It's a big thing when a fake trailer is considered the best thing about a film, and it's an even bigger thing - bigger than, say, Japanese Godzilla and the Cloverfield monster put together - when the film in question is the brilliant Rodriguez-Tarantino creature called Grindhouse.
Directed by Edgar Wright (the man behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz), Don't is the kind of exciting trailer that pulls all the most interesting stops from a film to hide the fact that the film itself is one big fat pile of nothing. According to Wright, "In the '70s, when American International would release European horror films, they'd give them snazzier titles. And the one that inspired me was this Jorge Grau film: In the UK, it's called The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue. In Spain and in Italy, I think it's called Do Not Speak Ill of the Dead. But in the States, it was called Don't Open the Window. I just loved the fact that there isn't a big window scene in the film—it's all based around the spin and the voiceover not really telling you what the hell is going on in the film."
I love Wright's explanation and I find it particularly amusing that it could also be applied to the fantastic Don't Look Now.
One more bit of info: Quentin Tarantino has pointed out another aspect of American advertising of British films in the 1970s that is being referenced—none of the actors have any dialogue in the trailer, as if the trailer was intentionally edited to prevent American viewers from realizing that the film is British :)
I'll never understand just why they had to cut Grindhouse into pieces for the European market - they could have at least kept the trailers!
Directed by Edgar Wright (the man behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz), Don't is the kind of exciting trailer that pulls all the most interesting stops from a film to hide the fact that the film itself is one big fat pile of nothing. According to Wright, "In the '70s, when American International would release European horror films, they'd give them snazzier titles. And the one that inspired me was this Jorge Grau film: In the UK, it's called The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue. In Spain and in Italy, I think it's called Do Not Speak Ill of the Dead. But in the States, it was called Don't Open the Window. I just loved the fact that there isn't a big window scene in the film—it's all based around the spin and the voiceover not really telling you what the hell is going on in the film."
I love Wright's explanation and I find it particularly amusing that it could also be applied to the fantastic Don't Look Now.
One more bit of info: Quentin Tarantino has pointed out another aspect of American advertising of British films in the 1970s that is being referenced—none of the actors have any dialogue in the trailer, as if the trailer was intentionally edited to prevent American viewers from realizing that the film is British :)
I'll never understand just why they had to cut Grindhouse into pieces for the European market - they could have at least kept the trailers!
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