The late Tamara Dobson‘s second and last outing as the titular blaxploitation crime-fighter sees her traveling to Hong Kong to rescue two of her fellow agents who have disappeared whilst on a case. She soon discovers that the owner of a Macao casino and major drug lord, the sinister Dragon Lady (Stella Stevens), is responsible and Cleopatra sets out to stop her at all costs.

Apparently the film failed to make as much of an impact as the first one due to the fall in popularity of blaxploitation films by 1975. Director Charles Bail had previously worked on another entry in the genre, Black Samson, released in 1974. He went on to direct episodes of several TV series including CHiPs, Knight Rider and Dragnet.

The original trailer is on YouTube.

Fade to Black, a 1980 slasher film, focuses on a shy film geek who goes on a killing spree against those who bully him using reenactments of his favourite film scenes.

You can watch the trailer on YouTube – keep an eye out for a young Mickey Rourke.

This is the original Thai poster for the release of the unforgettable thriller The Silence of the Lambs, a film that would win multiple awards across the globe following its release in 1991. Based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Harris which was the second to feature the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a sociopathic serial killer who was the focus of several of his novels (in fact all but one) and featured in multiple films and a TV series since his first appearance in the novel Red Dragon (later released as the 1986 film Manhunter). The Silence of the Lambs was directed by Jonathan Demme and based on a screenplay by Ted Tally who would later adapt Harris again with another version of Red Dragon in 2002.

Jodie Foster gives a deservedly award-winning performance as the young FBI recruit Clarice Starling who excels during her training and is given the task of interviewing the incarcerated Lecter (a mesmerising, against-type performance by Anthony Hopkins). The Bureau wants to see if Lecter can help them in their hunt for another serial killer, dubbed Buffalo Bill, who is on the loose and has been skinning the corpses of his female victims. Lecter decides to toy with Clarice and she must work to gain his trust, whilst the audience are shown Bill picking up his next victim. The tension rises as Clarice closes in on the killer through clues given by Lecter and the stage is set for a nerve-shredding finale. The film won the ‘big five’ at the 1991 Academy Awards, including Best Actor and Best Actress for Hopkins and Foster, as well as Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Tally. It would prove to be a huge hit across the globe and enter the cultural lexicon in a significant way. The character of Lecter continues to fascinate and a recent TV series (called simply Hannibal) was a cult success.

This Thai poster features excellent artwork by Tongdee Panumas (he signs his posters with just his first name) who was an incredibly prolific Thai film poster artist during the 70s, 80s and 90s. I’ve been unable to find out much about him, other than that he was born in 1947, so if anyone has any more details please get in touch.

The faces of Foster and Hopkins of course feature on the classic American posters, including the Style C one sheet which merges the two, although this is more like the UK quad. At first glance I thought that Tongdee had painted the montage at the bottom over a reproduction of the photographic originals but on closer inspection it’s clear that he repainted the whole lot, including the intricate details on the infamous Deaths Head moths (featuring the freaky ‘skull’ image). The montage below is unique to this poster and features four depictions of Lecter at various points in the film.

Unique artwork features on this UK quad for the release of the 1976 version of the Disney comedy Freaky Friday. Based on the novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers (who also wrote the screenplay), the film focuses on the Andrews family in which the mother and daughter (played memorably by Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster) are constantly at odds with each other and struggle to understand why they behave the way they do to each other. On Friday the 13th they both happen to say “I wish I could switch places with her for just one day” at the same time and their wishes come true as their minds swap places. The pair then must cope with being in each other’s bodies as they realise the pressures and expectations they both have on them.

Mr Andrews (John Astin) is a real-estate developer preparing for an important launch in which mother and daughter are meant to be playing their different parts and hilarity ensues as the pair attempt to cope with the situation. The film is classic Disney family entertainment and definitely harkens back to a more innocent time. Both Harris and Foster bring a great energy to their parts and it’s easy to see why the latter would go on to catch the eye of many a Hollywood casting director.

This quad was created by the British designer and artist Brian Bysouth who I interviewed for this site in 2012. He is one of my favourite artists and worked on multiple classic posters from the 1960s to the 1980s, including the final painted poster for a James Bond film, The Living Daylights. The other posters I’ve collected by Brian can be seen by clicking here.

This is the original UK quad for director Martin Scorsese’s superb Taxi Driver. The film follows De Niro’s Travis Bickle, an unstable Vietnam veteran who works as a taxi driver on the streets of New York City, and whose anger at the perceived corruption and sleaze around him takes him down a path of violence from which there may be no return. Cybill Shepherd plays Betsy, a worker for a presidential campaign with whom Bickle attempts to start a relationship, and a young Jodie Foster stars as a prostitute who he decides needs ‘saving’ from her predicament.

This poster features an image of Travis Bickle walking down a New York street and the same photograph features on several other Taxi Driver posters, including the Japanese B2, this ‘reviews’ style US one sheet and the Park Circus 2006 re-release quad for the film. There is also an international one sheet for the film that has the same blue colouring as this quad.

An iconic painting of Robert De Niro on one of the best posters of the 1970s for director Martin Scorsese’s brilliant Taxi Driver. The film follows De Niro’s Travis Bickle, an unstable Vietnam veteran who works as a taxi driver on the streets of New York City, and whose anger at the perceived corruption and sleaze around him takes him down a path of violence from which there may be no return. Cybill Shepherd plays Betsy, a worker for a presidential campaign with whom Bickle attempts to start a relationship, and a young Jodie Foster stars as a prostitute who he decides needs ‘saving’ from her predicament.

The artwork on this poster is by the late Belgian artist, illustrator and cartoonist Guy Peellaert. Born in 1934, Peellaert studied fine arts in Brussels and was heavily influenced by American and British pop culture, as well as film noir and pulp literature. He moved to Paris in the 1960s and began work as a set decorator, as well as an advertising designer. He subsequently began work on two comic strips that were featured in the controversial magazine Hara-Kiri.

In 1973 Peellaert collaborated with the British rock journalist Nik Cohn on the incredibly successful Rock Dreams, a book featuring stylised, exaggerated paintings of musicians that celebrated the rebellious side of rock and roll. The book apparently sold over one million copies and helped to propel the artist’s career to the point where he was collaborating with artists such as The Rolling Stones (on the cover for It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll) and perhaps most famously with David Bowie on the controversial cover for Diamond Dogs, which depicted the singer as a half-man, half-dog creature, complete with genitalia (censored for later releases).

He also worked on film posters with directors such as Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas), Robert Altman (Short Cuts) and on this brilliant image for Taxi Driver that perfectly depicts the strange character of Travis Bickle and the loneliness and alienation he feels on the streets of New York. Peellaert sadly passed away, aged 74, in 2009 but left behind an incredible legacy of art and design that will live on for decades to come.

I was completely thrilled to find and win this one sheet in near mint, unfolded condition. It’s crude to talk about the cost of a poster but it didn’t come cheap and I feel the expense was worth it for such an iconic one sheet.

Guy Peellaert’s official website can be found here.

A great image on this American one sheet for John Carpenter‘s excellent sci-fi film They Live, in which a drifter (played by former wrestler Roddy Piper) finds a set of special sunglasses which reveal that aliens have taken over the earth and are subduing the general population through subliminal messages and signals. The film is famous for being the inspiration behind graphic designer Shephard Fairey‘s famous OBEY street art and clothing label, which is based on the hidden alien slogans only visible when the sunglasses are worn.

The film also features the infamous line “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…and I’m all out of bubblegum.”, which can be viewed here. There’s also the legendary fight between Nada (Piper) and Armitage (Keith David) that lasts over five minutes and was apparently proposed and choreographed by the two actors themselves.

Here’s the great original trailer.

To see the other John Carpenter posters I have collected click here.

Wild artwork for this British psychological thriller about a disturbed young man who pretends to be mentally retarded in order to be near Susan, a girl he has become infatuated with, killing those who get in his way. According to IMDb, the film’s controversial nature led to a prologue being added during post-production, explaining that there was no connection between Down’s Syndrome, at that time called Mongolism, and psychopathic behaviour.

Quentin Tarantino used the theme tune, by the great composer Bernard Hermann, in both Kill Bill and Death Proof (as Rosario Dawson’s character’s ringtone).

Apparently the film was difficult to see after its cinema release, likely due to the controversy at the time, and was only released on DVD a few years ago.

The whole film is currently available to watch on YouTube.

Unique artwork for John Carpenter‘s 1988 sci-fi in which a drifter, played by wrestler Roddy Piper, finds a set of special sunglasses that reveal that aliens have taken over the earth and are subduing the general population through secret messages and signals. The film is famous for being the inspiration behind graphic designer Shephard Fairey‘s famous OBEY street art and clothing label, which is based on the hidden alien slogans only visible when the sunglasses are worn.

The film also features the infamous line “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…and I’m all out of bubblegum.”, which can be viewed here. There’s also the legendary fight between Nada (Piper) and Armitage (Keith David) that lasts over five minutes and was apparently proposed and choreographed by the two actors.

Note that the smashed human skull featured on this Japanese B2 has the word OBEY scrawled on the side. I also like the random ‘Intelligent Space Man’ text next to the skull.

Here’s the great original trailer.

To see the other John Carpenter posters I have collected click here.