If, like me, you're a huge fan of Phantom City Creative, then you were probably very excited to find out about tomorrow's Mondo releases. Not one, not two, nope, not even three, but FOUR Phantom City Creative posters will be dropping on Thursday (8/20). These aren't just four random prints though, there's a through-line here - they're all horror films, and they're all more than appropriate for the coming Halloween.
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| The Burning Movie Poster Phantom City Creative 24" x 36" $45 - Limited to 250 |
It's downright upsetting. Right when I decided on my favorite Phantom City Creative poster of all time (in full disclosure it was their Gate print), they go ahead and one-up themselves by releasing another bundle of new designs. Phantom City Creative's The Burning is now my absolute favorite print of theirs forever and ever (or until they release their next few). I've never seen the film, but you can bet that I'll be streaming it on Instant Watch later this week. The Burning artwork does an amazing job at conveying a simple plot (burned man murders campers with hedge clippers) with some straightforward, but still very clever design work. Our artistically rendered homicidal burn victim speaks to one of the many things I like most about Phantom City: their work is able to effortlessly walk the line between being incredibly realistic and frightening, but also giving off a playful and retro vibe with worn down textures and an obvious love for the illustrated B movie posters of the 60s, 70s and 80s (then again, who doesn't love those?). Fun fact: the Drafthouse screening of The Burning was initially intended be part of an outdoor camping themed presentation, but was unfortunately cancelled. I guess that fact was actually kind of sad. Never mind, fun fact retracted. Phantom City Creative's The Burning print will be available tomorrow (10/20) at a random time through Mondo. The print measures 24" x 36" is limited to an edition of 250 and will cost $45. Be sure to follow @MondoNews for the exact drop details and visit phantomcitycreative.com to see more of the Phantom City portfolio.
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| Sleepaway Camp Movie Poster Phantom City Creative 24" x 36" $45 - Limited to 200 |
Eesh. I'm two for two. I've also never seen Sleepaway Camp, but it's instantly clear what era this slasher came from (i.e., the era that most cult slasher films came from, the 80s) by feasting your eyes on Phantom City Creative's design. There's lots of nice touches here, from the creases that speak of a much loved, much deteriorated and much folded one sheet, to the square boxes that house the faces of the film's victims and and possibly misunderstood murderer (again, I haven't seen the film so I'm just guessing here). The folks at Phantom City Creative explain what they were going for with this print (brutally ransacked from phantomcitycreative.com):
"With this poster we didn’t want to do the obvious thing and focus on the infamous twist ending as the focus. Instead we focused on making a poster that felt like it came right out of the era."Phantom City Creative's Sleepaway Camp movie poster will be available through Mondo at a random time tomorrow (10/20). The poster measures 24" x 36", costs $45 and is limited to an edition of 200. As is always the case, you'll need to follow @MondoNews if you want to get this poster the minute it goes on sale (and they pretty much always sell out). I'd also recommend checking out Phantom City Creative's website, signing up for their newsletter (scroll to the bottom of their homepage) and following them @PhantomCityCrtv.
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| Trick 'R Treat Movie Poster (Regular) Phantom City Creative 24" x 36" $45 - Limited to 225 |
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| Trick 'R Treat Movie Poster (Variant) Phantom City Creative 24" x 36" $65 - Limited to 90 |
Finally! A movie I've seen! There's not nearly enough horror anthologies out there, or at least good horror anthologies, so loving this film was a pretty easy thing to do. In my opinion these are now the definitive Trick 'R Treat posters that all other Trick 'R Treat posters shall be measured against. Phantom City Creative took an essential element of the film, the Halloween setting, and used Halloween masks to represent the major players. These false faces work perfectly, both literally and abstractly, because every character in the movie is hiding at least one dark, usually fatal, secret. Another less important reason I really enjoy the Trick posters is because they're so drastically different from The Burning and Sleepaway Camp designs. Phantom City Creative has shown that they can change it up time and time again, and as stated earlier, they seem to be continually one-upping themselves along the way. The Phantom City crew talks about their love of the film (abducted from the Phantom City Creative website):
"Aside from John Carpenter’s classic Halloween, no other film captures the spirit of the Halloween season quite like Michael Dougherty’s criminally underrated and under-seen Trick ‘R Treat. So when Mondo asked us to create a poster for it, we jumped at the chance to honour the film by depicting the film’s colourful characters as vintage Halloween masks."The Trick 'R Treat posters will be available tomorrow (10/20) through Mondo, with both prints measuring 24" x 36". While the regular version costs $45 and is limited to 225, the variant costs $65 and is limited to 90 (still a pretty great price). Be sure to follow @MondoNews for all the details. And to learn more about the folks behind these amazing prints head over to phantomcitycreative.com and follow @PhantomCityCrtv on Twitter. Good luck boils and ghouls!
. Yeah, this one's going to be popular.
poster, because the artist was able to pack so much detail and meaning into such a small area. Well done! The 
title was also a nice touch, it looks just damaged enough to have been created by an angry gremlin horde (horde definitely seems more appropriate than gaggle). Want your own 
poster is particularly brilliant with its clever depiction of the titular video game. This poster really brings you back to the mid 80s with its pixilated rendition of an alien fighting force and radical choice of clothes. If you can't tell, Phantom City Creative has a knack for conveying a film's premise in a very easily digestible manner. Good stuff! The 
for the first time last week and have to admit I was quite underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful looking film, and Tim Curry as Darkness was kind of awesome, but for some reason 
and 
artwork, it really adds an extra layer authenticity to the works and makes me feel all mushy inside (in a good way, not a food poisoning sort of way). The 11" x 17" 
, 
is probably the most fondly remembered and popular in this collection of films. I’m actually surprised I don’t see more Mondo-type 
, 
, and 
through their 
, an absolutely gorgeous 
print and a brilliant 
poster. For a studio that hasn't even been around for a full year it's hard not to be impressed by their already substantial and exceptional output.
, 
, 
, and 
, you know…just a few small things here and there. Oh yeah, and he edited 
. No biggie right? When he wasn't creating iconic gangster-based nazi-nullifying Oscar winning musicals he also happened to direct some damn fine science-fiction and horror films.
. It seems somehow appropriate that my last 
poster, and today's first image is inspired by a film that once again features Bela Lugosi, although not in a starring role this time around. That distinction belongs to Boris Karloff. I have to admit, I'm amazed by all the detail that Justin and Paige were able to pack in here. You've got Boris Karloff as the gravedigger cabby (notice how his mug is painted on a shovel), whose very face tells its own story, literally. And of course there's that fantastic stalking figure of Karloff's Cabman John Gray walking at the bottom of the image with cadaver and all. This 
inspired illustration is a wonderful and visually sophisticated image. You’ve got so many elements working together on several different layers, including Julie Harris as Eleanor looking understandably frightened, a labyrinthine interpretation of the haunted dwelling’s floor plan whose center forms a threatening skull, and of course the striking silhouette of the film’s most terrifying character, the house itself, Hill House. The artists have also done a great job connecting all of these prints by introducing an almost spectral green palette across the entire collection. If you haven’t seen this film, skip right past the loose 1999 remake and go straight to the 1963 Robert Wise original - you won’t be sorry. As with all the other prints listed in this post, The Haunting 
inspired work. There’s something incredibly beautiful and elegant about this minimalist and oh so clever design. If I had to pick just one element that sealed the deal for me, I think it’s the attention to detail. For example, take a look at the Wildfire facility's façade. There’s absolutely no reason why they had to include the flag or the porch in such minute detail, but they did and I’m all the more thankful for it, because it gives the image a somewhat realistic appearance and grounds some of the more fantastical imagery. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen this film, but this print is pure art and I’d gladly hang it on any of my walls. This 
.