The Art of the B-Movie Poster

by Adam Newell (Editor)

Exploding off the page with over 1,000 of the best examples of exploitation, grindhouse, and pulp film poster design comes The Art of the B Movie Poster, a collection of incredible posters from low-budget films from the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. Once relegated to the underground and midnight movie circuit, these films and their bombastic advertisements are experiencing a surge of mainstream popularity driven by fans appreciative of the artistic skill, distinctive aesthetic, and unabashed sensationalism they relied on to make a profit, with the quality of the poster often far surpassing that of the film itself. The book celebrates this tradition with sections divided into "moral panic" films, action, horror, sci-fi, and of course, sex, each introduced with short essays by genre experts such as Kim Newman, Eric Schaffer, Simon Sheridan, Vern, and author Stephen Jones, winner of the Horror Writer's Association 2015 Bram Stoker Award for Non-Fiction. Edited by Adam Newell and featuring an introduction by author and filmmaker Pete Tombs, The Art of the B Movie Poster is a loving tribute to the artwork and artists that brought biker gangs, jungle girls, James Bond rip-offs and reefer heads to life for audiences around the world.

Genres: Art, Film, Media Tie In, Horror, Nonfiction

319 pages, Hardcover

Published August 1, 2016

Reviews

[Bobby Z. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book rules. Got it out from the library but definitely purchasing a copy because there's simply too much goodness in here.

[Tim Lapetino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun book, filled with ridiculous and amazing movie posters -- definitions that are not mutually exclusive in this collection. There's a little bit of context about many of the posters and their sub-categories, but this is really about the poster art -- the outrageous genre of B-Movies, in all their low-budget, inappropriate, exploitative glory. Some of the stuff is truly disturbing and surely NSFW but overall it's a lot of fun to get a long visual look at this corner of the Silver Screen universe.

The reproductions of significantly old or obscure posters are absolutely amazing, and really allow the reader to get up-close-and-personal with the finer details of these pieces. It's very broad and deep in its coverage, with a lot of great imagery and inspiration. Worth it for the film buffs and designers/artists looking for inspiration.

[F. Dum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved the aesthetics of those old B-movie posters. They are a mirror in which we recognize our most basic thrills. Scantily-clad ladies shrieking in terror, tiny humans panicking away from giant monsters squashing their homes to pulp, undead horrors from the crypt stalking the earth, blood, sex, madness... All painted by loving hands, and often exhibiting amazing artistic talent. In 99% of the cases, the posters are much better than the films.

Now I've finally decided to treat me to this coffee table book for my birthday. And boy, it was a great birthday. It features hundreds of the greatest, weirdest, funniest, explicitest trashy film posters from the 1930s to 1970s, it has all the classics and nearly all of my favourites, and lots of posters of films I didn't know. Some of the reproductions are a little small, but large enough to decipher all details, including the many hilarious taglines, and the quality is great.

It would have been nice to have more information about the artists themselves, but I guess that there's just not much information available. At least, I learned that many of my favourites are by someone an Italian called Mafé, but the name and the poster's about everything the world knows about him (or her).

The whole thing is divided into thematic sections (MORAL PANIC! ACTION! HORROR! SCI-FI! SEX!) and are accompanied by short essays which are lovingly written, knowledgeable, and often very funny.

Yeah, I'm totally enjoying skimming through this book, discovering mind-blowing details, and just enjoying art that, for reasons I shall keep to myself, just makes me happy. Wouldn't leave this book lying around when my little comes staying at my place, though. Some of the shit's pretty sick.

[Zioluc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I manifesti sono spesso bellissimi o divertenti da guardare, ma quello a cui ho preso più gusto è stato leggere i brani di accompagnamento: manifesti copiati spudoratamente, film girati con il set abbandonato di altri film, film con ammennicoli improbabili per attirare lo spettatore, assicurazioni contro la morte per spavento in sala, artisti anonimi e sconosciuti (Mafè!), riprese di parti usate come scene erotiche: un mondo meraviglioso di proiezioni pomeridiane.

[Dominik Meise · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great book but a little too much focus on sexploitation. Could have used a few more creature features and other weirdness for my taste

[Matt Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collage of movies I can’t wait to watch for myself. I had even seen a few of them already.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could have done with more horror and sci fi didn't need the sex thing so much but it was fun none the less.