psychological reasons for the killings. This is shown through two techniques; firstly, the costumes these killers wear and secondly, through the narrative which constructs an opposition between the “outside” world and the “normal” world; the differences between the two highlight the discrimination of the “outsiders.” This notion is more apparent in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ than in ‘Halloween;’ Texas, a state in the South is represented as having an entirely different culture to the norm. The house, and the killer family are shown in the trailer as “weird” - they have discoloured skin and posses strange abnormalities in their facial expressions. New Line Cinema, which manufactured ‘Texas…’ is evidently a big budget institution set in the northern district of the USA. If one uses a basic example of the conflict between the north and the south of the USA, in terms of which is considered more prosperous and the other with a disjointed sense of culture, then ‘Texas…’ most definitely illustrates the discrimination of south against the north. Representations of these killers as such, raises concerns that those who feel vulnerable ins society are not helped as much as they require; there is a sense in our society that children are placed under pressure. Similarly, the north and south divide of the American society are brought up through this trailer; of course, in this trailer and in the film, is a call more a more fragmented American society.