In recent years, movie trailers have gone from being important marketing tools to a part of pop culture. I think the scales started tipping in this direction when George Lucas--possibly the King of Pop Culture--re-released STAR WARS with the first trailer for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and made millions of dollars.

Several years later, MEET JOE BLACK scored an impressive opening day gross because it featured the trailer for EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE. At the Ziegfled Theatre in NYC, fans waited on line, bought their tickets, viewed the trailer ("Hey... I dunno about that kid with the goggles flying that spaceship..." "SHUT UP AND DIE, YOU HERETIC!" ), and left the theatre without seeing the main feature!

As more and more people get computers and connection capable of better streaming, trailers have become even more integral to a film's success. Now people don't have to go to the movies to see hotly anticipated trailers--they can watch them on-line. Frequently, bootleg trailers go live on You Tube even before the studios post Quicktime versions. It's become so newsworthy when trailers are posted that websites (not us!) announce when TRAILERS WILL BE RELEASED!

One of the reasons trailers have become so fascinating is that they're almost always entertaining, even if the movie they're hyping are garbage.

Any yet, the trailers for horror films have become exceedingly formulaic, like the movies themselves. They all have the same rhythm, the same annoying "impact editing," and the same "shock ending."

Fear Zone's Finest Fears of 2007 are "Editor's Picks," and this year I choose as the winner of the Best Trailer... a comic book.

I enjoyed no horror trailer this year more than I did that for THE LEGEND OF JOE MOON, a horror comic published in Argentina. When I saw it I was floored, and just a little bit jealous that I hadn't done something similar. Watch the trailer, read our review of JOE MOON, and buy the comic. It won't be coming soon to a theatre near you.