''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 Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) 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 1950s-style B movies with ...

, new media entrepreneur Jonas Hudson, graphic artist Charlie Largent, web developer Tom Edgar, and producer Elizabeth Stanley. It also premiered at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

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), ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978 ...

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and '' The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for ...

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 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 Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

on July 5, 2011.Full Moon Streaming Partners with Joe Dante’s “TRAILERS FROM HELL”
/ref>

List of commentators

Fede Álvarez Federico Álvarez (born February 9, 1978) is a Uruguayan filmmaker. He is known for directing ''Evil Dead'' (2013) and '' Don't Breathe'' (2016), as well as his short film '' Ataque de Pánico!'' (2009). Life and career Álvarez was born in Mo ...

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 Televis ...

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. Hi ...

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 *

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 f ...

* Darren Bousman * Axelle Carolyn * Larry Cohen *

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 ' ...

* Jon Davison *

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

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 *

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 *

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 ...

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 * Marshall Harvey * Mark Helfrich * George Hickenlooper * Jack Hill * Heidi Honeycutt * Gillian Horvat * Tim Hunter * Dan Ireland * 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 Internation ...

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 * Mary Lambert *

* Max Landis * Quentin Lee *

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 * 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 * Ib Melchior * Mike Mendez * Ed Neumeier * Josh Olson *

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 Mark Pellington (born March 17, 1962) is an American film director, writer, and producer. Life and career Pellington was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Bill Pellington, an All-Pro linebacker who played football with the Baltimore Colts ...

Dan Perri Daniel Richard Perri (born August 11, 1945) is an American film and television title sequence designer. He has worked in film title design since the 1970s, and has been responsible for the main titles of a number of notable films including ''The E ...

* 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 * 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 ''Sledge Hammer!'' is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from September 23, 1986 to February 12, 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector ...

* Michael Tolkin * Brian Trenchard-Smith * Jesus Trevino *

Robert Weide Robert B. Weide (born June 20, 1959) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He has directed a number of documentaries and was the principal director and an executive producer of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' for the show's first five ye ...

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 *

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 David Zeiger is an American film director, writer and producer. He is most well known for the documentary ''Sir! No Sir!'' (2005), which is the only full-length film chronicling the extensive antiwar and resistance activity of U.S. troops durin ...

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