From Zombos' Closet

Zombos' Closet...a vast trove of endearingly cheap thrills, including movie and book reviews, and scans of his collections of cinema pressbooks, goofy paper-cutout Halloween decorations, and his amazing collection of Mexican lobby cards from B-grade films. If you have time to descend into a serious rabbit-hole of marvelous trash-culture nostalgia, visit that site just as soon as you possibly can. (DangerousMinds.net)

about this blog From Zombos' Closet...

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Pressbook

In 1981 I lost a girlfriend and watched Raiders of the Lost Ark on the big screen. Let me explain. I had just broken up with my girlfriend. She was still in love with a previous boyfriend who did a lot of bar-hopping playing in a band he never could commit seriously to. So, she couldn't commit seriously to another relationship either as she followed him around, from bar to bar, hanging on. I actually wonder what happened to him more than her, but I hope she made out okay. Anyway, I was feeling awful after our split that night and, driving around aimlessly, I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark playing, though I forget which Brooklyn theater I walked into to see it. Place was packed; I barely made it in. After the traps started springing, in the first few minutes, I forgot everything else and joined in the foreign-locale derring-do and supernatural mayhem. I felt a lot better that night. I went back a few times more. I bought a few Indiana Jones 12-inch action figures a while later, marked down (with that memorable red sticker) at Toys R Us. I always think of her where Indiana Jones is concerned. Funny how things match up in your memory and hang on. Here's the pressbook. 

Comic reader version: Download Raiders of the Lost Ark Pressbook

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The Monster Times Issue 36 October 1974

Here's another jam-packed issue for The Monster Times, issue 36. I get goosebumps when I read news blurbs like the one you'll find on page 25, in Trek Talk. A bloody sweet tw0-pager by Dez Skinn and Dave Gibbons provides the comic relief, and Jason Thomas brings us part 1 of Robots in the Cinema. The mysterious Howard Philips asks Why Super-Heroines Leave Home, and the monster movies are gravely covered with Tales From Beyond the Grave and, one of my favorite Donald Pleasence movies, The Mutations. Lots more to read, so I won't keep you any longer: jump right in!

Comic reader copy: Download The Monster Times Issue 36

See more monstrous issues in the magazine morgue.

Night of the Living Dead Insurance Policy

This is the 'insurance policy' theater giveaway for Night of the Living Dead. Of course, if you were actually frightened to death you couldn't spend the money anyway. Below it is a copy of the NOTLD pressbook page highlighting this promotional gimmick. You can see the rest of the pressbook here. And here's my take on this classic movie that frightened me as a kid. And I mean really, really, scared the sh*t out of me.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) Pressbook

Fellow purveyor of popular culture goodness (and geekdom), Terry Michitsch, generously provided these scans of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad pressbook. My favorite Sinbad movie, this has it all: fantastic musical score, wonderful dynamation from the master, Ray Harryhausen, a perfectly nasty villain, romance, and a solid fantasy storyline with action sequences. 

Comic reader version: Download 7th Voyage of Sinbad Pressbook

See more magical pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.

The Monster Times Issue 35, 1974

Here's a monster timely issue for Godzilla fans. Issue 35 of The Monster Times covers Tokyo's eternal monster problem with a nifty rundown on the big nasties across the movies (up until 1974, of course). Howard Phillips (um, yeah) provides an overview of Supernatural Horrors in the comics, and the Science Fiction Book Club (gee, I was a member!) gets a shout-out in Bargains From Beyond. Not surprisingly, there's a full-page ad for the Science Fiction Book Club, too. Back then, the club was the best way to get your hands on copious genre reading material. John Tibbets provides an academic lecture on horror and Chosen Survivors gets a "worth seeing" review. Also noteworthy, Trek Talk provides Cleveland Amory's review of Star Trek, which originally appeared in TV Guide's 1967 issue.

Comic reader version: Download The Monster Times Issue 35

For more Monster Times and other scintillating horror, fantasy, and sci fi magazines, visit Zombos' magazine morgue.

Mandrake the Magician (1939) Pressbook

Here's another Columbia movie serial pressbook for a comics hero, Mandrake the Magician. Lots of magical promotion for this movie can be found here. Wikipedia mentions that Mandrake may possibly be the first superhero (he appeared in 1934).

Comics reader version: Download Mandrake the Magician Pressbook

See more pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.

New Adventures of Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder (1949) Pressbook

Here's another rare pressbook that recently went for over a thousand dollars at auction (crazy over-bidders!). Columbia's promotion for Batman and Robin is pretty smashing in these 16 pages. Of note is the single, but still important, promotion, Attract the Girls! on page 6. Looking back on those costumes, we can snicker a bit now, given all the high-tech stuff done today for the Batman movies, but audiences must have been just as thrilled as we were, back then.  As for me, I've not seen this serial yet, and look forward to doing so. The poster art is exciting. This one's for Will Meugniot on Facebook, who posts lots of wonderful animation, movie, and comic book stuff you shouldn't miss.

Comic reader version: Download New Adventures of Batman and Robin Pressbook

Black Dragons (1942) Mexican Lobby Card

This looks like a repop, but here's the still impressive Mexican lobby card for Black Dragons, one of the Monogram 9 movies starring Bela Lugosi. I must recommend two books for you to fully appreciate these low-budget but highly interesting (and downright weird most of the time) movies from poverty row, especially Black Dragons. The first book takes a welcomed highbrow and passionate argument approach to the nine with an aesthetic appreciation: Bela Lugosi and the Monogram 9 by Gary D. Rhodes and Robert Guffey. The other book by Tom Weaver, Poverty Row Horrors! Monogram, PRC, and Republic Horror Films of the Forties, will give you the filmographic data and background. My favorite one of the nine? The Corpse Vanishes; a weird mix (drunken doctor can revive the dead, house with hidden passageways, Lugosi doing Lugosi) that is highly watchable. 

Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972) Pressbook

Wikipedia notes this is the first Disney movie to be shown on television in a two-hour time slot, in 1975. Previous movies were edited or shown in two one-hour time slots. As usual, Disney heaps on the tie-ins, from jewelry to wallets and purses, to the Dell comic book. There's also a tie-in to 'Teen magazine. A plus for the movie is all the memorable stars appearing in it like Kurt Russell, Jim Backus, William Windom, and Cesar Romero to name some of them. The New York Times reviewer, Howard Thompson, at the time, said to try the real McCoy and see the original The Invisible Man, although other critics were kinder. 

Comic reader version: Download Now You See Him Pressbook

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Great Adventures of Captain Kidd (1953) Pressbook

When I think of movie serials, Spy Smasher, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers come to mind. Swashbuckling pirates, not so much. I wouldn't mind having a club card, though.

Comic reader version: Download Great Adventures of Captain Kidd Pressbook

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Hellzapoppin' (1941) Spanish Pressbook

The format of this Spanish pressbook for Olsen and Johnson's zany Hellzapoppin compelled me to add it to my collection. Their comedy was brash, insulting, crazy, and non-stop fast. They covered it all: vaudeville, radio, theater, television, and film. The wild cover art and long, slim appearance of this pressbook pays tribute to their unique style.

Here's the Hellzapoppin Theater Program. See more pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.

Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951) Pressbook

First, I'd like to confirm that I want the Capt. Video wallet and hosiery. The two-way radio and basque shirt with day-glow are also high on my list. Of particular note in the series is the Mu-ray camera, which allowed viewing of imagery of past events. This ability, in scientific or magical variations, appears in later genre movies and television series. A highly successful serial for Columbia, it is the only one built around a television series. The Honeymooners TV or Not TV episode (my favorite one) has Norton and Ralph pooling their money to buy a television set. Much mayhem ensues as both try to share it but disagree on what to watch, with Captain Video being a major sticking point as Norton, wearing a space helmet, puts up a fight. To infinity and beyond! Here's the rare Captain Video pressbook for your galactic pleasure.

Comic reader version: Download Captain Video Pressbook