8 most misleading trailers

It should come as no great revelation that Hollywood lies. In fact, if any film about Tinseltown is to be believed, it's nothing but lies over there.

But we still expect a modicum of truth when it comes to the marketing department. If we're to place our well-earned cash and trust into a movie, we want to know what we're getting.

Which brings us, tearfully, to eight trailers that didn't play fair. Not at all. Not one bit.

(Images: All Star)

Heartbreaker

A classic example here of how to sell a foreign film to a mass audience, this deceitful trailer for slick French rom-com Heartbreaker cleverly uses minimal dialogue (a Wham singalong in this instance) and an American voiceover to disguise its roots. It's a trick that's been used many times before (Them, The Orphanage) and after looking at the slightly underwhelming box office for this one outside of France, it doesn't seem to be fooling anyone.

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Angel Eyes

After The Cell and The Wedding Planner both proved profitable, Jennifer Lopez was given yet another star vehicle in the shape of the odd, misjudged Angel Eyes. Coming in the middle of Shyamalan's glory days, this trailer has you believe that it's a similarly twisty supernatural thriller. It really, really isn't. In fact, it's a ponderous, turgid romantic drama without any supernatural element whatsoever. It deservedly flopped.

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Frozen

Yes, this was just a teaser but yes, this was the only trailer used to promote the film in UK cinemas. It's an amusing sequence that allows you to believe that the film is about the friendship between a snowman and a reindeer. The finished film, however, is not that at all. In the slightest. It's actually about the relationship between two royal sisters. But by using this trailer, it makes the film seem more appealing to both genders, something we imagine helped towards it huge box office success.

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Hook

A very odd one here. Steven Spielberg's take on the Peter Pan classic was actually sold as a....slasher movie? This strange trailer gives Captain Hook, an almost Candyman-esque vibe, focusing on the hook and not much else. We don't even get to see Neverland or anything.

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The Rules Of Attraction

Arriving near the end of the teen movie resurgence, this incredibly dark adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' college-set novel was never going to be an easy sell for teens still looking for a bit of apple pie humping. But that didn't stop the marketing team from presenting it as a madcap laugh riot, failing to really mention the pitch black tone or x-rated content.

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Inglourious Basterds

A great film here masquerading as a less great film. After this trailer dropped for Tarantino's first film in six years, we all thought it was a bombastic film about a group of Nazi-hunting soldiers, set to a generic rock score. Sure, that's one very small part of the film but the true protagonist Shosanna isn't even featured and the film's subtleties and classicism are nowhere to be seen.

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The Grey

Arriving in January from A-Team director Joe Carnahan, The Grey appeared like generic fodder that would be best watched while inebriated. The trailer merely confirmed this and promised us the sight of Liam Neeson killing the shit out of wolves. And then we watched the damn thing and it was a total shocker. A bleak, brutal and, yup, existential drama about death, it was a surprisingly soulful and deeply sad movie. Oh and we never got to see the much-hyped wolf fight. Which was ultimately for the best.

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Alien 3

Probably winning the award for most deceitful trailer ever, this early tease for David Fincher's troubled sequel promised us one major thing: this time the action would be on earth. The finished film failed to deliver on one major thing: it didn't take place on earth. Now, having seen Alien Vs Predator: Requiem, this is probably a good thing but we're still mad regardless.

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