Trailers From Hell
Encyclopedia
Trailers From Hell! is a web series
featuring trailers from cinema classics ranging from silent comedy to the splatter flicks of the 1980s, with a particular focus on horror and exploitation films. Trailers are accompanied by commentaries from Hollywood screenwriters, producers and directors. The site launched in October 2007., 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.
Each trailer features commentary on the art, craft, and history of filmmaking. The Trailers From Hell commentators - referred to as "gurus" - include John Landis
, Edgar Wright
, Guillermo del Toro
, Roger Corman
, and Eli Roth
. The gurus dissect and analyze classic trailers, commenting on the film's history, production, and place in the canon of cinematic history. 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."
Dante typically serves as the public face for Trailers From Hell, appearing at the South By Southwest
independent film festival in 2009 to present a compilation of the site's trailers and commentaries. 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". 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. As Dante describes it, "the bromide about these old trailers is that they were better than the movies they promoted. That's only true in some cases, but they did deliver in-your-face excitement and breathless hyperbole at a pace the movies never could."
Erickson has referred to Trailers From Hell as "one of the brightest web destinations for fantastic film fans...." The Independent Film Channel
considers it an "invaluable site", while the horror and suspense genre journal Cinefantastique
called it "fabulous". 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.
There have been two compilations of Trailers From Hell to be released on DVD so far. Volume 1 was released in 2010 and Volume 2 is being released by Shout! Factory
on July 5th, 2011
Web series
A web series is a series of episodes released on the Internet or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode .While the popularity of web series is continuing to rise, the concept...
featuring trailers from cinema classics ranging from silent comedy to the splatter flicks of the 1980s, with a particular focus on horror and exploitation films. Trailers are accompanied by commentaries from Hollywood screenwriters, producers and directors. The site launched in October 2007., as a collaborative project by film director Joe Dante
Joe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
, new media entrepreneur Jonas Hudson, graphic artist Charlie Largent, web developer Tom Edgar and producer Elizabeth Stanley.
Each trailer features commentary on the art, craft, and history of filmmaking. The Trailers From Hell commentators - referred to as "gurus" - include John Landis
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
, Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright
Edgar Howard Wright is an English film and television director and writer. He is most famous for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the TV series Spaced, and for directing the film Scott Pilgrim vs...
, Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...
, Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
, and Eli Roth
Eli Roth
Eli Raphael Roth is an American film director, producer, writer and actor. He is known for his role as Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds for which he won both a SAG Award and a BFCA Critic's Choice Award...
. The gurus dissect and analyze classic trailers, commenting on the film's history, production, and place in the canon of cinematic history. Film editor and critic Glenn Erickson
Glenn Erickson
Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. He started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacities in such major films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 1941...
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."
Dante typically serves as the public face for Trailers From Hell, appearing at the South By Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
independent film festival in 2009 to present a compilation of the site's trailers and commentaries. Some of the trailers he cut early in his career for low-budget filmmaker Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
's New World Pictures have been called the "best trailers for less-than stellar movies you've ever seen". 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. As Dante describes it, "the bromide about these old trailers is that they were better than the movies they promoted. That's only true in some cases, but they did deliver in-your-face excitement and breathless hyperbole at a pace the movies never could."
Erickson has referred to Trailers From Hell as "one of the brightest web destinations for fantastic film fans...." The Independent Film Channel
Independent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
considers it an "invaluable site", while the horror and suspense genre journal Cinefantastique
Cinefantastique
Cinefantastique was a horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor Frederick S. Clarke...
called it "fabulous". 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.
There have been two compilations of Trailers From Hell to be released on DVD so far. Volume 1 was released in 2010 and Volume 2 is being released by Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
on July 5th, 2011
List of commentators
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Mick Garris Mick Garris is an American filmmaker and screenwriter born in Santa Monica, California.-Biography:He is best known for his adaptations of Stephen King stories, such as directing the horror film Sleepwalkers starring Madchen Amick and is the creator of the Showtime series Masters of Horror... Stuart Gordon After the University of Wisconsin demanded future theatrical productions by Screw Theater be overseen by a University Professor, Gordon cut his University ties to form Broom Street Theater. Its first production, the new translation of the risque Lysistrata, premiered in May 1969. Gordon is... Sam Hamm Sam Hamm is an American screenwriter, perhaps best known for writing the screenplay for Tim Burton's Batman and an unused screenplay for the sequel. As a result of his work, he was invited to write for the Batman comic. The result was Batman: Blind Justice, which introduced Bruce Wayne's mentor,... Jack Hill Jack Hill is an U.S. film director, noted for his work in the exploitation film genre. Despite this, several of Hill's later films have been characterized as feminist works.Hill was born in Los Angeles... Tim Hunter Timothy Robert Hunter is a retired NHL forward. Chosen in the 3rd round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft by the then Atlanta Flames, Hunter went on to a 16-year career with the Calgary Flames, Quebec Nordiques, Vancouver Canucks, and San Jose Sharks... Dan Ireland Dan Ireland is a film director, producer and co-founder of the Seattle International Film Festival.-Filmography:*Living Proof *Jolene *Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont *Passionada... Jonathan Kaplan Jonathan Kaplan is an American film producer and director.Kaplan was born in Paris, France. He is the son of film composer Sol Kaplan and actress Frances Heflin; the nephew of actor Van Heflin. He is the brother of actresses Nora Heflin and Mady Kaplan... Lloyd Kaufman Lloyd Kaufman is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and occasional actor. With producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, including The Toxic Avenger and Tromeo and Juliet. Kaufman also serves as... Karyn Kusama Karyn Kusama is an American film director and screenwriter.A graduate of New York University's film school, her début production Girlfight won both the Director's Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival... Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute is an American film director, screenwriter and playwright.-Early life:LaBute was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marian, a hospital receptionist, and Richard LaBute, a long-haul truck driver. LaBute is of French Canadian, English and Irish ancestry, and was raised in Spokane,... John Landis John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:... |
Michael Lehmann Michael Stephen Lehmann is an American film and television director.Lehmann attended Columbia University. His first job in the film industry was answering phones at Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope film company. Later he supervised cameras on films that included 1983's The Outsiders... Rod Lurie Rod Lurie is an Israeli-American director, screenwriter and former film critic.-Early life and career:The son of internationally syndicated cartoonist Ranan Lurie, he was born in Israel but moved to the United States at a young age, growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Honolulu,... Ib Melchior Ib Jørgen Melchior is a novelist, short story writer, film producer, film director, and screenwriter of low-budget American science fiction movies, most of them released by American International Pictures... Josh Olson Josh Olson is an American screenwriter and director. Olson began his career working as a production assistant in the art department on the 1987 film Masters of the Universe... Mark Pellington -Life and career:Pellington was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He directed The Mothman Prophecies, a 2002 film starring Richard Gere dealing with mysterious deaths foretold by a strange red-eyed flying creature, Mothman, as well as Arlington Road in 1999 starring Tim Robbins and Jeff Bridges.... Adam Rifkin Adam Rifkin sometimes credited as Rif Coogan, is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. Rifkin is claimed to belong to a rare breed of film directors that transited from public-access television cable TV to Hollywood.His eclectic career ranges from broad family comedies to cult... Eli Roth Eli Raphael Roth is an American film director, producer, writer and actor. He is known for his role as Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds for which he won both a SAG Award and a BFCA Critic's Choice Award... John Sayles John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"... Brian Trenchard-Smith Brian Trenchard-Smith is an English film and television director, producer, writer, consultant and actor who is notable for his contributions to the horror and action genre during the 1970s and 1980s in Australia. Most of his work has been in television, and the majority of his films have been... Christopher Wilkinson Christopher Wilkinson is a screenwriter, producer, and director. He is perhaps best known for writing the biographical films Nixon , Ali and Copying Beethoven .... |
Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright is an English film and television director and writer. He is most famous for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the TV series Spaced, and for directing the film Scott Pilgrim vs... |