Welcome back to yet another cheap edition of the Shock-O-Rama Poster Show. It's a sleaze & schlock bonanza day, as we display posters for films that played over and over in drive-ins and grindhouses across the country in the '70's and '80's. As you look for a seat that isn't broken or too badly worn, be sure to look out for casually discarded syringes. Try not to pay too much attention to the sticky residue on the floors or the mystery stains that may be on your seat's fabric. Be sure to visit out snack bar where we are having a big sale on Hershey's Bar None chocolate bars. I know they've been out of production since 1993, but we recently found boxes of them in out basement.
THIERRY: Welcome back. Where do I find these posters? Same places you find yours; eMovieposter, Heritage, eBay, other auctions here and there. Have I seen the movies? A good chunk of them, I have (including LOVE ME DEADLY, the one about necrophilia you mentioned last time you stopped by). I'm glad you find these posters at least interesting... Cheers!
MATT: Wow...an even rarer visitor to my lowly page. Welcome. Recommendations? Hmm. There's nothing really SUPER FAB that you must see, certainly nothing spooky for Halloween. Of my recent posts since I've been back from my trip, I'd say PIECES (below) or LAST STOP ON THE NIGHT TRAIN (NEW HOUSE ON THE LEFT) would be the most interesting. But for Halloween? Hmm. I don't know. To answer your other question, as I just told T, I have not seen all of the movies for the posters I've collected, but I HAVE seen the majority of them.In this post, I've seen everything but WICKER MAN and HAUNTED. Thanks for your visit.
And now, sit back and relax and let your eyes get used to the dim light. The show is about to begin...
SWEET SIXTEEN:I saw this flick with it's cast of Hollywood stars on their way down, down, down. Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg, Patrick Macnee, Don Stroud, Larry Storch, Michael Pataki, and Sharon Farrell are all in it, as is the female lead from "Friday the 13th Part 3 3D", Dana Kimmell. Despite the cast, the movie was b-o-r-i-n-g. I saw this in the theater---and back then you didn't walk out of a movie. Snore. Another 80's flick from the lower tier of slasher films and part of a lot purchase.
CARNIVAL MAGIC:What is this doing in the Shock-O-Rama Poster Show? A story of a magician (who really can read minds and levitate objects) and his talking monkey sounds like a kids flick...and it may be that. But it is from the demented mind of Al Adamson (the man responsible for HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS, BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR, DRACULA VS FRANKENSTEIN and many others). Weird trash that has to be seen to be believed. And it IS trash--most would find awful but other would find gleefully wonderful.
ELIMINATORS: When this film came out in the VHS era and I saw it on display, the first thing that came to mind was that it was a film about a rag-tag team that battled constipation. I don't know why, but it did. Of course, I realized it had nothing to do with that. But in my silly mind it did. Ha! Too this day, I still think of that when I see this. The TERMINATOR rip-off character MANDROID had his own movie as well, if I am not mistaken.
PRANKS/ THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD:I remember reading about this in the pages of Fangoria when it was still going to be called PRANKS. Similar (but different?) artwork for the film graced the cover of that particular issue, as I recall. Aha! I found it online. Here it is:
Anyway, the film sounded cool and I kept waiting and waiting and WAITING for it to come out. It never did (in my town anyway). I'm not entirely sure but I think the film was re-titled before it was released as THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD and all of these PRANKS posters got scrapped (which may account for them being so plentiful). I missed THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD in the '80's, but caught it on disk not long back. I really had NOT missed anything back in the '80's after all. Oh well. (Another lot purchase item).
THE WICKER MAN (re-release)
:I know this film is highly regarded, but I do not think I've ever properly seen it (or the remake). For some reason the poster usually fetches a nice price---even the re-release usually goes for more than i would pay for a re-release. Hmm. I think I did rent it back in the VHS era....but watched it on fast forward mode, waiting for something interesting to happen. (I was young...) Is it worth tracking down and watching?
HAUNTED:Another lot purchase. I have this poster...but I like it, so do not mind another. I have always wanted to see this, but I am sure it is crap. I may have seen it in the VHS era, but think i might be confusing it with something called HAUNTS from the same era. Whichever I saw was CRAP---but I do NOT remember a phone booth in the cemetery. Hmm. Just found a copy on eBay and ordered it. I'll probably never get around to watching it though. Ha!
BEYOND THE DOOR 2 / SHOCK:I remember when this came out. Oh man, I wanted to see it. I love EXORCIST knockoffs. At this point I had NOT see THE EXORCIST or the first BEYOND THE DOOR ---but I knew what they were about. BEYOND THE DOOR 2 was billed as more of the same. Zowie! I had to see it. The ad in the newspaper also made me desperately want the one sheet. The only trouble is, the newspaper ad and the one sheet are different.
I just thought there were two versions of the one sheet and I kept looking, and looking and looking. No deal. There's just the one. The one sheet is okay, but I like the creepiness of the boy becoming possessed in the newspaper ad better.
BEYOND THE DOOR 2 is a sequel in name only. It is actually a re-titling of Mario Bava's last film, SHOCK. After BEYOND THE DOOR was a big hit, Film Ventures International were hot to release a follow up. Since this film and BEYOND THE DOOR both featured the same child actor (David Colin Jr), why NOT say it is a sequel?
NECROPOLIS:I dig this poster but as I recall the movie (which I also saw back in the VHS days), the movie is rather weak. Still it has a great title and a poster with a sexy motorcycle girl AND zombies can't be all bad. Right?
EYE OF THE EVIL DEAD:No relation to the Sam Raimi EVIL DEAD series, this bizarre mess (but it's still kind of interesting) is a product of Lucio Fulci, the man behind ZOMBIE and GATES OF HELL.
PIECES:I already have a copy or two of this poster. There is one hanging up in my bedroom, actually. REALLY! This is a grindhouse mainstay. This has it all---blood, gore, horrible dubbing, a whodunit, bad acting, nudity, and a decent B-movie cast featuring Christopher George as the cop on the case, Linda Day George as the former tennis star turned undercover cop, Edmund Purdon as the university dean and Paul Smith as the campus groundskeeper. Sleazy cheezy 80's Euro-horror goodness!
Okay---that's it for today. Nothing to fabulous....just fun, old grindhouse fare. Mmm Mmm! I love me some good, old fashion horror and exploitation. Okay. You can unstick yourself from the floor now. Have a nice evening and I'll see you next time.
CHEERS!
