Eyeball Candy- Part 3 Random World Posters

Taking a break from the written word to present some of more recent movie monster posters from the world over. Enjoy these cinematic works of art! Some are currently available on DVD or VCD. Google them and you'll find them. Yes, most of them. Some.... nope.

Ramsay classic available on DVD in the US, Japan, India, & the UK.

Hand painted African poster for a video store that VHS and DVDs from Ghana and Nigeria

Taiwanese fantasy film -- I have this poster and the film; the poster is much more exciting.

"Ghost Nursing"- Thai poster.

Indian horror film --- look at that monster!  I NEED THIS ONE!

LOURD BALAA - looks like one of those vastly entertaining Indian hairy monster films.

Thai Snake Girl Monster movie -- from the 70's or 80's; anyone have a title for me?

ZIBAH KHANA - another grade c Indian horror/monster movie on my list from 2007: title translates as "Hell's Ground". The company that made this flick? "Bubonic Films". Awesome.

捉鬼大師  - one of favourite 80's vampire/possession films that stars some of  Hong Kong' comedy greats: Kent Cheng, Stanley Fung, Nat Chan, Jackie Cheung, and Elsie Chan.

Newspaper ad for the Pakistani horror film THE LIVING CORPSE/DRACULA FROM PAKASTAN from 1967.

Japanese film I know nothing about, except that it is probably about drug addiction rather than a monster movie. But it is a cool poster none the less!

The best Taiwanese fantasy film EVER!!!!! 

Chinese film. Thai poster. I should know what film this is, but I am currently brain dead.

More Snake Girl/Monster action from Cambodia/Thailand... Classic horror motif.

Eyeball Candy, Part 2

I'm not sure how important it is nowadays, but not too long ago posters were the way to go when it came to promoting a film. At a movie theater you'd gawk (well, at least I did) at the artwork presented on the "Coming Soon" marquees, with hopes that these wonderful films would end up at least one of the local theaters around where I lived (most of the time they didn't). In a vain attempt not to sound like an ol' fuddy-duddy, I won't rail too much against the recent, lame poster designs that most studio's pump out. In fact, I won't waste my time on US movie posters at all.

Yep, it's that time again. Time again to present to you, dear blog-aholics, a dozen or so non-western advertizements for thrilling monster films that you'll probably never get around to seeing. God knows, I've had a hard time tracking some of the films I've been writing about. They aren't your usual Netflix or Blockbuster releases. 

Let's start out with my current fascination, the Indian Monster Movies:

GHABRAHAT (1989).

GHABRAHAT, from 1989 and director Sunil Kumar.  No other information on this film. Looks cool, huh?  The film sports a classy Ramsy Brothers-looking poster. Classy? Ramsy? Hey, when you've seen as many of these "Grade C" films as I have, then that moniker fit. It's on my list of films to look for.

On a side note: the monster reminds me of the skeletal creature from THE DEATH CURSE OF TARTU (1966). If you haven't had the chance to see this USA made horror film, then you should treat yourself to some of its charm. This is as close to an Indian monster movie an American production gets. No, seriously, it has all the right elements. Trust me.

Next on my list is a film that I have had on VHS since I got it from a pen pal of mine in the early 90's. I have since re-discovered it on VCD. It's the monsterific JAANI DUSHMAN from 1979, despite looking  another Ramsy film, JAANI DUSHMAN seems to have benefited from a slightly higher budget, as along with its superior musical numbers, its monster is an incredible and very striking bouffant-headed werewolf.

Hindi poster art for JAANI DUSHMAN.

 

The hand-painted poster for JAANI DUSHMAN.

The crazy CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF variant.

The creature takes to abusing folks in the forest and in a spooky underground warren/temple surrounding a spooky mansion (as it always is) . The two posters presented are the classic Hindi one and a wonderfully crafted hand-painted canvas poster for what I believe was the Urdu market. I have also seen another design where the artist takes huge liberties in lifting Hammer's CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF and puts it to use to illustrate their film. And considering what I can make of the film, that intellectual theft is not too far of the plot.

In this exciting scene, our hero and a few of his friends has trapped the monster and in a desperate attempt to smite the thing with a trident of Shiva. The hairy beast lumbers about, stomping and grunting like most of its cinematic creature cousins.

To round things off here are a few more Indian Monster Movie posters of films I NEED TO SEE:

Here's gooey monster for ya!

 

Another sleazy "Grade C" from the late 1990's

A Fredrick March-inspired poster for a 1981 creature feature.

 

Another rarely seen  Ramsy family production.

Eyeball Candy, part 1

Back in the day, before technology could deliver tantalizing images of films directly to you on your home computer or on your phone or tablet, paper-based (rather than pixal) posters were the way to get your attention. Sure, TV commercials and film previews in a theater helped, but non-invasive, full color posters were works of art. Actually, the art of poster-design hasn't changed much since the 70's and the impact that STAR WARS had on the industry.

Of course I'm rambling about Western-based posters. Hollywood has influenced the look of film since the USA began cranking out blockbusters in the 1920's. Worldwide, each country had their own epic classics to compete with anything the States produced (check out Guido Brignone's MACISTE IN HELL from 1925 available in a slightly truncated form on a Oldies.com DVD). However, audiences in those counties, for the most part, adored Hollywood, and pretty soon most of those regional studios fell into second, third or fourth place (not all, as Germany had Fritz Lang to make classics).  I digress. Posters. Back to posters.

Eyeball candy.

The bloated designs for STAR WARS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK pretty much changed the lush or arty posters of the 60's to mid 70's.  For mainstream fantasy films, posters pretty much sucked after 1978. Mass produced cookie-cutter clutter. Luckily, we have hand-painted beauties from Africa, India, Pakistan, and other non-western locales to stimulate the imagination. Or, at least my imagination. These huge one-of-a-kind advertizements are now much sought after items and fetch hefty sums on Ebay and from private collectors AND galleries. I guess they're being bought up by hipsters.

But they rule.

The posters produced by folks at African-based video stores in Europe and the US (and on their home soil) are for the new and the old. There is no bias against old films - no misplaced hipster "kitsch", as they are given the love that only a naïveté auteur could produce. Check out this one for the 1958 Ray Harryhausen fantasy classic 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD with the distinctive Cyclops that was the highwater for animated monsters for decades. I would kill for this poster. It's from Ghana. And one for the late Don Dohler's ALIEN FACTOR (1978). It's pretty clear: these are MONSTER movies!

The locally-grown variety from Ghana have insane imagery as well, although the monsters on these works of art don't, for the most part. really appear in the films. I've sat through around a dozen or so Ghanaian or Nigerian horror/monster/fantasy/magical realism movies and the critters that inhabit these shot-on-videop grinders are usually folks in greasepaint who wear plastic horns on their heads. But the posters.... sheer beauty:

If I had the cash and a wall in my house where I could display these critters I would.

Tomorrow: Even more monstrous beauties from India, Thailand, Pakistan, and a few other non-western nations.