The movie they didn’t want you to see? The movie so intense it was punished? Trying to cash in on the controversy much, are we?

On their defense, the movie does look pretty generic and uninspiring, so perhaps the controversy is all they have to sell it.

I saw Misery again last weekend. Now, that was a good movie.

Being stuck in a sleazy motel in the middle of nowhere is such an old and overused concept. I’m not sure adding a big-brother element (the victims being surveilled constantly) makes this different enough.

Of course, the concept has been overused for a reason: it works. And I’m a bit of a horror hound, so I’m still interested in the movie, even if I wish it was about something a little more original. If nothing else, I want to see how the stretch the premise into a full movie.

I have to agree with Monika Bartyzel’s take on this one: the cheesy voice over really ruins the whole experience of the trailer.

Still, abstracting that the movie looks pretty creepy. Sort of excited about seeing it.

When I first heard about Grindhouse, I wondered how they would manage to make trailers for a movie that was actually two movies. As it turns out they decided to embrace the concept. Every trailer gives a quick explanation of what grindhouse means and then highlights a lot the fact that this a double feature and that Tarantino and Rodriguez are involved. Each movie also gets a bit of a mini trailer within the larger trailer.

Does it work? I think so. The trailers manage to explain to people the concept of the movie and make both of the features look exciting. Pounding on the fact that this is a Tarantino/Rodriguez project is also smart since this means something to many movie geeks.

My main worry is that the trailers could be catering a little too much to the movies core audience and because of that alienating the more mainstream audience a little. But I’m not sure this is the kind of movie that could ever have a broad appeal, so it’s probably not a problem.

The first trailer for Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween has arrived. And I’m not impressed. Honestly, the trailer makes this one look like a cheesier, more over the top and less scary version of the original film. I’m hoping that the problem is in the trailer, not in the movie.

For a teaser trailer, this one shows a lot. We get to see the new version of Michael, which it turns out is a lot like the old version. We see a couple of the deaths and the trailer makes it obvious that there are going to be naked people in this one, although it doesn’t actually show any of the naughty bits. Ok, I guess that last one counts as a “tease”.

And just let me say that no trailer for a property this well known needs this amount of voice over. It’s almost non stop!

I do like that the trailer hints that we will get a lot more of Meyers’s back story in the new film, I think that is an interesting choice. But overall I’m very worried about this movie now.

I don’t know.

I like the idea of using the biblical plagues in a horror movie. I like the southern, hot setting, I think it adds some color to the film. And the director, Stephen Hopkins did direct the fourth Nightmare on Elm Street sequel.

But, the trailer makes me think the movie is a bit unfocused and has pacing problems. Sure, it could be just the trailer that is all over the place. Perhaps the actual film is much more consistent. But I don’t have a good feeling about this one.

What do you people think? Am I off base here?

You probably know the story by now, but if you don’t, the summary is this: Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have made a movie together called Grindhouse. The movie is a faux double feature, composed of Death Proof (directed by Tarantino, about a serial killer) and Planet Terror (directed by Rodriguez, about Zombies). To stitch the two films together they asked a few of their director friends to make trailers to other, non-existent movies. One of these trailers was directed by Eli Roth, and it garnered a lot of attention for it’s violent content and use of gratuitous nudity.

And now for the important part: IGN has posted the Eli Roth trailer in full for everybody to see. But be warned: the content is very, very graphic. You can also, as always, find the trailer at YouTube:

I have to say, the trailer is pretty funny. Like I mentioned before, I hated Hostel, so I’m not the biggest Roth fan around. But this makes me think he could do a really funny and over the top horror parody, if he ever felt like it.

Pretty sure it would be better than Hostel 2…

MTV brings us the new Hostel part 2 trailer. This one goes with the German sounding voice over once again. Because everything sounds creepier and scarier in a German accent. But each phrase is actually spoken in different language. I can recognize Spanish, Japanese and french, don’t know what the others are.

I really hated Hostel. Interesting premise, horrible execution. What I have seen so far of Hostel 2 doesn’t really make me think this one will be much different. Not excited at all.

I’m now actively looking forward to this movie. Who would have thunk?

I still think that making this a sequel to 28 Days Later is silly. This movie is obviously going to be very different than the “original”. Most obviously, the visual styles are worlds apart. The first movie used, to great effect, a dark, grainy, digital look. The new one goes for a very crisp, very bright visual. Which is an odd choice for a Zombie movie.

Still, this movie might be able to stand on it’s own as a worthy addition to the Zombie genre. My main worry right now is that the trailer spends too much time with the military, and not enough with the family which we will supposedly accompany during the movie. Hopefully the actual film keeps the amount of scenes away from the family to a minimum and concentrates those in the beginning, before the infection breaks.

28 Weeks Later opens may 11.

(Opens This Friday)

I have to cope to having really liked the first THHE (the remake, haven’t seen the original). Sure, it didn’t have the most original concept or plot, but it was very well executed and met my basic horror needs.

As far as the sequel goes, I like that they have changed things a bit by substituting the usual hapless victims with national guardsmen, people who actually have guns and are supposed to be able to fight. Will this premise work? I don’t know, something similar worked for Aliens, but it could easily backfire here. But at least they are trying something slightly different.

Now, about the trailer. I think that the trailer for The Hills Have Eyes 1 was significantly better. In part because of the great use it made of “California Dreaming”. But also because it spent more time showing us the set up (family trapped in the desert, dangerous mutants surrounding them) and little time showing any of the scary shit actually going down. That part was just hinted at, leaving us in the audience curious and wanting more.

The trailer for the new movie, on the other hand, offers us little in terms of easily recognizable and relatable characters and spends more time showing us the actual confront between humans and mutants. And that confront is not so interesting to look at out of the context of the movie.

For comparison, below are the trailers for the first movie and the excellent teaser trailer for the second one.