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Remember When Leatherface Became King Arthur? Celebrating Six of the Best Horror Movie Trailers!

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Since the dawn of cinema, movie trailers have been promising thrills, chills and laughs for the price of an admission ticket, and I’d argue that they’re the most culturally significant form of advertising in modern media. In fact, some say that previews have evolved into an artform in and of themselves, often overshadowing the very films that they’re meant to publicize as fans speculate over barely visible details and split-second cuts.

After all, a great trailer doesn’t necessarily guarantee a great feature, and the anticipation of a fun time at the movies can often be more entertaining than the experience itself. That’s why we’ve come up with this list celebrating six of the best horror movie trailers, as an effective teaser can be just as (if not more) memorable than a completed film, and it’s fun to look back on the ones that scared and/or entertained us the most.

This list is obviously based on personal opinion, but it’s worth mentioning that we’ll be selecting trailers regardless of the finished film’s overall quality. As usual, don’t forget to share your own favorite horror trailers in the comments below, as there are plenty to choose from.

Now, onto the list…


6. Cloverfield (2007 Teaser Trailer)

While the Cloverfield franchise is now best known for retrofitting unrelated movies into its convoluted cinematic universe, the original film benefited from the element of surprise back when it was first announced. Coupled with a viral marketing campaign that tied it into J.J. Abrams’ other projects, this 2007 teaser managed to entice audiences with the promise of a unique Found Footage disaster movie without actually revealing what it was about.

Clearly influenced by post-9/11 paranoia and ending on an unexpected John Carpenter reference as Lady Liberty’s head recreates the iconic Escape From New York poster, this trailer proves that spoilers aren’t necessary to market a movie. With a hit like this one, it’s no wonder that director Matt Reeves would later take over huge franchises like Planet of the Apes and even the upcoming Batman reboot.


5. Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1989 Theatrical Trailer)

While I can’t speak for David Blue Garcia’s upcoming sequel/reboot, I think every entry in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is fun in its own strange way. That’s why I appreciate the sheer batshit insanity behind this 1989 teaser for Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, which sees everyone’s favorite cannibal take on the role of King Arthur as he receives an Excalibur-like chainsaw from the Lady in the Lake.

Filmed before the studio had even hired a director (or finished the script, for that matter), this infamous teaser was only meant to reassure audiences that Leatherface would be back for another round of homicidal shenanigans, but it ended up promising an Army-of-Darkness-like horror/fantasy adventure that sadly never materialized.


4. Maximum Overdrive (1986 Stephen King Teaser)

“I just wanted someone to do Stephen King right”. Those are bold words coming from a man who infamously criticized Stanley Kubrick’s filmmaking skills, but I can’t help but smile when I see Stephen King gleefully announce his first (and last) feature. From bazookas to giant Green Goblin heads, Maximum Overdrive has it all, and this trailer promises the kind of B-movie extravaganza usually reserved for over-the-top parodies.

While it’s not exactly a masterpiece, the movie actually delivers on most of the heavy-metal carnage suggested by the preview, so I’d say that this iconic teaser isn’t at all misleading. The trailer also benefits from recycled John Carpenter music from Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which I think is just as cool as the finished film’s AC/DC soundtrack.


3. Paranormal Activity (2009 Audience Reaction Teaser)

Presented as a home movie from hell, the original Paranormal Activity isn’t your average horror flick, so traditional marketing techniques likely wouldn’t have been enough to sell tickets. That’s why the studio suggested focusing on audience reactions instead of the scares themselves when selling the picture, making for a memorable trailer without resorting to spoilers.

The genuine screams and terrified faces do a better job of advertising the experience as a thrilling theme park ride than any single scene ever could, making this a brilliant trailer for a ground-breaking Found Footage movie. It’s also a great example of why these films are usually best enjoyed in theaters, so it makes sense that future entries in the franchise would also rely on audience reaction teasers.


2. Psycho (1960 Hitchcock Theatrical Trailer)

Six minutes might seem a little excessive for a movie trailer, but this promotional blast from the past somehow manages to hype up the then-upcoming Psycho without showing a single scene from the movie. Relying on spooky atmosphere and Hitchcock’s reputation as a master of suspense, this glorified real estate visit is a memorable piece of standalone media even if you’re not a fan of the 1960 thriller.

The gloomy hallways of the Bates Motel speak for themselves as audiences traverse the house alongside the legendary director, with viewers filling in the horrific blanks as Hitchcock describes the awful things that happened within these walls. It’s a real shame that studios no longer trust celebrity directors to market their own movies, as I’d love to see contemporary masters like Ari Aster and Jordan Peele present their work in new and creative ways.


1. The Shining (1980 Theatrical Trailer)

Stanley Kubrick. Jack Nicholson. Shelley Duvall. Stephen King. Need I say more? Sometimes, the legendary talent behind a movie should be enough to sell the picture without spoiling any of the details. Couple that with the nightmarish image of a river of blood gushing out of an elevator and you’ve got yourself a recipe for one of the greatest movie trailers of all time.

A minimalistic masterpiece when it comes to establishing tone and atmosphere, this infamous trailer remains the gold standard for cinematic marketing, and I wish more modern horror flicks had the guts to take this simplistic approach to advertising. And the best part? The finished film actually lives up to the hype. Even if Stephen King doesn’t agree.

Born Brazilian, raised Canadian, Luiz is a writer and Film student that spends most of his time watching movies and subsequently complaining about them.

Editorials

‘The Company of Wolves’ at 40: One of the Most Underrated Werewolf Movies Ever Made

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There’s a compelling idea in anthropology that many ancient werewolf legends are derived from our species’ need to rationalize the more animalistic side of humanity – which is why lycanthropy has historically been used to explain everything from medieval serial killers to cannibalism. While I personally think there’s a lot more to unpack when it comes to tales of wolfmen and women, this is still a great example of why so many of our most enduring fairy tales involve big bad wolves.

And in the world of film, I think there’s only one feature that really nails the folkloric origins of werewolf stories, namely Neil Jordan’s 1984 fairy-tale horror classic, The Company of Wolves. Even four decades later, there’s no other genre flick that comes close to capturing the dreamlike ambience behind this strange anthology, and that’s why I’d like to take this opportunity to look back on one of the most underrated werewolf flicks ever made.

The Company of Wolves was originally a short story contained in the 1979 anthology The Bloody Chamber, a collection of deconstructed fairy-tales intended for mature readers penned by English author Angela Carter. With the book quickly becoming a hit as readers became fascinated with its subversion of classic folk stories and (then) controversial feminist undertones, it was soon transformed into a duology of BBC radio-dramas which adapted both The Company of Wolves and Carter’s reimagining of Puss-in-Boots.

These radio-dramas soon attracted the attention of then up-and-coming Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan, who decided to meet with Carter to discuss expanding on her stories and bringing them to life on the big screen. The duo soon realized that a single short story wasn’t enough material for a feature-length film, so they decided to adapt all of Carter’s werewolf tales into a single anthology.

With a completed script and a $2.3 million budget, Jordan decided to tackle the project like a hybrid between a theatrical period drama and a schlocky monster movie. Effects-heavy creature features were a hot commodity back in the ’80s, with films like The Howling and An American Werewolf in London proving that there was an audience for horrific lycanthrope transformations, so the director soon recruited a team that could turn this odd collection of feminist folk stories into something commercially viable.

Not exactly a great pick for family movie night.

Shooting would eventually take place almost entirely within the England-based Shepperton Studios, with notable production designer Anton Furst (who would later be known for his work on Tim Burton’s Batman films) helping to bring Jordan’s vision of a darkly romantic fairy-tale world to life. Appropriately enough, production would also involve a real pack of trained wolves (as well as a collection of dyed dogs), though extensive puppetry and animatronics were also used to flesh out the more gruesome parts of the flick.

After a grueling nine-week shoot where budgetary constraints led to corners being cut on props and costumes, The Company of Wolves was finally released in September of 1984 – just in time for spooky season. In the finished film, we follow the strange dreams of a sulky teenage girl named Rosaleen (first-time actress Sarah Patterson) as the film unravels an Arabian-Nights-inspired tapestry of both familiar and not-so-familiar stories about big bad wolves.

From sexually charged cautionary tales to parables about female empowerment, this surreal collection of deranged bedtime stories is much more than the creature feature that the marketing initially suggested. Like a more horror-oriented version of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, The Company of Wolves exudes that same kind of hormonal teenage energy that transports us back to a time when the world was both scary and exciting in equal measure.

That’s not to say that this is an entirely pleasant experience, however, and I’m not just talking about the film’s horror elements. A big portion of the flick’s overtly sexual moments involve the then 13-year-old Patterson coming to grips with her blossoming womanhood and the dangers of predatory men (usually marked with a humorous unibrow), something that naturally makes for some intentionally uncomfortable viewing – especially in the year of our lord 2024.

Obviously, I don’t think it’s my place to dissect (or even judge) the effectiveness of the film’s commentaries on being a young woman, but even as a man I can still appreciate the thought and care that went into crafting this Jungian cocktail of serious themes in a genre-movie package that almost certainly went on to inspire future werewolf movies like Ginger Snaps.

Not the worst wedding I’ve been to.

That being said, what really keeps me coming back to the film is the absurd amount of memorable imagery. From a wedding party being taken over by canines to lonely treks through snowy groves, this is exactly the gloomy world I imagined as a child when reading Grimms’ Fairy Tales – and the dreamy atmosphere is only enhanced by the movie’s overall theatricality.

This also extends to the effects, as it’s easy to forgive decapitated dummy heads and ripped rubber skin when everything is happening in a magical hyper-reality, with a great example of this is being the scene where Grandma’s head unexpectedly explodes like a porcelain doll when it’s knocked off by a wolfman. That’s not to say that the effects are bad, as several of these transformations are downright grisly and likely influenced future lycanthrope effects like those in Underworld and even Trick ‘r Treat (even if the wolf-dogs here often look more cute than scary).

Of course, these aren’t the only things that The Company of Wolves has going for it, as the main trio of Patterson, Micha Bergese and the late, great Angela Lansbury exceptionally bring these exaggerated caricatures to life and the orchestral score is an absolute delight. I also really get a kick out of that bizarre ending implying that the dangers of adult life have literally come crashing into Rosaleen’s bedroom.

The Company of Wolves may not be a perfect film, suffering from some wonky pacing and the classic anthology problem where some stories are clearly much more enjoyable than others, but I’d argue that the flick’s iconic visuals and powerful thematic throughline more than make up for any minor flaws. And while we’ve seen bigger and better werewolf films since then, when it comes to adult-oriented fairy-tales, this is one psycho-sexual journey that is still worth revisiting 40 years down the line.

The Company of Wolves

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