''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

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. ''Trailers from Hell'' launched as a website in October 2007,JOE DANTE presents Trailers From Hell! - Cinefantastique
/ref> 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.

Commentary

Each trailer features commentary on the art, craft, and history of filmmaking, regarding both the trailer itself and the film it represents. Regular ''Trailers from Hell'' commentators, referred to as "gurus" on the series website, include (in addition to Joe Dante)

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal ...

, Guillermo del Toro,

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

, and

Eli Roth Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, having directed the films '' Cabin Fever'' (2003) and ''Hoste ...

. Film editor and critic

Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, he started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low-budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacitie ...

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."DVD Savant Review: The Best of Trailers from Hell volume 1
/ref> Some of the trailers he cut early in his career for low-budget filmmaker

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 19 ...

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. The previously mentioned Erickson has referred to ''Trailers from Hell'' as "one of the brightest web destinations for fantastic film fans...." while the horror and suspense genre journal

Cinefantastique ''Cinefantastique'' is an American horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine. History The magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset printed quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor ...

called it "fabulous".

American Movie Classics AMC is an American multinational basic cable television channel that is the flagship property of AMC Networks. The channel's programming primarily consists of theatrically released films, along with a limited amount of original programming. T ...

has lauded Dante for being "appreciative of and well-versed in the history of the exploitation cinema" through his work on ''Trailers from Hell''.

Home video

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.Full Moon Streaming Partners with Joe Dante’s “TRAILERS FROM HELL”
/ref>

List of commentators

* Guillermo del Toro *

Fede Álvarez Federico Álvarez (born February 9, 1978) is a Uruguayans, Uruguayan film director, filmmaker. He is known for directing ''Evil Dead (2013 film), Evil Dead'' (2013) and ''Don't Breathe'' (2016), as well as his short film ''Ataque de Pánico!'' ( ...

Allison Anders Allison Anders (born November 16, 1954) is an American independent film director whose films include ''Gas Food Lodging'', ''Mi Vida Loca'' and ''Grace of My Heart''. Anders has collaborated with fellow UCLA School of Theater, Film and Televisio ...

Allan Arkush Allan Arkush (born April 30, 1948) is an American director and producer of films, television and videos. He is a collaborator of Joe Dante. Early life Arkush grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He graduated in 1966 from Fort Lee High School. His ...

John Badham John MacDonald Badham (born August 25, 1939) is an English television and film director, best known for his films ''Saturday Night Fever'' (1977), ''Dracula'' (1979), ''Blue Thunder'' (1983), ''WarGames'' (1983), ''Short Circuit'' (1986), and ...

Rick Baker Richard A. Baker (born December 8, 1950), known professionally as Rick Baker, is an American retired special make-up effects creator and actor. He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker won the Academy Award for Best Makeu ...

Jessica Bendinger Jessica Bendinger (born November 10, 1966) is an American screenwriter and novelist. Education Bendinger graduated from Columbia University in 1988. She is a classmate of screenwriter Andrew W. Marlowe. While at Columbia, Bendinger interned fo ...

* Darren Bousman *

Axelle Carolyn Axelle Carolyn (born 3 April 1979 in Brussels) is a Belgian filmmaker and former actress and journalist. Biography Acting Amongst many other jobs she worked on her way to directing her first films, Carolyn briefly worked in front of the camera. ...

Larry Cohen Lawrence George Cohen (July 15, 1936 – March 23, 2019) was an American screenwriter, producer, and director of film and television, best known as an author of horror and science fiction films — often containing police procedural and ...

Julie Corman Julie Ann Corman ( Halloran; born ) is an American film producer. She is married to film producer and director Roger Corman. Career In 1970, Julie Corman married film director/producer, Roger Corman. Corman produced a series of "Night Nurses" f ...

Don Coscarelli Don Coscarelli Jr. (born February 17, 1954) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born to Italian settlers in Libya, he is best known for his work in horror films. His directing credits include the first four films in the ' ...

* Joe Dante *

Jon Davison Jon Davison (born January 16, 1971) is an American singer, musician and songwriter who has been the lead vocalist of progressive rock band Yes since 2012. He is also known as the former lead singer of progressive rock band Glass Hammer from 2 ...

David DeCoteau David DeCoteau (born January 5, 1962) is an American-Canadians, Canadian film director and film producer, producer. Biography Early life David DeCoteau was born on January 5, 1962, in Portland, Oregon. Career He has worked professionally in th ...

David Del Valle 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 i ...

Ernest Dickerson Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter of film, television, and music videos. As a cinematographer, he is known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee ever since they were c ...

Illeana Douglas Illeana Hesselberg (born July 25, 1961 or 1965), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in three episodes of '' Six Feet Under'', for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as O ...

Bill Duke William Henry Duke Jr. (born February 26, 1943) is an American actor and film director. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke works primarily in the action and crime drama genres often as a character related to law enforcement. Frequently ...

Mick Garris Mick Garris (born December 4, 1951) is an American filmmaker and screenwriter born in Santa Monica, California. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, as well as making Stephen King adaptations. Early life Garris was born in Sant ...

Mark Goldblatt Mark Goldblatt is an Academy Award nominated American film editor and film director and president emeritus of the American Cinema Editors. Brooklyn born Goldblatt studied at the University of Wisconsin and London Film School, where his instru ...

Stuart Gordon Stuart Alan Gordon (August 11, 1947 – March 24, 2020) was an American filmmaker, theatre director, screenwriter, and playwright. Initially recognized for his provocative and frequently controversial work in experimental theatre, Gordon is perh ...

Dana Gould Dana Gould (born August 24, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and voice artist who has been featured on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central. He voiced Hi Larious in the TV series ''Father of the Pride'' (2004–2005) and the ...

Sam Hamm Sam Hamm (born November 19, 1955) is an American screenwriter and comic book writer. Hamm is known for co-writing the screenplay for Tim Burton's ''Batman''. He also received a story credit for ''Batman Returns'' (though the final version of the ...

* Marshall Harvey * Mark Helfrich *

George Hickenlooper George Loening Hickenlooper III (May 25, 1963 – October 29, 2010) was an American narrative and documentary filmmaker. Early life Hickenlooper was born in St. Louis, the son of Barbara Jo Wenger, a social worker and stage actress, and George L ...

Jack Hill Jack Hill (born January 28, 1933) is an American film director in the exploitation film genre. Several of Hill's later films have been characterized as feminist works. Early life Hill was born in Los Angeles, California. His mother, Mildred (n� ...

* Heidi Honeycutt * Gillian Horvat * Tim Hunter *

Dan Ireland Daniel Frederick Ireland (May 11, 1949 – April 14, 2016) was an American-Canadian film producer and director.''. In: cinemawithoutborders.com, July 5, 2012 He was the co-founder of the Seattle International Film Festival. Biography Ireland was b ...

* Kier-La Janisse *

Jonathan Kaplan Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and director. His film ''The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster an Oscar for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International ...

Larry Karaszewski Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer * Larry Boon ...

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featur ...

* Daniel Kremer *

Karyn Kusama Karyn Kiyoko Kusama (born March 21, 1968) is an American filmmaker. She made her directorial and writing feature film debut with the sports drama film '' Girlfight'' (2000) for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for ...

Neil Labute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, '' In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance F ...

* Mary Lambert *

* Max Landis *

Quentin Lee Quentin Lee (; born 1971) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian-American film writer, director, and producer. He is most notable for the television series ''Comedy InvAsian'' and feature films ''The People I've Slept With'' (2009), '' Ethan Mao'' (2004), ...

Dennis Lehane Dennis Lehane (born August 4, 1965) is an American author. He has published more than a dozen novels; the first several were a series of mysteries featuring recurring characters, including ''A Drink Before the War''. Of these, four were adapted a ...

Michael Lehmann Michael Stephen Lehmann (born March 30, 1957) is an American film and television director known for directing the dark comedy ''Heathers''. Early life and education In 1978, Lehmann graduated from Columbia University.

* J.D. Lifshitz *

Rod Lurie Rod Lurie ( he, רוד לוריא; born May 15, 1962) 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 ...

* William Malone *

Neil Marshall Neil Marshall (born 25 May 1970) is an English film and television director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He directed the horror films ''Dog Soldiers'' (2002) and ''The Descent'' (2005), the science fiction action film ''Doomsday'' (200 ...

Ib Melchior Ib Jørgen Melchior (September 17, 1917 – March 14, 2015) was a Danish-American novelist, short-story writer, film producer, film director, and screenwriter of low-budget American science fiction movies, most of them released by American Inter ...

* Mike Mendez * Ed Neumeier *

Josh Olson Joshua R. Olson is an American screenwriter and podcaster, known for writing the 2005 film ''A History of Violence''. Career Olson wrote and directed the low budget horror film ''Infested'' in 2002. He wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film ' ...

Oren Peli Oren Peli ( he, אורן פלאי / אורן פלי; born January 21, 1970) is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter, known for directing the 2007 film ''Paranormal Activity''. Early life Peli was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to a J ...

* Mark Pellington * Dan Perri * Michael Peyser *

Adam Rifkin Adam Rifkin (born December 31, 1966), sometimes credited as Rif Coogan, is an American filmmaker, and actor. His career ranges from broad family comedies to dark and gritty urban dramas. He is best known for writing family-friendly comedies lik ...

Howard Rodman Howard A. Rodman is a screenwriter, author and professor. He is the former President of the Writers Guild of America, West, professor and former chair of the writing division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, alumnus of Telluride Associatio ...

* Eduardo Rodriguez *

John Sayles John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and '' ...

* Michael Schlesinger * Steve Senski *

Katt Shea Kathleen Ann Shea (born October 9, 1959) is an American actress, film director, and acting teacher. She is best known for directing the erotic thriller '' Poison Ivy'', which was nominated for the 1992 Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Early life Shea ...

* Alan Spencer *

Michael Tolkin Michael L. Tolkin (born October 17, 1950) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He has written numerous screenplays, including '' The Player'' (1992), which he adapted from his own 1988 novel of the same name,Tolkin, Michael"The Player" 1st ed., ...

Brian Trenchard-Smith Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith (born 1946) is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films. His filmography covers action, science fiction, martial arts, dystopian fiction, comedy, ...

* Jesus Trevino * Robert Weide *

Ti West Timon C. West (born October 5, 1980) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, and occasional actor, best known for his work in horror films. He directed the horror films ''The Roost'' (2005), '' The House of ...

Christopher Wilkinson Christopher Wilkinson (born March 29, 1950) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Nixon'' (1995).

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

* David Zeiger

References

External links

*
''Trailers from Hell'' at IMDb

Official YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trailers From Hell American film websites Internet properties established in 2007 Film and video fandom Cult following Horror fandom Science fiction fandom Fantasy fandom