You searched for: Child%5C%27s%2520Play

Child’s Play / one sheet / USA

18.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Child's Play
AKA
De pop (Netherlands) | Chucky - Die Mörderpuppe (West Germany)
Year of Film
1988
Director
Tom Holland
Starring
Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1988
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
26 7/8" x 40"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
Something's moved in with the Barclay family, and so has terror.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: the Dream Child / B2 / art style / Japan

26.10.16

Poster Poster

Unique artwork features on this Japanese B2 for the release of the fifth entry in the much-loved horror franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5. The film’s subtitle ‘the Dream Child’ hints at the plot for the film, which sees Freddy attempting to return from hell by using the mind of an unborn baby. The child belongs to Alice (Lisa Wilcox) who was the main character in the previous film and the father is her boyfriend Dan (Danny Hassel) who also returns from Part 4. The Dream Child was only the second film directed by Stephen Hopkins, the Jamaican-born English-Australian director best known for helming Predator 2 and the 1998 reboot of Lost in Space.

Set a year after the previous film, the story sees Alice and her friends graduating from high school with Freddy Krueger seemingly vanquished for good. Alice begins to have strange dreams in which she finds herself in the asylum where Freddy’s mother, a nun named Amanda, was attacked and raped by the inmates. Later she has another dream in which she witnesses Amanda giving birth to a strange, deformed baby. The creature scuttles off and ends up in the church where Alice vanquished Freddy in Part 4 whereupon it grows into an adult Krueger. He immediately begins to taunt Alice, claiming he has found a way to return for good. When she wakes from the dream she immediately summons Dan to her but he falls asleep at the wheel of his motorbike and Freddy attacks and, during a gruesome sequence, melds him together with the bike before crashing him into a truck. Soon afterwards she learns that she is pregnant with Dan’s child and immediately begins to fear for its safety.

Alice and her friends must once again battle together with the spirit of Amanda Krueger to stop Freddy before he is able to return and take over the mind of Alice’s unborn son (Jacob). To be honest, the film gets very confusing and it’s hard to follow what’s happening most of the time, never mind how an unborn baby suddenly becomes a ten-year-old child in some of the sequences. The usual dream deaths are pretty dark and there are some gruesome moments for horror hounds, but the story barely hangs together, with choppy editing and hammy acting not helping at all. Although not a box-office disaster, the film failed to take anywhere near the box-office of Part 3 and 4 and audiences were certainly cooling towards the franchise by this point.

This artwork is a modified take on the photographic image of Freddy with the pram seen on the German A1 poster. I’m not sure who was responsible for the painting so if anyone has any ideas please get in touch. The small illustrated figure in the bottom right is actually from the alternate style Japanese B2 poster which I also have in the collection here.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: the Dream Child / B2 / photo style / Japan

18.07.16

Poster Poster

A bizarre design features on this Japanese B2 for the release of the fifth entry in the much-loved horror franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5. The film’s subtitle ‘the Dream Child’ hints at the plot for the film, which sees Freddy attempting to return from hell by using the mind of an unborn baby. The child belongs to Alice (Lisa Wilcox) who was the main character in the previous film and the father is her boyfriend Dan (Danny Hassel) who also returns from Part 4. The Dream Child was only the second film directed by Stephen Hopkins, the Jamaican-born English-Australian director best known for helming Predator 2 and the 1998 reboot of Lost in Space.

Set a year after the previous film, the story sees Alice and her friends graduating from high school with Freddy Krueger seemingly vanquished for good. Alice begins to have strange dreams in which she finds herself in the asylum where Freddy’s mother, a nun named Amanda, was attacked and raped by the inmates. Later she has another dream in which she witnesses Amanda giving birth to a strange, deformed baby. The creature scuttles off and ends up in the church where Alice vanquished Freddy in Part 4 whereupon it grows into an adult Krueger. He immediately begins to taunt Alice, claiming he has found a way to return for good. When she wakes from the dream she immediately summons Dan to her but he falls asleep at the wheel of his motorbike and Freddy attacks and, during a gruesome sequence, melds him together with the bike before crashing him into a truck. Soon afterwards she learns that she is pregnant with Dan’s child and immediately begins to fear for its safety.

Alice and her friends must once again battle together with the spirit of Amanda Krueger to stop Freddy before he is able to return and take over the mind of Alice’s unborn son (Jacob). To be honest, the film gets very confusing and it’s hard to follow what’s happening most of the time, never mind how an unborn baby suddenly becomes a ten-year-old child in some of the sequences. The usual dream deaths are pretty dark and there are some gruesome moments for horror hounds, but the story barely hangs together, with choppy editing and hammy acting not helping at all. Although not a box-office disaster, the film failed to make anywhere near the box-office of Part 3 and 4 and audiences were certainly cooling towards the franchise by this point.

The smiling boy depicted on this poster doesn’t appear in the film and my guess is that he was chosen for a photoshoot by the poster’s designer. I’m not sure who was responsible for the artwork of the cartoon Freddy characters so if anyone has an idea please get in touch.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child / one sheet / USA

18.05.11

Poster Poster

Tron / one sheet / ‘Play the game’ style / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
Tron
AKA
Tron: The Electronic Gladiator (Australia)
Year of Film
1982
Director
Steven Lisberger
Starring
Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, Barnard Hughes, Dan Shor, Peter Jurasik
Origin of Film
USA | Taiwan
Genre(s) of Film
Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, Barnard Hughes, Dan Shor, Peter Jurasik,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
'Play the game' style
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1982
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
27" x 41 1/16"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
A world inside the computer where man has never been. Never before now.

The Changeling / B2 / photo style / Japan

17.08.12

Poster Poster
Title
The Changeling
AKA
L'enfant du diable [The child of the devil] (Canada - French title / France)
Year of Film
1980
Director
Peter Medak
Starring
George C. Scott, Trish VanDevere, Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos, Jean Marsh, Madeleine Sherwood
Origin of Film
Canada
Genre(s) of Film
George C. Scott, Trish VanDevere, Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos, Jean Marsh, Madeleine Sherwood,
Type of Poster
B2
Style of Poster
Photo
Origin of Poster
Japan
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
20 6/16" x 28 13/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

An eerily effective Canadian horror directed by Peter Medak, The Changeling features the brilliant George C. Scott (Dr Strangelove, Patton) in a memorable turn as John Russell, a composer and widower struggling to cope with the death of his wife and child. Russell moves into an old mansion in an attempt to piece his life back together and concentrate on writing his next composition, but before long it’s clear that he’s not the only occupant of the house. Mysterious happenings and apparitions of a ghostly child prompt Russell to investigate the history of the previous occupants, and together with realtor Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere – Scott’s wife) he uncovers the truth behind the haunting.

The story is based on the real-life experiences of the film’s screenwriter Russell Hunter who moved into a large house in Denver, Colorado in 1968 and suffered a series of strange happenings. After holding a seance Hunter discovered that the spirit of a child haunted the house and was unable to rest after being wronged by his family. This ‘Denver Haunts’ website features an article (scroll down to ‘The Henry Treat Rogers Mansion’) that was printed in the newspaper Rocky Mountain News in 1986 and further details Hunter’s experiences.

Medak fled Hungary in 1956 to escape the Hungarian Revolution and settled in England where he started his career in the film business. His directorial debut came in 1968 with Negatives, a drama about a couple whose bizarre romantic relationship is interrupted by the arrival of a photographer who has taken an interest in the couple’s actions. He then went on to direct episodes of several TV series, including Space: 1999Hart to Hart and The Twilight Zone whilst continuing to work on many films throughout the 1970s and 80s. His last feature film was the much maligned Species II (1998) but he has since returned to working as a TV director on shows such as Homicide: Life on the StreetThe Wire and Breaking Bad.

The original trailer for the film is on YouTube.

Picnic at Hanging Rock / quad / UK

29.11.13

Poster Poster
Title
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Year of Film
1975
Director
Peter Weir
Starring
Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse, Kirsty Child, Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Jacki Weaver, Frank Gunnell, Anne-Louise Lambert, Karen Robson, Jane Vallis, Christine Schuler
Origin of Film
Australia
Genre(s) of Film
Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse, Kirsty Child, Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Jacki Weaver, Frank Gunnell, Anne-Louise Lambert, Karen Robson, Jane Vallis, Christine Schuler,
Type of Poster
Quad
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
UK
Year of Poster
1976
Designer
Brian Bysouth
Artist
Brian Bysouth
Size (inches)
30" x 39 15/16"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
On St. Valentine's day in 1900 a party of schoolgirls set out to picnic at Hanging Rock ... Some were never to return. | ... A recollection of evil.

One of the best Australian films ever made, Peter Weir‘s enigmatic mystery Picnic at Hanging Rock was released in 1975 and is based on the novel of the same name by the Australian author Joan Lindsay. The story focuses on the mysterious disappearance of a group of girls who travel to the titular rock with a school party and vanish without trace, much to the horror of their fellow pupils and the head teacher of the school. Infamously Lindsay elected to remove the ‘final’ chapter that fully explained their disappearance from the novel and it was not published until after her death in 1987 as ‘The Secret of Hanging Rock’. Weir and screenwriter Cliff Green thus filmed the story without the standard Hollywood explanation, which apparently frustrated American distributors looking to buy the rights and who were unused to ambiguous endings.

The film has an unforgettable atmosphere, helped by the ethereal cinematography of Russell Boyd who utilised the same material used for bridal veils to cover the lens and give many of the outdoor scenes a soft glow – this look was much imitated in the years following. The cast is uniformly excellent, particularly the key group of school girls that includes the beautiful Anne-Louise Lambert as Miranda (as featured on this poster) who is the focus of more than one characters’ infatuation. Filming took place at the real Hanging Rock in Victoria as well as a mansion called Martindale Hall that doubled as Appleyard College. The film was a global critical and box office  success, despite some audience frustration at the ending, and it retains its legacy as one of Australia’s most beloved films.

This British quad was illustrated by one of my favourite British artists, Brian Bysouth, who worked on a number of classic British posters during the 1970s and 1980s. It is unique to this particular poster but has some elements that also appeared on the original Australian poster that can be seen here (image taken from emovieposter.com).

You can read my extensive interview with Brian by clicking here. The other posters I’ve collected by him can be seen by clicking here.

Taffin / one sheet / USA

20.06.12

Poster Poster
Title
Taffin
AKA
--
Year of Film
1988
Director
Francis Megahy
Starring
Pierce Brosnan, Ray McAnally, Alison Doody, Jeremy Child, Dearbhla Molloy, Jim Bartley, Alan Stanford, Gerard McSorley, Patrick Bergin, Britta Smith, Jonathan Ryan
Origin of Film
UK | Ireland | USA
Genre(s) of Film
Pierce Brosnan, Ray McAnally, Alison Doody, Jeremy Child, Dearbhla Molloy, Jim Bartley, Alan Stanford, Gerard McSorley, Patrick Bergin, Britta Smith, Jonathan Ryan,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1988
Designer
Unknown
Artist
--
Size (inches)
27 1/16" x 41"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
--
Tagline
He didn't get mad... He got even. | Only he could stop them.

An unremarkable poster for what would have been an unremarkable entry in Pierce Brosnan‘s filmography were it not for one of the strangest, left-field line readings in the history of cinema. The infamous moment takes place during an exchange that Taffin (Brosnan) is having with the character of Charlotte (played by Alison Doody). For no apparent reason Brosnan’s tone explodes into an insane shout of ‘THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T BE LIVING HEEEEEEEERE!’ The moment is available to watch on YouTube here.

If you’re a fan of UK comedians Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish and listen to their (currently off-air) radio show on 6 music you will have heard their discussion of this infamous moment last year.  The reaction to the show saw the clip becoming its own meme for a while and it spawned several remixes.

The original trailer is on YouTube.

The Changeling / one sheet / USA

17.05.11

Poster Poster
Title
The Changeling
AKA
L'enfant du diable [The child of the devil] (Canada - French title / France)
Year of Film
1980
Director
Peter Medak
Starring
George C. Scott, Trish VanDevere, Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos, Jean Marsh, Madeleine Sherwood
Origin of Film
Canada
Genre(s) of Film
George C. Scott, Trish VanDevere, Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos, Jean Marsh, Madeleine Sherwood,
Type of Poster
One sheet
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
USA
Year of Poster
1980
Designer
Unknown
Artist
Unknown
Size (inches)
27" x 41 1/16"
SS or DS
SS
NSS #
800028
Tagline
"How did you die, Joseph...? Did you die in this house...? Why do you remain...?"