Tag Archives: vhs

Artists Behind the Image

ARTISTS BEHIND THE IMAGE: John Alvin

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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.

As a kid I think I assumed any illustrated video box cover – whether it was Meatballs, Police Academy, or National Lampoon’s Vacation – was drawn by the same person. (Though looking back now, I definitely separated the horror boxes from the comedies and family stuff – there was no way the same demented mind that came up with the cover for Creepshow also drew the art for Caddyshack.) But can you blame me? At a quick glance, even with the sharpest adult eye, most ’80s fare looks identical (intentionally so, obviously). Continue reading ARTISTS BEHIND THE IMAGE: John Alvin →

Artists Behind the Image

ARTISTS BEHIND THE IMAGE: Carl Ramsey

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beetlejuice

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 →

Artists Behind the Image

ARTISTS BEHIND THE IMAGE: Bill Morrison

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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.

The name Bill Morrison probably won’t ring any bells, but I guarantee you’ve see stuff he’s done. In fact, it’s his scope as an artist – which is so wide and wildly varied – that assures you’re familiar with his work. Whether you’re a child or a parent with a child (he’s done the covers for Disney movies), a horny teen (he’s done the covers for ’80s screwball comedies), or a gorehound (his horror covers are iconic) – or perhaps an odd combination of all three – you’ve undoubtedly come face to face with the work of Bill Morrison, and loved it. Continue reading ARTISTS BEHIND THE IMAGE: Bill Morrison →

All Articles, Articles, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Video Store Memories

Horror VHS Promo Videos!

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If, like most Americans in the mid to late-’80s, you quit your law firm in the city to move to the boonies and open a video store amid the Great VHS Boom, you were probably fairly clueless on the subject and immediately found yourself struck with the most imperative decision of your new business venture: what do you stock your shop with?

You turn to your family for answers: your boy says “Freddy”, whoever that is; your daughter suggests anything with Johnny Depp; your wife offers something classic. All fine suggestions, but what do the people want? At a retail price of $99.95 a piece, video cassettes at the time were too pricey to simply buy blindly. That’s where promotional videos come in. In a pre-Google world, movie distribution companies — wanting to secure some video store shelf space — would send these promotional tapes directly to video store proprietors. Continue reading Horror VHS Promo Videos! →

All Articles, Articles, Video Store Memories

Horror Video Ads from the ’80s!

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Long before the Internet — before Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, and whatever else people use to search and share information nowadays — details on the latest movies releases (especially the more obscure titles, especially horror titles) were a lot harder to come by. A lot harder. There were newspapers and word of mouth, of course. But if you were a gorehound or looking for info on more underground stuff, having a subscription to a magazine like Fangoria or Starlog was a necessity — especially if you wanted to buy these movies. (There were other movie-centric publications, like Movieline which was actually pretty decent, but the best genre-specific info required genre-specific magazines.) Continue reading Horror Video Ads from the ’80s! →

All Articles, Articles, Video Store Memories

Killer Silhouettes!

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Perhaps the most basic — and yet somehow, most effective — approach to the VHS/poster art: the killer silhouette! When all else fails, just drape your figure in some shadow, and boom: instant scariness. There’s no denying it — it works!

This is a far from comprehensive collection, so please, if you have any suggestions, feel free to email me. Lastly, I won’t be updating this page with any new additions, but I will be updating the Camera Viscera FB page every time I add a new one – so be sure to check back there occasionally. And now, without further ado… “kill-houettes”! Continue reading Killer Silhouettes! →