Alligator, the 1980 giant beast in the sewers b-movie, was directed by Lewis Teague (Cujo, The Jewel of the Nile) and had its screenplay written by John Sayles, who was also behind the Roger Corman-produced hit Piranha (1978). The story sees a baby alligator bought by a young girl in Florida, and subsequently named Ramón, flushed down the sewers in Los Angeles by her animal-phobic father. The film then jumps to twelve years later and the reptile has grown to the size of a bus after eating the corpses of dead pets that have been injected with a secret growth formula and dumped into the sewers. After human body parts begin showing up with alarming regularity the world-weary detective David Madison (genre stalwart Robert Forster) is sent into the sewers to investigate what’s behind the murders, along with reptile expert Marisa Kendall (Robin Riker – as pictured on this poster), the girl that originally flushed Ramón into the sewers.

The film features an infamous scene where Ramón escapes from the sewers and rampages through a high-society wedding murdering anyone who crosses his path. This scene can be viewed on YouTube.

This is one of two Japanese posters for the film that I’m aware of, and I’ve called this the ‘black style’.

The original trailer is on YouTube.

This is definitely not from the time of the original release, but the print quality is excellent (plenty of detail etc) so I’m thinking it must be either an official studio reprint or from a re-release. If anyone knows any more details please get in touch.

Released as Damnation Alley in the USA, this dystopian sci-fi adventure (set after the nuclear destruction of World War 3) pretty much disappeared at the box office, but later gained something of a cult status. It’s interesting to note that the studio, 20th Century Fox, were making two sci-fi films in 1977 and saw this as their big hope for a box-office blockbuster. The studio suits didn’t have much faith in the other project, a little film called Star Wars…

The film features a couple of infamous scenes with mutated creatures, including ‘giant’ scorpions (terribly composited using the blue screen process) and killer cockroaches. It also featured an interesting vehicle known as The Landmaster.

In some cinemas the film was shown with something called Sound 360. From IMDb:

20th Century-Fox developed a rival to Universal’s gimmicky ‘Sensurround’ sound process (popularized in the theatrical release of Earthquake (1974)) that was only used for the theatrical release of “Damnation Alley” called Sound 360. This process was basically a variation of Magnetic-Optical Stereo sound. This technical advancement/gimmick in sound did not last past “Damnation Alley” although it was planned for Walter Hill‘s The Driver (1978) and Damien: Omen II (1978). If you look at the one sheet of “Damnation Alley” the “Sound 360” declaration and logo are prominent at the bottom.

This one sheet by one of my favourite Japanese artists, Seito, is practically identical to one of the American one sheets that can be seen on IMPAwards (credited to artist Paul Lehr).

The film was recently released on blu-ray (in the correct aspect ratio) and a trailer for that can be watched here.

The slasher film that was eventually released as The Mutilator started out life with a holiday-themed title, no doubt aiming to capitalise on the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween and other films like My Bloody Valentine. My understanding is that the name was changed when producers found the film almost impossible to sell; not only is it the least exciting title for a horror film imaginable, it’s also a name that means nothing to folks outside of the USA.

I believe that this poster was printed in very limited quantities because the name was changed soon after and the film was released across America as The Mutilator. I bought this poster from a film critic who was friends with the director and was given a handful of copies of this original design.

Check out the completely different final release poster with a classic tagline. The original trailer can be viewed on YouTube.

This is the artwork style B2 poster for the Japanese release of one of Roger Moore’s better outings as 007, For Your Eyes Only, which was intended to bring the legendary spy back down to earth with a more realistic and less sensational storyline following the lunacy of Moonraker. It marked the first time John Glen would helm a Bond film, having worked as an editor and second-unit director on three of the previous outings, and he would go on to direct the next four films in the series. The story sees the spy being sent to try and recover an ‘ATAC’ device capable of controlling the British Polaris submarine fleet, which is lost after a spy ship disguised as a trawler is sunk in neutral waters.

It becomes clear that the Soviets are also keen to get their hands on the device and Bond must discover who is aiding them, with suspicion falling on both Milos Columbo (Topol) and Aris Kristatos (Julian Glover). Bond also finds an ally in the form of Melina Havelock (the gorgeous Carole Bouquet) who is out for revenge after her parents are murdered by the same forces who retrieve the ATAC device. The film features several memorable chases and action sequences, including a climactic assault on a fortress on top of a sheer cliff. It also includes the infamous character of Bibi Dahl (Lynn-Holly Johnson) a gorgeous young ice-skating protégée who becomes infatuated with Bond, and in turn became the object of countless teenage boys’ fantasies, including yours truly.

The artwork on this poster is unique to Japan and was painted by the artist Seito. I’ve not been able to discover much about Seito but he was fairly prolific and painted for a lot of US films that were released in Japan. If anyone has any information about him please get in touch.

Italian director Enzo G Castellari’s shark on a rampage film was blocked from release in America after Universal Pictures, the studio behind Jaws, successfully sued citing plagiarism. It’s not hard to see why, as per the plot description on IMDb:

An enormous and angry 35 foot Great White Shark takes revenge on humans when they build a beach just for swimmers by a coastal town. After several shark attacks, and the Mayor does nothing to stop it, James Franisscus and Vic Morrow sail in pursuit to stop it.

This poster comes from a limited release by Venture Pictures International in 1982. The film has never been released on home video in the States or in the UK and it seems that Universal continue to block screenings to this day, though it appears Amazon offers a video on demand version. It’s available on DVD in Italy and Sweden and, as per that article, Severin Films intend to pursue a UK release soon.

I’m not sure who the artist is behind this poster so get in touch if you have an idea.

Here’s the original US trailer – check out Vic Morrow‘s Quint impression!