In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need trailers. We’d magically show up at the movie theater, be seated in front of a screen and watch an amazing movie that we, up until that point, had never seen a frame of footage from.

But the world we actually live in is occasionally not-so-great, so trailers exist. Silver lining? At lot of trailers are badass! Some of them are sometimes (unfortunately) better than the film they’re selling! An effective teaser can often be an inspiring piece of work that you watch again and again.

With that in mind I set out to take a look at trailers released this year that actually got me excited. Some of the these movies haven’t come out yet, nor have I seen all of them. But that’s the point! If a trailer has me stoked about next year – it’s a success. And with some of the other teasers I almost wish I hadn’t seen the movie, so perfect were the two minutes they chose to promote it with.

Head inside for the best trailers of the year (in no particular order)!

THE EVIL DEAD



Holy f*cking sh*t. I feel like almost every naysayer ate their words when they saw this. Judging by this trailer, this is a remake done right. Taking the spirit, idea and intent behind the original and then taking it to places the original filmmakers simply couldn’t at the time they made it.

WARM BODIES



In which director Jonathan Levine (50/50, The Wackness, All The Boys Love Mandy Lane) dips his toes back into the horror genre after the funny, touching character studies of his last two films. I know there are some haters out there, but this trailer has such a warm and infectious energy that I can’t resist it. Very much looking forward to this one.

PROMETHEUS



I included the teaser on last year’s list, but the full trailer didn’t hit until this year. What a thrilling and invigorating 2 minutes! The trailer that started the argument, “what if trailers are just too good for their movies to live up to now?” Can you remember the days when you thoughtmight rock this f*cking hard?

PACIFIC RIM



This trailer tells you all you need to know. Big, huge, Guillermo Del Toro. While I don’t think everything he does is perfect – his characters often don’t engage me – it’s going to be a blast attaching him play in his biggest and most expensive sandbox yet.

MANIAC



Word on the street is that Franck Khalfoun’s Maniac remake is something of a slasher masterpiece. I haven’t seen it yet, so I can only go by this super creepy trailer that looks like the world’s most nightmarish perfume ad come to life.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4



It’s a testament to how unrelentingly monochromatic this series is that I got excited about some green Kinect dots. But I did. Too bad this movie is TERRIBLE. PA3 4 LYFE.

STOKER



The trailer for Chan-wook Park’s latest is intriguing and full of menace. It manages to give us a sense of the story without showing too many of its cards. It sells us without spoiling us. I don’t need to see any more than this, I’m in.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS



Sellingis such a damned if you do and damned if you don’t proposition. If you play it close to the vest (and save the twisty stuff for later), it looks like just another slasher. If you show all your cards, it looks overly meta and confusing. Given the fact that movies actually have to be, I actually think this trailer straddles the line quite well.

THE ICEMAN



Not a great trailer in the traditional sense, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make me curious to see this movie. I love the HBO documentaries on Richard Kuklinksi and Michael Shannon seems like the perfect fit to play him. Toss Winona Ryder, James Franco, Chris Evans and Ray Liotta into the mix and I’m sold.