Dr. Gore's Funhouse.com » Trailer Trash

TRAILER TRASH – Dark Star

Christian Sellers — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:14:41 +0000

Long before Halloween and Alien reshaped the horror genre their creators, John Carpenter and Dan O’Bannon, respectively, collaborated together on the science fiction comedy Dark Star. Commencing work on the picture whilst still in film school, what was initially to have been a fifty-minute piece eventually became feature length and saw the crew taking on several roles, with O’Bannon handling the special effects and also taking one of the roles. Although it failed to make an impact on its initial release due to poor distribution, over time the movie gained a cult following and allowed Carpenter to land his first studio picture, Assault on Precinct 13.

The crew of Dark Star roam deep space searching for unstable planets to destroy. Having spent years from home, they have grown bored with each other’s company and long to return to Earth. Former surfer Lt. Doolittle has been forced to take control of the ship after the death of their commander but has little interest in his new role. Sgt. Pinback (Brian Narelle) has been placed in charge of the crew’s new pet, a mischievous alien life form, whilst Talby (Dre Pahich) has become something of a recluse. But when a meteor shower causes one of the ship’s bombs to malfunction, Pinback must go outside of the ship and try to reason with the bomb in an effort to stop it from exploding.

Watch the trailer below…

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TRAILER TRASH – Ghoulies

Christian Sellers — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:38:33 +0000

Often considered a rip-off of Joe Dante’s 1984 blockbuster Gremlins (as would Stephen Herek’s Critters), Luca Bercovici’s low budget creature feature Ghoulies would see the actor once again collaborate with legendary producer Charles Band for his directorial debut. Boasting special effects from John Carl Buechler’s Mechanical Makeup Imageries Inc (who, incidentally, would direct the third movie in the franchise), the movie became something of a cult on home video and would be followed two years later by Ghoulies II, directed by Band’s father, Albert.

Having inherited a rundown mansion from a mysterious relative, student Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis) moves in with his girlfriend Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan) and sets about renovating his new home. Aside from an oddball caretaker (Jack Nance), Jonathan is left alone to explore his house and soon unwittingly resurrects a small army of demons that live under his command. But when a group of friends arrive for a housewarming party the monsters cannot help but misbehave, whilst Rebecca grows concerned by her boyfriend’s recent strange behaviour.

Check out the trailer below…

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TRAILER TRASH – The Blob

Christian Sellers — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:13:07 +0000

Having worked as a producer on such cult classics as Hell Night and Dreamscape Chuck Russell was finally given the chance to direct with the big budget slasher sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors in 1987. The following year he once again teamed up with screenwriter Frank Darabont (who would later direct the critically acclaimed Stephen King drama The Shawshank Redemption) for a remake of the 1950s B-movie The Blob. Replacing Steve McQueen with Matt Dillon’s younger brother, Kevin, and featuring tongue-in-cheek performances from Paul McCrane (RoboCop), Shawnee Smith (later of Saw fame) and David Lynch regular Jack Nance, The Blob became a cult favourite amongst horror fans when it was released on VHS some time later.

After witnessing a meteor crashing in the woods a homeless man (Billy Beck) is exposed to the extraterrestrial lifeform that lives inside. High school football star Lance Taylor (Donovan Leitch) finally plucks up the courage to ask cheerleader Meg Penny (Smith) out on a date but when the old man runs in front of the car they are forced to take him to the nearby hospital. To complicate matters the man was being chased by local delinquent Brian Flagg (Dillon), who claims he was trying to help the man after discovering that his hand had beene eaten by some kind of corrosive substance. Whilst at the hospital the lifeform bursts its way out of the man’s corpse and kills Taylor and Flagg is arrested as the prime suspect. But soon afterwards a team of sinister government scientists arrive with the army and quarantine the town. Their mission is not to destroy but to capture it, and everything else is expendable.

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A Selection of Sleazy Trailers That Taste Forgot

Christian Sellers — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:39:45 +0000

The marketing of horror movies these days seems a little uninspired. From the mediocre posters (often featuring headshots of the oh-so-pretty cast) to the uneventful trailers, filmmakers seem to do little to seduce and entice their viewers.

But back in the 1980’s, with the rise of home video forcing the independents to become increasingly inventive and competitive, both producers and distributors would use gruesome and explicit artwork and trailers that would revel in their exploitation.

From Italian zombie shockers and teen slashers to low budget splatter flicks and everything in between, the 1980s had something for everyone. Whether they were produced by major studios or self-financed by independent filmmakers, the horror and exploitation genres were thriving with advancements in both special effects and home entertainment.

Here is a look back at some of the trailers and TV spots from the golden age of VHS and video nasties, with wall-to-wall blood, guts, flesh and smut.

Caution: these trailers may contain plot spoilers and footage of both a sexual or violent nature, so get ready to indulge in some good old smut!

THE EXTERMINATOR
After the brutal assault of his best friend, former Vietnam Vet John Eastland (Robert Ginty) declares vigilante war on the criminals of New York.

BASKET CASE
Having been seperated against his will from his mutant Siamese brother, Duane Bradley (Kevin Van Hentenryck) and his deadly sibling Belial hunt down the doctors responsible and exact bloody vengeance.

CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD
After the suicide of a priest, the gates of Hell open within a small American town and the dead begin to rise up out of the ground, ready to claim the living.

THE PROWLER
Thirty-five years after killing the sweetheart that left him for another man, a masked killer returns when the town of Avalon Bay decide to once again throw a Graduation party.

STREET TRASH
The homeless population of a New York ghetto begin to mysteriously die in all manner of gruesome ways when a crate of strange liquor makes its way onto the street.

DON’T GO IN THE WOODS
A strange hermit picks off a group of hikers one-by-one whilst camping in the mountains, prompting the local police to launch a manhunt.

CHOPPING MALL
A group of kids decide to spend the night after hours at the mall, only to fall victim to the high tech robot guards that have mysteriously malfuctioned.

ALLIGATOR
Years after a young boy’s alligator is flushed into the sewers, the create has mutated and now feeds off strays around the city.

SAVAGE STREETS
When her younger sister is raped and her best friend murdered by a gang of thugs, Brenda (Linda Blair) vows to bring the guilty down by any means necessary.

MANIAC
Plagued by a series of horrifying nightmares, middle aged and overweight loner Frank Zito (Joe Spinell) is driven to random acts of brutal violence of murder.

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TRAILER TRASH – Perversion Story

Christian Sellers — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:54:46 +0000

A decade before becoming the master of gore with his notorious zombie flicks, Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci was still relatively unknown, despite having been directing for several years. Just two short years before finding acclaim with his giallo Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin), Fulci directed Una sull’altra (Perversion Story), a stylish and erotic thriller that demonstrated both his talent for suspense and his passion for sleaze. Co-starring the late Austrian beauty Marisa Mell (Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso/Seven Blood-Stained Orchids) and Elsa Martinelli (La decima vittima/The 10th Victim), Perversion Story marks a significant crossroad in Fulci’s career.

Living the highlife as a successful doctor, George Dumurrier (Jean Sorel) is not as happy as he appears. His brother Henry (Alberto de Mendoza) is constantly on his case and his wife Susan (Mell) has also become a burden. He is torn between his wife, whose extensive funds have kept him safe from debt, and his lover Jane (Martinelli), who is set to leave town. But soon it seems that all his problems are over when Susan passes away, leaving all her estate to him. Some time later, whilst out celebrating with his mistress, George sees a young woman who resembles his late wife and he begins to doubt whether or not she is actually dead.

Check out the trailer below…

Purchase Perversion Story here:

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TRAILER TRASH – C.H.U.D.

Christian Sellers — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:56:41 +0000

The 1980s saw many filmmaker shake off the nihilistic and excessive tone of the previous decade’s exploitation and instead look back to the older days of fun monster movies. Following the likes of Lewis Teague’s Alligator and Larry Cohen’s Q: The Winged Serpent came C.H.U.D. (meaning Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller). Directed with a tongue firmly in cheek by Douglas Cheek and starring future Home Alone veterans John Heard and Daniel Stern, C.H.U.D. wore its b-movie roots proudly on its sleeve and became an instant cult favourite.

Something is feeding off the homeless population as independent photographer George Cooper (Heard) becomes obsessed with taking pictures of those that live in the sewers, referred to as undergrounders. The Reverend Shepherd (Stern) takes care of many of them at a local shelter but has begun to notice his numbers dwindling as they go missing. This is brought to the attention of cop Bosch (Christopher Curry) who, with the help of Shepherd, tries to warn his superiors about an impending doom. But something is lurking within the bowels of the sewers, something that is ready to come to the surface.

Check out the trailer below…

Purchase C.H.U.D. here:

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TRAILER TRASH – The Hidden

Christian Sellers — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:35:12 +0000

With the cult slasher Alone in the Dark and the hit sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge under his bealt, editor-turned-director Jack Sholder continued his successful run with the 1987 science fiction action horror The Hidden. Pre-dating Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday’s body swapping plot by six years and co-starring a pre-Twin Peaks Kyle MacLachlan (whose character in some ways can be seen as a precursor to Special Agent Cooper), The Hidden marked another success for New Line Cinema and became a hit at the box office.

Hunting for a buttoned-down businessman-turned maniac, detective Tom Beck (Michael Nouri) is partnered with out-of-town FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (MacLachlan), who claims to know the truth behind a recent series of incidents in which seemingly normal people have suddenly turne to violent crime. But Beck gets more than he bargained for when his new partner claims that the killer they are hunting for is not of this Earth.

Check out the trailer below…

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TRAILER TRASH – Society

Christian Sellers — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:30:47 +0000

Having produced Re-animator and From Beyond for Stuart Gordon, Brian Yuzna eventually made his directorial debut with Society, a sick and twisted black comedy that showcased the filmmaker’s love for the bizarre. Blending the pomposity of Beverly Hills 90210 with a David Cronenberg-style warped imagination, the movie failed to find its audience at the box office but has since gained a cult following amongst splatter fans.

Bill Whitney feels out of place. Alienated by his life in Beverly Hills and jealous of his parents’ adoration for his popular sister (Patrice Jennings), Bill is convinced that he is adopted. But his worst fears come true when his sister’s ex-boyfriend David Blanchard (Tim Bartell) shows him a video tape what reveals the ugly truth of everyone he knows, he soon realizes that there is no escape.

Check out the trailer below…

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TRAILER TRASH – The Incredible Melting Man

Christian Sellers — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:08:49 +0000

Rick Baker really helped raise the bar on special effects during the 1970s. Following in the footsteps of Dick Smith, Baker produced an array of grizzly and groundbreaking monsters and splatter set pieces, often giving credibility to otherwise ludicrous or mediocre offerings. William Sachs (who later shot the extremely camp Galaxina) gave us such a movie with 1977’s The Incredible Melting Man, a film so bad that somehow it becomes a guilty pleasure.

An astronaut returns to Earth after a mission to Saturn results in his entire crew being killed by radiation. Kept in quarantine by the military due to his body slowly deteriorating, he eventually escapes into the woods and begins to feed off his victims in an effort to slow down the process, whilst a manhunt is launched to capture him before he kills again. Distributed by American International Pictures, The Incredible Melting Man was a minor success on its initial release and later became a cult classic on home video.

Check out the trailer below…

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TRAILER TRASH – The Mutilator

Christian Sellers — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:59:50 +0000

When Friday the 13th scored a major triumph at the box office during the summer of 1980, it didn’t take long for every producer in town, from the studios down to the independents, to jump on what became the slasher bandwagon. Wannabe directors soon realized that with a meager budget and a cast of enthusiastic hopefuls they too could produce their own no budget slice ‘n’ dice feature. And whilst the pandemonium had all but dried up by the mid-1980s, there were still countless films created for the drive-ins and late-night movie theatres. One such film was The Mutilator.

Buddy Cooper’s one and only feature to date saw Ed (Matt Mitler), a mild-mannered young man who had been responsible for the accidental shooting of his mother as a child. Asked by his estranged father (Jack Chatham) to close up his condo for the winter, Ed invites his friends along for the weekend, only to be slaughtered one by one in a variety of grizzly ways. Whilst Cooper’s film wins no points for originality and the pace is hampered by generic characters and irritating music, it boasts some of the most inspired killings to ever grace a slasher.

Check out the trailer below…

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