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.,[1] 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."[2]
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.[3] 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".[4] 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.[1] 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."[5]
Erickson has referred to Trailers From Hell as "one of the brightest web destinations for fantastic film fans...."[2] The Independent Film Channel considers it an "invaluable site",[6] while the horror and suspense genre journal Cinefantastique called it "fabulous".[1] 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.[4]
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