Trailers from Hell (branded as Trailers from Hell!) is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and exploitation cinema, films from a wide variety of genres have been covered. [1] Trailers from Hell launched as a website in October 2007, [2] as a collaborative project by film director Joe Dante, new media entrepreneur Jonas Hudson, graphic artist Charlie Largent, web developer Tom Edgar, and producer Elizabeth Stanley. It also premiered at SXSW in 2009. [3]
Each trailer features commentary on the art, craft, and history of filmmaking, regarding both the trailer itself and the film it represents. [4] Regular Trailers from Hell commentators, referred to as "gurus" on the series website, include (in addition to Joe Dante) John Landis, Guillermo del Toro, Roger Corman, and Eli Roth. Film editor and critic Glenn Erickson writes, "The host commentaries provide the real added value, cramming a wealth of information, humor and insights into the two- to four- minute trailer running times." [5]
Some of the trailers he cut early in his career for low-budget filmmaker Roger Corman's New World Pictures have been called the "best trailers for less-than stellar movies you've ever seen". [6] Dante was also able to augment his collection with many additional previews for classic and "not so classic" horror films during his time at Corman's studio. [2]
The previously mentioned Erickson has referred to Trailers from Hell as "one of the brightest web destinations for fantastic film fans...." [5] while the horror and suspense genre journal Cinefantastique called it "fabulous". [2] American Movie Classics has lauded Dante for being "appreciative of and well-versed in the history of the exploitation cinema" through his work on Trailers from Hell. [6]
There have been two compilations of Trailers from Hell that have been released on DVD so far. Volume 1 was released in 2010 and Volume 2 was released by Shout! Factory on July 5, 2011. [7]
Roger William Corman was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he was known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film.
Eli Raphael Roth is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, namely splatter films, having directed the films Cabin Fever (2002) and Hostel (2005).
Joseph James Dante Jr. is an American film director, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably Gremlins (1984) alongside its sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with 1960s radicalism and cartoon comedy.
The Tomb of Ligeia is a 1964 American-British horror film directed by Roger Corman. Starring Vincent Price and Elizabeth Shepherd, it tells of a man haunted by the spirit of his dead wife and her effect on his second marriage. The screenplay by Robert Towne was based upon the short story "Ligeia" by American author Edgar Allan Poe and was the last in his series of films loosely based on the works of Poe. Tomb of Ligeia was filmed at Castle Acre Priory and other locations with a mostly British cast.
Timothy Ray Lucas is an American film critic, biographer, novelist, screenwriter and blogger, best known for publishing and editing the video review magazine Video Watchdog.
Guillermo del Toro Gómez is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, gothicism and horror often blending the genres, with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty in the grotesque. He has had a lifelong fascination with monsters, which he considers symbols of great power. He is also known for his use of insectile and religious imagery, his themes of Catholicism, anti-fascism, and celebrating imperfection, underworld motifs, practical special effects, and dominant amber lighting.
The Undead is a 1957 horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Pamela Duncan, Allison Hayes, Richard Garland and Val Dufour. It also features Corman regulars Richard Devon, Dick Miller, Mel Welles and Bruno VeSota. The authors' original working title was The Trance of Diana Love. The film follows the story of a prostitute, Diana Love (Duncan), who is put into a hypnotic trance by psychic Quintus (Dufour), thus causing her to regress to a previous life. Hayes later starred in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958). The film was released on February 14, 1957 by American International Pictures as a double feature with Voodoo Woman.
Masters of Horror is a horror anthology television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network.
The Haunted Palace is a 1963 gothic fantasy horror film released by American International Pictures, starring Vincent Price, Lon Chaney Jr. and Debra Paget, in a story about a village held in the grip of a dead necromancer. Directed by Roger Corman, it is one of his series of eight films based largely on the works of American author Edgar Allan Poe.
Michael Gingold is an American journalist, screenwriter, and former editor-in-chief of Fangoria magazine.
The Movie Orgy is a 1968 film directed by Joe Dante and produced by Jon Davison. It was an evolving compilation of film clips, commercials, and film trailers, initially assembled by Dante when he was an undergraduate at the Philadelphia College of Art. At its longest, it ran for seven and a half hours and could be considered the analog prelude to the mash-up videos and supercut edits now prevalent on digital platforms like YouTube and Vimeo.
Piranha is a horror film series that consists of five films. The original film is a parody of the 1975 film Jaws.
Popcorn Taxi was an Australian independent non-competitive film festival that presented regular film screenings followed by a live Q&A with related 'talent' immediately afterward. The unique nature of each screening was that the events provide patrons with the opportunity to discuss the film with the filmmaker, actor, producer, et al. immediately after viewing it. Feature films, shorts, TV projects and documentaries were all represented within Popcorn Taxi.
Kurt Sayenga is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and producer. He has served as the principal creative on many high-end documentary projects, most recently as showrunner for the 2023 National Geographic/Hulu/Disney+ special Titanic: 25 Years Later with James Cameron and director/writer/showrunner of the 2022 eight-part Shudder miniseries The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time.
David Del Valle is a journalist, columnist, film historian, and radio and television commentator on horror, science-fiction, cult and fantasy films. Described by Entertainment Weekly as "Something of a cult celebrity himself," he was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame in 2016.
The Student Teachers is a 1973 film directed by Jonathan Kaplan. It was inspired by the "nurse" cycle of pictures starting with The Student Nurses (1970). Roger Corman says it was one of the best of the cycle. It was made by the same team who had done Night Call Nurses.
Crimson Peak is a 2015 Gothic romance film directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Matthew Robbins. The film stars Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, and Jim Beaver. The story, set in Victorian-Era England, follows an aspiring author who travels to a remote Gothic mansion in Cumberland, England with her new husband and his sister. There, she must decipher the mystery behind the ghostly visions that haunt her new home.
Splatter is a 2009 interactive short horror web series directed by Joe Dante produced by Roger Corman and starring Corey Feldman. It was created for Netflix.
The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award, often called the Rondo Award, is an annual award founded in 2002 that honors journalism, scholarship and film preservation in the horror genre, particularly of classic horror film and their modern-day counterparts.
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster is a 2021 American-British documentary film about the life and career of English actor Boris Karloff, who was known for his roles in horror films. The documentary was directed & written by Thomas Hamilton and co-produced with Ron MacCloskey. The film features interviews with such subjects as Guillermo del Toro, John Landis, Joe Dante, Christopher Plummer, Peter Bogdanovich, Ron Perlman, Leonard Maltin, Christopher Frayling, Sara Karloff, Roger Corman, Dick Miller, biographer Stephen Jacobs with artwork specially created by artist Joe Liotta, and music score by Laura Forrest Hay.