 The first Video Nasty came not only before video but from the esteemed Michael Powell, whose career was sidetracked into shorts for The Childrens' Film Foundation by this much maligned and misunderstood rumination on the dark powers of cinema. In the US it was relegated to skinflick houses and grindhouse second features. 

Trailers from Hell

Peeping Tom

 The worldwide success of Mario Bava's official directorial debut spurred the brilliant cinematographer on to a new career and made an international star of the entrancing Barbara Steele. U.S.distributor AIP changed the title and claimed it was too scary for anyone under the age of...well, 12. 

Black Sunday AKA-Mask of the Demon

 Jack Rabin and Irving Block were a couple of indie FX mavens whose works ranged from Night of the Hunter to Robot Monster. But one of their most offbeat creations was the giant alien robot Kronos, who wanted not Our Women but Our Energy. On its own terms it's a pretty nifty little picture, with an emblematic 50s sci-fi cast.  

Kronos

 His 1935 "Things to Come" is more prestigious, but famed production designer Wm. Cameron Menzies reached his directorial zenith with this deliberately unreal "B" that has creeped out several generations of kids. The great Art Gilmore narrates a classic trailer for a seminal movie. In SuperCineColor! 

Invaders From Mars

 An exploitation picture staple was the cutdown feature version of the 12-chapter serial, but they were seldom directed by filmmakers as distinguished as Fritz Lang, who fled Hitler to become a Hollywood success. But in 1960 AIP bought two elaborate 1957 German-made Lang adventures and combined them into one hectic movie. 

Journey to the Lost City

 Another enormous Samuel L. Bronston historical spectacle with big stars and epochal Euro production values, directed by the perennially underrated Anthony Mann, fresh from his being fired from Spartacus. 

El Cid

 The truncated third US release (after earlier tries as "Mania'", then "The Psycho Killers'") of John Gilling's 1960 retelling of the Burke and Hare story that formed the basis for Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Body Snatcher". Cut by a reel and a half and aimed at the lowest of brows, this version ends with Donald Pleasence getting a torch in his face. 

The Fiendish Ghouls

 One of the great comic book movies of all time from the brilliant Italian director Mario Bava, whose visual dexterity was never widely appreciated during his lifetime.  An uncharacteristically elaborate 1967 pop art production for which Bava nonetheless employed his usual lovingly hand-made in-camera tricks. 

Danger Diabolik

 Hammer competitor Amicus Films found their mojo with this 1964 multi-story horror omnibus, which led to countless iterations of the same formula, including their biggest hit "Tales from the Crypt". The genius of the portmanteau system was that the actors were often needed for only a few days, which allowed for casts that were almost ridiculously classy. 

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors

 The subtle terror techniques that Robert Wise learned from his mentor Val Lewton are on uncanny display in the creepiest haunted house movie of them all. (The trailer's not too subtle, though.) Compare the original to the lamentable remake to see the difference between art and CGI junk. 

The Haunting

 Basil Rathbone's coldly obsessed Dr. Cadman looks like a dry run for Peter Cushing's Baron Frankenstein in this florid period monster rally with scary makeups by Gordon Bau. Akim Tamiroff's role was intended for Peter Lorre. 

The Black Sleep

 By the time Swedish wrestler and best-selling Halloween mask Tor Johnson made this, his all-time worst picture, his career was behind him and the days of Ed Wood must have looked like Eden. The longest 54 minutes in movies. 

The Beast of Yucca Flats

 Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman's corrosive look at Power in America as typified by an unscrupulous and possibly insane Broadway columnist modeled on Ed Sullivan and Walter Winchell. Brilliantly directed by the underrated Alexander Mackendrick. A must-see. 

Sweet Smell of Success

 Universal was the leader in slickly produced 50s genre pix, and here's another eerie desert-set chiller from Jack Arnold with good special fx and creepy makeups. Leo G. Carroll, one of Hitchcock's favorite actors, classes up the joint as the scientist whose serum results in big buggery. 

Tarantula

 Taking up the lurid mantel of Mario Bava, former film critic Dario Argento rocketed to international prominence with this highly influential giallo which spawned countless imitations. This is the international trailer made for export. 

Suspiria - International Version

Trailers from Hell showcases classic previews of past movie attractions punctuated with humorous commentary by iconic filmmakers. The series includes Joe Dante (Gremlins) on horror movie The Terror and Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) praising one of his seminal influences Danger: Diabolik.

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Trailers from Hell

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