horror movie posters

I may not own very many posters, but I do love them. For all intents and purposes, a poster is the film equivalent of the book cover. It's both the first impression and the sales pitch; and whether we want to or not, we can (and often do) judge a movie by it's art work. Unfortunately, most marketing departments today have lost sight of the word art and have simply begun churning out posters that are mere works that function to announce the title and who is involved while visually saying very little about the film.

Obviously that wasn't always the case. With the intent of both honoring gems from the past and providing a source of inspiration for future poster designers, the design blog Hongkiat.com has kicked off an Evolution of Horror Movie Poster Designs gallery retrospective that reaches back to the first horror movie poster of all time ,Nosferatu, 1922. Needless to say, the posters from 2009 look a tad bit different than the treasures from 1922, but it's still fascinating to scroll through time and see how poster art has metamorphosed into what it is today.

So head on over to Hongkiat.com and give their collection a scroll. It may make you a little forlorn for a time gone by, but it's still an awesome little examination. Thanks to Horror Squad pal Q. Manning for the find.

Don't let anyone ever tell you that collecting movie memorabilia is a waste of time. Hold onto that action figure, lobby card, or poster long enough and it some day may be worth more than the house you grew up in. Case in point a poster for the The Black Cat, that 1934 film adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's classic story starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, which was recently opened for bidding by the Heritage Auction Galleries before closing on a final price of $334,600.

Yes, that comma is in the right place. Why'd it sell for such a high price? Because it is the only known Style B, one-sheet poster for The Black Cat known in existence. Auction Central News explains:

"The graphically spectacular red, black and white stone lithograph Black Cat movie poster is that rare collectible that transcends its genre," said Grey Smith, director of Vintage Movie Posters at Heritage. "Yes, it's a gorgeous movie poster, but it also carries great appeal as a piece of art, as a piece of pop culture and as an important piece of cinematic history. There's no other movie poster like it in the world, as far as we know, and it's worth every cent paid for it."