If you’ve ever been lucky enough to attend Exhumed Film’s 24 Hour Horror-thon, one thing you have no doubt noticed is the curated trailer reels spliced in-between films. With an eclectic mix of crowd pleasers and obscure titles you probably never even knew existed, these trailer breaks themselves echo the programming of the night and the Exhumed aesthetic in general. For those not in the know, the Exhumed 24 Hour Horror-thon is a Philadelphia tradition for genre fans, which entails 24 Hours of non-stop horror films projected from 35mm. What makes this slightly different than your typical movie marathon is except for a small hint in a program you are given at the beginning of the Horror-thon you have no idea what will be unspooling throughout the night until you see the title card flash on the screen.
It’s faith in Exhumed and their almost bottomless supply of 35mm prints that brings back the faithful year after year to possibly catch a screening of a beloved classic or a forgotten gem with a room of like-minded fans. It’s that shared experience that for me personally is one of the highlights of my year, its not only enjoying some great films, but also the camaraderie of the horror community that comes together every year to celebrate this event. This year’s 80’s themed Horror-thon in particular was meant as a companion piece to this set with a film culled from each year of the 80s beginning with 1980s slasher comedy classic Motel Hell and ending with 1989’s surreal and satirical Society.
Garagehouse Pictures, a label curated by Exhumed Film’s own Harry Guerro has unleashed his most ambitious project to date the monstrous Trailer Trauma 3: ’80s Horror-Thon. The double Blu-ray set of over 250 curated trailers (including many red band favorites) runs nearly 7.5 hours and feels less like your traditional trailer comps and more like finely tuned genre mix tape. The trailers arranged by year, alphabetically are all scanned in at 4K and come accompanied by an optional commentary. I spent a few afternoons digging trough Trailer Trauma 3 and while the trailer selections are rock solid the disc loses a few points based on the consistency of the commentators and the quality of their tracks.
The trailers featured manage to give a great overview on one of the best decades for the horror genre. While some years may be stronger than others along with the titles you know there are also a ton of hidden gems on the disc that are well worth chasing down. In that respect the set is a master class in horror cinema, because you have that great balance of, let’s say, an Evil Dead that everyone knows, paired with something like Scream for Help that’s also amazing and almost unheard of. For those who collect trailer comps like myself, the trailers selected for bigger titles appear to feature from TV Spots, alternate titles, or possibly foreign markets to give the title a different perspective than the trailer we probably know best. While the trailers are scanned in at 4K, there is no DNR and any damage is left on the trailer to give the presentation even more personality.
The commentaries on the discs are the only area where I honestly had a few issues with the set; each year a new person would usually take over the track. While some commentary presenters were engaging and the flow of the commentary felt informative while still being conversational, some felt like they were speed reading from index cards or just didn’t seem all that interested in the trailers on screen. My personal favorite of tracks would have to be the Exhumed crew themselves, who in between speaking about the trailer playing dropped some great recommendations for similar films and added some fun context to the trailer they we watching. There was also an issue with a delay on some tracks falling out of synch with the trailers on screen.
Trailer Trauma 3 is the kind of crazy project that only a label curated by true fan of cinema like Harry Guerro could possibly pull off. The double Blu-ray compilation sets the new bar for trailer comps going forward, giving fans a must see list of over 250 films all worthy of their time. Even the most seasoned cinephile who digs in will discover something here they might have overlooked and have to track down. Garagehouse Pictures have released yet another must own title that is an impressive time capsule showing us just why the 1980s was hands down the best decade for horror.
You can pick it up at Diabolik DVD.