ARTISTS BEHIND THE IMAGE is intended to put a name (and sometimes face) to the talented men and women who created the most iconic images to adorn horror VHS boxes and posters from ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. Their art is vital; it’s the reason I (and many of you, certainly) fell in love with horror movies in the first place. This is not only intended as a tribute, but also a minor compendium, meant to collect their works in one single spot. Corrections, additions, or other info? Email me.
Throughout my various diggings while doing research for these pieces, there’s one common thread I’ve found among these artists: the relative anonymity that most of them existed in, even still to this day. Considering how iconic and enduring their images have been, especially now with the resurgence of VHS and the collective hip extolling the beauty of the video box (never failing to point out that the box is always better than the movie itself) I find it strange that there isn’t more info on the creators, and more readily available. It’s especially hard when the artist I’m researching shares their name with another famous artist. Continue reading ARTISTS BEHIND THE IMAGE: C. Winston Taylor→
Sometimes I watch a movie and it feels like the writer took the first simple premise that popped into their head, immediately pitched it to a producer without fleshing it out, and dusted their hands of the whole thing.
“Here’s my idea: it’s a home invasion movie, but, get this – the girl who lives in the house? She’s deaf.”
“Is that it?”
“Pretty much.”
“Congrats, kid – you got yourself a picture! Here’s a check.”
I imagine everyone shaking hands afterwards and patting backs in a satisfied manner while wearing big, shit-eating grins. Movies! Continue reading “Hush” (2016) REVIEW→
The month-old trailer for The Invitation is one of a rare breed. Cryptic, creepy, and alluring, it’s an anomaly among today’s trailers which seem to want to show as much as they possibly can in their 90 second runtimes. Even though nothing is revealed – except for the movie taking place during a dinner party – it’s very clear that something isn’t right at this dinner party. But trailers can oftentimes be deceiving. Is the movie able to deliver on the ominous, mysterious tone in the preview? Continue reading “The Invitation” (2016) REVIEW→
No one did “kids in danger”-style adventure movies better than – or made them look half as fun as – Steven Spielberg, especially during his early-’80s hot streak. A quick look at the films he was involved with during that period, from writing to producing to directing, reads like The Guidebook to Everyone’s Childhood: Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Poltergeist, Gremlins, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, Back to the Future. In fact, he was so good at putting youths in questionable and precarious situations (in films for a young audience, mind you), that an entirely new rating system – PG-13 – had to be established; parents cried foul at the amount of violence and gore these films contained, despite the fact that they were, y’know, kids movies. Continue reading “Midnight Special” (2016) REVIEW→
Say what you will about Rob Zombie’s movies, he created a great nerd character in House of 1000 Corpses‘ Bill Hudley. Played by the perfectly cast (and pre-The Office) Rainn Wilson, even Bill’s surname – Hudley – conjures up vivid imagery of a schlubby, Droopy-voiced nobody who perpetually pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a single index finger. I hear the name and I imagine some frump sitting in a work cubicle, staring into space, while his unhappy boss yells from across the office: “Hud-leeeeeey!” But I digress. Continue reading HORROR NERD OF THE MONTH – Bill!→
ARTISTS BEHIND THE IMAGE intends to put a name (and sometimes face) to the talented men and women who created the most iconic images to adorn horror VHS boxes and posters from ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. Their art is vital; it’s the reason I (and many of you, certainly) fell in love with horror movies in the first place. This is not only intended as a tribute, but also a minor compendium, meant to collect their works in one single spot. Corrections, additions, or other info? Email me.
Doing research for Artists Behind the Image, I’m often surprised and excited when I discover a singular person is quietly behind several recognizable pieces of poster art. Really, the only poster artist whose work I can immediately spot is Drew Struzan, an artist so distinguishable and ubiquitous amongst movie poster art that I’ve decided to avoid covering his work altogether for fear of being unnecessarily redundant. Continue reading ARTISTS BEHIND THE IMAGE: Carl Ramsey→
Camera Viscera 