The horror film art of Poland

Every time I come across a Polish movie poster, I find it interesting because they almost never seem to have anything at all to do with the movie that they're promoting and are always strange and surreal. Here are a few examples. From Top to bottom: Tomb of Ligeia, Christine, The Hunger, Kwaidan, Nosferatu the Vampyre, and Rosemary's Baby.



Next up: Mexican horror!

Famous films about hauntings

With tonight's premiere of the new season of Ghost Hunters, I thought I would take a look at some movies involving hauntings.

First up, The Uninvited (1944) starring Ray Milland. Here we have US and French posters as well as a US poster from Dead of Night (1945).



Next up, some of the best haunted house movies ever made. A US poster for The Innocents (1961), French artwork for Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963), and US art for The Legend of Hell House (1973) and Burnt Offerings (1976).



Finally, US and Pakistani artwork for The Changeling (1980) with George C. Scott.



And a quick plug.. If you're a fan of Ghost Hunters and haven't done so, I encourage you to take a look at a show called Paranormal State on A&E. They show 2 episodes every monday night and unlike Ghost Hunters which rarely comes up with anything creepy (or all that interesting), Paranormal State succeeds in creeping me out with almost every episode. The show follows Penn State's PRS (Paranormal Research Society) as they get called in on different cases involving ghosts, demons, etc. Unlike Ghost Hunters, they use different methods in their investigating including a device called a Frank's Box that filters or converts sound in order to get clear responses to questions with creepy results. They also make use of psychics, witches and demonologists in their investigations. The first season is hitting DVD on April 29th.

The Incredible Torture Show

One movie I've been fascinated with for awhile is Joel Reed's Bloodsucking Freaks (1975) I first saw it years ago and was grossed out by it but as time went on, it stuck in my head and sort of grew on me like a fungus. I eventually broke down and bought the DVD and have watched it several more times since. Maybe its the fact that Seamus O'Brien comes across as a sort of Z-grade Vincent Price, or the fact that up until recently with the current trend of 'torture porn' movies, modern horror just seemed so sanitized and bland. Here was a movie that was so gritty, filthy and over the top that you felt like you needed a shower after watching.

Here are 2 posters for the movie. The first is probably familiar to everyone as the cover used for the Troma DVD release. The other, under its alternate title of The Incredible Torture Show, is interesting in that it seems almost too classy for a movie such as this.

Wrapping up..

Wrapping up the Vincent Price posts, we have Belgian art from Tower of London (1962), French art from Diary of a Madman (1963), the US 1-sheet for Last Man on Earth (1964), a 3-sheet for War-Gods of the Deep (1965) and the US 1-sheet for Scream and Scream Again (1969).



Finally, a couple of gorgeous Italian posters (1 and 2 panels) from The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), which are much better than the US posters. US artwork for Dr. Phibes Rises Again! (1972), US art and an unusually boring Italian locandina for House of the Long Shadows (1983) as well as US art for Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984).

A few more Poes

Here are a few more Edgar Allan Poe movies that Vincent Price made that weren't directed by Roger Corman but were however released by AIP. Starting off, a US 1-sheet, Italian locandina and a gorgeous Italian 2-folio from The Oblong Box (1969), as well as the US 1-sheet from Cry of the Banshee (1970). The 2 US posters here are actually part of my physical collection.



On a side note, if anyone has any ideas of how to get the images here to post side by side instead of stretching down the page, let me know. It worked in my first few posts and though I haven't done anything differently with the HTML, its suddenly stopped working. Thanks!

Mr. Price meets Mr. Poe, part II

Finishing up with the Corman directed Edgar Allan Poe movies with Vincent Price, we have The Raven (1963). First up, the US 1-Sheet, followed by what looks like a 6-sheet poster and a German poster from what I believe is an 80's re-release of the movie.



Next, a US insert and Italian locandina from The Haunted Palace (1963), as well as a US 1-sheet from Masque of the Red Death (1964).



Finally, the US 1-sheet from Comedy of Terrors (1964) as well as a US 1-sheet and Italian locandina from Tomb of Ligeia (1965). The latter of which features a nice painting of Vincent Price, typical of Italian poster art.

Mr. Price meets Mr. Poe

1. We start off with Vincent Price's first Poe movie for Roger Corman, Fall of the House of Usher (1960), here we have a US half-sheet and German posters.
   

Next up, The Pit and the Pendulum (1961). Here we have an American insert and half-sheet as well as Italian and Spanish posters, the latter of which features a nice painting of Barbara Steele.




Finally, Tales of Terror (1962). Here we have a wide variety of posters. First up, the Spanish poster which is very similar to the US 1-sheet, only with the addition of bright colors. The Belgian poster re-works the artwork found in both of these posters but makes something fresh and new out of it. Then we have 3 from Italy. First up, what looks like a lobby card with interesting artwork in the border, then we have 2 beautiful and very different posters from Italy.




Next up: The last of Price's Poe movies and the best of the rest of the 60's.