Trailer Parked

I tend to have a big problem with movie trailers these days. Often times, they’re showing too much; twists and reveals shown to us before the movie even comes out. It’s really bad for horror films in general as we go to the theater and all the scares and surprises were already shown in order to sell the movie. Some of these trailers seem to be a beat-by-beat run through the film, like bullet points. In the past, however, there have been fantastic trailers, intriguing the audience without giving away anything, some not really having anything to do with the movies themselves; but were enough to tease the audience. Here are a few of my favorites:

Dario Argento’s classic Suspiria came out in 1977. It follows a young woman joining a dance academy only to find out there’s something more sinister behind the scenes. The trailer, on the other hand, had really nothing to do with the film, but still remained interesting.

Fun Fact: Suspiria was one of the last films to be shot in Technicolor.

In 1990, Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III was released. It was directed by Jeff Burr, no stranger to horror sequels – Stepfather II, Pumpkinhead II, as well as Puppet Master 4 and 5. Leatherface is a bit closer to the original in tone than the sequel in between but this trailer had, oddly, a bit more of a fantastical lean than that of horror.

Fun Fact: Due to its graphic content, the film was given both X and NC-17 ratings before finding its R.

Rob Zombie released his first film House of 1,000 Corpses in 2003, filmed a few years earlier. The film started Zombie’s movie career and spawned one of the greatest sequels ever in The Devil’s Rejects. This first trailer may be somewhat related to the film but nothing in it is in the film itself.