Do I really need to say anything about this French poster for Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!? This is a stunning piece of art, and so much better than most of the other versions of this poster. One of my biggest regrets is not stealing an original of this poster when I had a chance. Below you can see one of the American versions for this poster, which is typical of what all the poster looked like. I prefer the illustration over the photo montage.
Nothing like a good old fashioned horror movie from Hammer Studios to provide some truly classic movie poster art. Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell came towards the end of Hammer’s heyday, and seems to have been forgotten by some people, but the poster is definitely a classic. And just for fun, here is a poster for a double feature release of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell and the kung fu flick The Fists of Vengeance.
Okay, technically this is not a movie poster for Dawn of the Dead. Back when George Romero’s zombie classic came out in 1979, a “poster book” was released as a promotional tie-in. Poster books seemed to be something of a fad around the time, though the only other one I can specifically remember is one for the James Bond movie Moonraker. Basically, poster books were magazines that were folded multiple times instead of being stapled in the middle. When one of these things was completely unfolded, it was a poster on one side. The image above is the main poster. Below is the cover of the publication (on the left), and a secondary image that appeared when the magazine was unfolded half way. The rest of the poster book was pictures and articles.
And just because…here’s the original movie poster.
And here is one of the many European versions of the poster, in which it was retitled Zombie for distribution overseas.
And here we have the incredible poster for the not-so-incredible movie TNT Jackson. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for this poster, and I love the painting of actress Jeanne Bell. Interestingly, the same image was cannibalized with some of the elements changed for one of the versions of the Darktown Strutters poster (see below), even though Bell isn’t in the movie. Both films were produced by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures. I like the poster for TNT Jackson more, but Darktown Strutters is a better movie.
And here is another version of the Darktown Strutters poster (which better captures the insane spirit of this nutty movie).
One of my favorite Charles Bronson movies, a straight-up Injunsploitation classic.
It is no secret that I’m not a fan of Chuck Norris. In fact, I really cant’s stand him, and I haven’t even seen this movie. But the poster is badass.
Since our last entry in Movie Poster of the Week was Flash Gordon, somehow it seemed appropriate that the follow-up be the “adult” parody Flesh Gordon. This 1974 X-rated movie harkens back to the era when porn movies still played in theaters, and even had movie posters similar to mainstream films. Flesh Gordon was part of a wave of porn flicks like Alice in Wonderland: An X-Rated Musical Comedy that came out in the 1970s (both were produced by Bill Osco).
Here we have the first Movie Poster of the Week from one of my favorite poster artists, Richard Amsel. From covers of TV Guide to posters for some of my favorite movies, Amsel’s work always sticks out in my mind as the best of the best when it comes to painted movie posters. This poster for Flash Gordon was the first time I ever noticed Amsel’s name on something, which kicked off a life-long obsession. Above we have the classic American Flash Gordon design by Amsel. Below is the international version with art by Renato Casaro. And finally, we also have a Thai version of the Casaro poster, though I don’t know for sure if this is Casaro’s art, or just an imitation.
The poster for Italian director Gianfranco Parolini’s Five For Hell is the embodiment of what Movie Poster of the Week is all about. This is a terrible movie. I mean craptacular to the ultimate depths of crapitude. But the poster is awesome (it is the Italian version). Great movie posters make you want to see garbage like Five For Hell, even though the poster is the only thing worth looking at.
Here we have a true classic, the first major film starring Jackie Chan, Eagle’s Shadow (a.k.a. Snake in Eagle’s Shadow). Chan was a total unknown in America when this film was released, as evidenced by the incorrect spelling of his name. This was not only Chan’s first major film, it was the feature debut of Yuen Woo Ping, who would go on to become one of the greatest kung fu directors/choreographers of all time. They would team up again for Drunken Master, the film that would establish them both as superstars. The artwork for this poster is done by none other than comic book legend Neal Adams. Adams illustrated several movie posters during the 1970s, but he will always be known for his work in comics. He also did some of the best covers for Marvel’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, which may explain why so many of his movie posters were for films like this one. Below is one of Adams’s most memorable covers for Deadly Hands of Kung Fu.
