Hello faithful!  Its been a few weeks since I said hello.  Cataloguing the personal collection is complete.  And since I missed the last 2 installments of FULCI FRIDAY, here comes a threeway from beyond the grave!  Behold…FULCI FRIDAY: MAKE UP SEX EDITION!

All three posters are Argentinean one-sheets, measuring as they do at 27 inches wide by 43 inches tall, making them 2 inches taller than up-to-mid-80s American one sheets (27”x41” until mid 80s, 27”x40” after mid 80s).

Up first is this perplexing one-sheet for ZOMBIE (1979):

Yes folks, that is in fact Olga Karlatos’ head placed on top of Auretta Gay’s body.  I guess whomever designed this relatively unappealing poster couldn’t find a revealing enough still from Karlatos’ shower scene, but wanted to let the audience know they’d be seeing some boobie anyhow.  Pretty clever, though not exactly well executed.  Maybe being a fan makes these kind of things stand out.

And yes, that is a business card-sized spot of missing paper on the poster’s left side.  With a piece as rare as this (I know of less than 5 other copies, though I’m sure there are more out there somewhere), you take what you can get.  This piece marks the 10th country on my list of international materials for ZOMBIE.

Up next, everyone’s favourite chunkblower, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980):

Though my preference for poster art almost always leans toward illustrated, this gem hits me right in the happy button.  Speaking of happy buttons, there exists another Argentinean poster for this title, utilizing BOTH of Enzo Sciotti’s illustrated motifs on the same page.

Here it is, lifted from emovieposter.com without permission.  

If I could get my hands on the poster directly above, I would be a happy boy.  Well, happier.  I’m already pretty happy with collection.  (But really, how effing awesome is that double-shot of Sciotti goodness?  Gat damn!)

Finally, this rather curious poster for THE BEYOND (1981):

Now, I’ve always thought this to be a strange design for this title, but let’s backtrack a minute- this illustration is essentially the same as Sciotti’s confusing art for the Italian release; confusing because no such scene takes place in the film.  Sure, many posters are ambiguous or embellish to outrageous levels.  But this one is simply off.  It appears as if Sciotti worked from a combination of a still of Catriona MacColl in mid-scream and a character of his own creation attacking her from behind.

So that’s one layer of oddness.  The second heap of weird is that for the Argentinean release, an artist omitted the bloodstains found in the Italian art (which itself was used on BEYOND posters from Spain and Australia)

Here is Sciotti’s art is it was created:

I almost prefer the blood-free version.  Almost.

Until next time, folks!

Hey folks- It’s been a few days and I just wanted to swing in an tell you what I’ve been up to, in addition to some info about two events happening tonight in Toronto.

First things first.

I’ve started organizing and cataloguing my personal collection of posters.  For the last few years, the closet in which my stash hides has been bursting with packages and creative solution was needed.  The posters have been kept in all manner of packaging- tubes, folded, bagged and boarded, etc.  It’s been needlessly difficult keeping track of what I own.

Recently, my brother was kind enough to give me 2 sets of art drawers with interior measurements of around 31” x 42” making them perfect for quads, one sheets (well, one sheets from everywhere but Argentina…more on that tomorrow) and everything smaller.  So that’s 4 large drawers to work with.  On the bottom shelf lie the quads.  On the next shelf up are one sheets.  Above that are the inserts, locandinas, daybills, and minis.  Finally, the top drawer contains folded oversize posters.

I cannot begin to tell you how awesome this device is for these purposes.

Not only do the pieces lie in an organized fashion, most of the posters are being flattened and will then be easier to photograph.  Add to that my awesome wife who is helping to catalogue them in an excel spreadsheet, and I will finally have the collection together in a proper way.  It’s going to be a hell of a lot easier to share my goodies with you all and I’m pretty pumped about it.

There are other posters that can’t fit into the current system- German one-sheets may just have to stay folded/rolled for now, same with Thai one-sheets, and some of my more rare posters that I don’t want to handle too much.

But as it stands, it’s a thrill just to be able to look at the collection by title, on a list.  Sorry about the mucky jpg too.

———————————-

Otherwise, if you’re in Toronto and looking to check out some awesome, spooky art, check out Gary Pullin’s FROM ABSINTHE TO ZOMBIES show happening tonight at Plastik Wrap - 2235 Dundas street West.  There will be prints, snacks, and other good times.  The event starts at 7, so get there early ‘cause you’re gonna wanna head down to Toronto Underground Cinema to catch the Rue Morgue presentation of THE DEAD, a brand new zombie flick that gets my maddeningly elusive seal of approval.  Click the images for more info.

.

Welcome to the 2nd FULCI FRIDAY, that crazy day of the week when I post up one of my posters for a Lucio Fulci movie.

Last week was THE GATES OF HELL, the first of Fulci’s films I saw.  Well, that’s actually not true.  I must have been around 13 at the time when I saw a painfully cut version of Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE.  So…it doesn’t really count.

Pictured above is the French release poster for ZOMBIE (translating to THE HELL OF THE ZOMBIES).  It measures 47” wide by 63” tall, which is the common size of a French “grande” poster.  As you saw last week, I have a bit of a fetish for large posters.  

But back to the first time I saw the film…

While I missed out on the gore that made this movie legendary, I did pick up on a few things that were left in tact by the merciless Ontario Board of Stuck-Uppedness.  The smoky, dusty, death-filled atmosphere and the incredible soundtrack by frequent Fulci collaborator Fabio Frizzi.

It was during Fantasia Fest 1997 when I saw ZOMBIE uncut for the first time…with an audience, and on a then-new 35mm print.  Admittedly, my horror intake was pretty slow during this point of my life, but I had to be there.  Well, the film blew my fucking mind out of my ass, and I’ve been picking up the pieces ever since.  By picking up the pieces, I mean pieces like this kick-ass poster, adorned by artist Michel Landi’s epic illustration.

In issue 116 of Rue Morgue Magazine, I called Landi one of the most important French horror movie poster illustrators ever.  In reality, the Corsica native is one of the most important poster artists period.  He’s one of those dudes that was around when promoting a movie with artwork meant creating huge murals on movie theatre walls.  

Now I’m off to enjoy a nice cup of coffee, and I trust you to tell me if any zombies decide to launch a sneak attack.

Welcome to 2012 and the first FULCI FRIDAY, a day when we celebrate the movie posters and films of Lucio Fulci.

Up first, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (Italian 1-panel, 55”x39”)

This film is near and dear to my heart and for many reasons.  It is one of the most over-the-top films you will ever see.  Period.  It makes sense when it wants to, and launches into nonsensical, logic-molesting carnage when it needs to, and the soundtrack by Fabio Frizzi is positively haunting.  I was able to see it at a young age, 13 or 14, in its uncut glory, because it was somehow never censored.  CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (or THE GATES OF HELL as I first knew it and still refer to it as) set the benchmark for malevolent and shocking gore, and few films have exceeded it since.

That image above?  That isn’t some random graphic used to pique interest…THAT HAPPENS IN THE MOVIE!  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, too.  Italian FX guru Giannetto De Rossi’s work still holds up (more or less) to today’s standards.  Mind you it’s pretty hard to measure because no one makes films like this anymore.  Sure, they make graphic, disturbing movies.  They make freaky, non-linear movies that more resemble a dream than a film.  But they aint Fulci, a man who made his best films at the end of a very prolific career within the Italian film industry.  

Though Europologists claim otherwise, Fulci owes much of his later success to George A. Romero, specifically for his film DAWN OF THE DEAD.  Had Romero not partnered with Dario Argento, DAWN likely wouldnt have been the European success that it was.  The film raised the bar for undead splatter, a bar that Fulci adeptly met while competing with Romero’s masterpiece.  

Of course, Fulci’s answer to DAWN was ZOMBIE, one of the truly greatest pure zombie films ever made.  Expect lots of goodies from that flick coming up.

CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, Fulci’s follow-up to ZOMBIE, kept the blood flowing but incorporated elements of fantasy and surrealism to make one epic brew of nightmarish nastiness.

At 39” wide and 55” tall, this poster is large, about 1.5 times the size of a standard American 1-sheet (which was 27”x41” at the time).  Below is a shot of me with the poster, just to give you an idea of how big these things get (and how much of a fanboy I am for this stuff).  And it aint even one of my big posters!

Finally, it would be a crime to not mention the illustrator responsible for the gorgeous art on the poster, Enzo Sciotti.  Sciotti handled a great many posters for Italian exploitation films in the 80s, as well as Italian posters for imported titles.  The alternate Italian poster for this title, which shows a zombie rising from his grave in stages, was also Sciotti’s handy work.