Movie Poster a Day with JayDee

The first adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein reached cinemas all the way back in 1910. Since then it's a story and a character that filmmakers have returned to time and time again, and in a whole variety of guises; Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, Lady Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein etc. Not to mention the run-ins he has had with everyone from Abbott and Costello to Alvin and the Chipmunks. Well I think these two films are the oddest use of the Frankenstein brand that I've come across so far.

First up we have Frankenstein General Hospital which has a host of great little details - all the patients attempting escapes, the cavalcade of hearses, the worrying appearance of a 'meat' van et al.

I've decided on a new theme - The Films of John Carpenter. Carpenter's films really are a great resoruce for poster art. Particularly in the 70s and 80s he was a master of producing the type of B-movies that just inspire great art, both at the time of their release and in the years since. To kick off this new theme we're going all the way back to the start of his career and this terrifically fun French poster for Dark Star. To be honest I really didn't like this film, and have probably gotten more entertainment from this poster than I did the actual film

For the second poster in John Carpenter week I've decided to stick in France, this time for Assault on Precinct 13. To me that's a film that almost feels like a horror film at times. The horde of gang members outside the police station feel more like an army of invading zombies. And I think this poster does a great job capturing that sensation. On top of that I think it's just a great, very evocative bit of art with lots of nice details - the downed cop slightly out of shot, someone peeking out from under the manhole cover etc.

To paraphrase Woody from Toy Story - "There's a snake in my thread!" Snake Plissken that is. For whatever reason, Escape from New York is far and away one of the most popular films out there when it comes to being reinterpreted by moden artists. I had a whole host of options that I could have gone with but in the end I settled for this one

For today I've selected my personal favourite John Carpenter film; the rather brilliant They Live. As with Escape from New York there were a host of options but I eventually went with this one. What I really like about it is how it features a dutch angle; a favoured film technique to allude to things not being quite right, to just being a little 'off'. And that is definitely the case for John Nada in They Live. I've also included a variant which, very fittingly, comes in black & white.

I've already showcased a couple of posters for The Thing (here) which were quite lurid and full-frontal with their horrors (particularly the second poster). This print takes a bit more subtle approach to the material and I find there to be something quite unsettling and disquieting about it. I don't know if it's just that it's slightly off-screen, that we're only getting a hint at it, or if it's the colour palette but I just find it to be quite creepy

Today we return to one of this thread's favourite hunting grounds - Poland. In particular I've chosen a poster that I've always had a fondness for since I first saw it, and that's the design for Christine. Now I'll admit that it's not an especially accurate representation of the film, certainly not in a literal sense. At no point does the car eat anyone, or is the car even revealed to have a mouth. However I think the idea of turning the grill of the Plymouth Fury into this demonic, fanged mouth works really well on a metaphorical level; if you run foul of this car you're going to find yourself heading into a dark void of nothingness.

We have ourselves a good news/bad news situation today folks. The bad news? We've got some big trouble brewing! The good news? It's only occuring in little China. Unless of course you happen to live in little China, in which case it's a bad news/bad news kind of day. Now there are actually a fair few posters kicking around for this film but there are a number that I don't think are that great. So in the end I've just gone for this highly detailed, expertly illustrated work

To round off John Carpenter Week I'm going with a double dose of Halloween. They may be posters for the same film but they take very different approaches to the material. This first poster goes with a really in-your-face, pulpy approach; turning Michael Myers into this truly grotesque monster. Oh and I like the little touch of the knife reflecting a pumpkin

EDIT - I just realised that yesterday should actually have been the last day of John Carpenter films. Oops! Never mind

In contrast, this second poster goes for a really minimalist, barebones approach. And I actually find it be somewhat creepier than the first. I find that there's something vaguely unsettling and sinister about this design even if I can't fully express why

Oh I'll find one!