‘Nightmare Alley’ Trailer Teases Guillermo del Toro’s Fascination With Freak Shows

'Nightmare Alley' Guillermo del Toro Teaser Trailer

Guillermo del Toro’s been tantalizing fans all day with promises of a new teaser trailer for his dark noir thriller, Nightmare Alley. Now, the trailer’s here, and while the film doesn’t fit the standard description of “horror,” it’s clear that’s it’s going to explore GDT’s thematic fascination with bizarre creatures.

Based on what we know so far, though, the “creature” of Nightmare Alley will not be one of dark fantasy, but a human being exploited by a young carny (Bradley Cooper) for public amusement.

In this new footage, we hear carnival barker Clem Hoatley (Willem Dafoe) shout his “Step right up!” routine to lure patrons to his main attraction:

Behold one of the unexplained mysteries of the universe. Is he man… or beast? This creature has been examined by the foremost scientists and pronounced, unequivocally, a man. I am prepared to offer you folks one last chance to witness this supreme oddity.

Watch the Nightmare Alley teaser trailer below:

Nightmare Alley is adapted from the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham. del Toro co-wrote the screenplay with Kim Morgan. Alongside Cooper and Dafoe, the film stars Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, and David Strathairn. The film will hit theaters December 17, 2021.

This week, we were given a glimpse of the film’s visual world with a gallery of new images and a poster. When introducing that eye candy, del Toro told Vanity Fair that he expects some people to assume Nightmare Alley has supernatural or fantastic elements, but reminded fans that that’s not the case.

Also Read: Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley Debuts Stunning First Look

“It has happened to me in the past with Crimson Peak, where people went in expecting a horror movie,” he explains. “I knew it was a gothic romance but it was very difficult to put that across. But yes, this has no supernatural element. It’s based completely in reality. It’s a very different movie from my usual.”

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