Here’s the first installment (of many) in Something Weird’s trailer compilation series. It’s a good primer for anyone looking to get into trailer tapes. Many of the previews wound up on later Something Weird releases (and elsewhere), but there are still plenty here I had never seen before (including She Devil, The Night the World Exploded, and a re-release trailer for the 1943 Batman serial). Overall, it’s a fast and fun two hours of black and white thrills and chills. (Well, the trailer for Eyes of Hell is tinted.)
Things kick off with a couple of ‘50s re-release trailers of horror classics including a cool MGM Triple Feature of Mark of the Vampire, The Mask of Fu Manchu, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as a trailer for One Body Too Many. The low budget sci-fi schlock world of director W. Lee Wilder is showcased through previews for Phantom from Space, Killers from Space, and The Man Without a Body. Roger Corman classics such as Not of This Earth, The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent, and Teenage Caveman are featured as well. Universal Pictures is represented by Tarantula, Monster on the Campus, and Curse of the Undead. And movies that appeared on episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 such as Terror from the Year 5000, The Beast of Yucca Flats (narrated by director Coleman Francis), and 12 to the Moon also turn up.
Some of my favorite trailers include Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (in which Mr. Hyde is a… vampire?!?!), Allison Hayes overacting to the hilt in The Disembodied, and Tabonga the killer tree doing his thing in the ad for From Hell It Came. And what would a trailer be without a great tagline? Some of the best belong to Attack of the Puppet People (“SEE—A Baby Doll Take a Bubble Bath in a Coffee Can!”), The Brain Eaters (“It’s an Adventure That Will Burst Your Blood Vessels with Suspense!”), Return of the Fly (“The Thriller-Chiller That Will Really BUG You!”), Beyond the Time Barrier (“Will YOU Die Sixty-Four Years from Today?”), Strait-Jacket (“Warning: Strait-Jacket Vividly Depicts Axe Murders!”), and Cat Girl (“To Caress Me is to Play with DEATH!”).
All in all, this is a solid collection. Since the trailers are culled from the ‘50s and ‘60s, they are a tad tame. That said, fans of cheesy space exploration movies, mad scientist flicks, and monster mashes will surely enjoy it.
The complete trailer line-up is as follows: MGM Triple Horror Feature - Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu / Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, One Body Too Many, Phantom from Space, Killers from Space, Tarantula, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Not of This Earth, Voodoo Woman, Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent, The Astounding She-Monster, The Haunted Strangler, The Colossus of New York, I Bury the Living, Frankenstein 1970, Attack of the Puppet People, War of the Colossal Beast, Teenage Caveman, Monster on the Campus, The Brain Eaters, The Screaming Skull, The Man Without a Body, Curse of the Undead, Jack the Ripper, The Alligator People, Return of the Fly, Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow, Missile to the Moon, The Leech Woman, Beyond the Time Barrier, The Terror of the Tongs, The Beast of Yucca Flats, Homicidal, The Creature from the Haunted Sea, Phantom Planet, Burn, Witch, Burn, Panic in Year Zero, The Vampire and the Ballerina, Varan the Unbelievable, Night Tide, The Playgirls and the Vampire, Strait-Jacket, The Last Man on Earth, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, the 1943 Batman Serial, Untamed Women, She Devil, The Night the World Exploded, Unknown Terror. The Disembodied, From Hell It Came, Cat Girl, Macabre, War of the Satellites, Terror in the Haunted House, Terror from the Year 5000, Monster from Green Hell, The Headless Ghost, Caltiki, the Immortal Monster, 12 to the Moon, Doctor Blood's Coffin, The Devil's Partner, Mr. Sardonicus, Eyes of Hell (AKA: The Mask), and The Innocents.
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