Kuroneko (The Black Cat) 1968
Mexican Lobby Card
Yabu no Naka no Kuroneko (A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove) is a ghostly horror story. This Mexican lobby card captures that atmosphere rather well.
Invisible Invaders (1959) Mexican Lobby Card
Okay, so the movie's scripting and editing are a bit stiffer than the zombies, but those zombies scared the heck out of me when I caught this on television, late at night, at that tender age when you love horror movies but get scared too easily. Of course I'm a pro now. No, really. George Romero may have watched this and got a few ideas. Just saying.
The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969)
Mexican Lobby Card
Jess Franco (not a good move there) directed this 5th and ignorable entry into the Fu Manchu series.
Las Vampiras (1971)
Mexican Lobby Card
Lesbian vampires. Jess Franco. Nudity and crude film making galore. What else do you need to know?
The Leopard Men Mexican Lobby Card
I'm not sure what movie this may be from, but the lobby card design indicates it could be anywhere from the 1930s to 50s. Dorothy Short did Call of the Savage in 1935, but I don't see a credit for Paul Gifford on IMDb; and the inset scene with Amazonian women looks more like a 1950s movie than earlier. Anyway, the card illustration is what drew me to these cards. That, and the Amazonian women, of course.
Juvenile Jungle (1958) Double Bill Pressbook
Quite a bit of promotion for two teenager and crime movies from Republic Pictures, that’s for sure. I have a fondness for these fold-out pressbooks with sleeves to hold the promotional sheets (see Brain from Planet Arous and How to Make a Monster).
Comic reader version: Download Juvenile Jungle Double Bill Pressbook
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Swamp Women (1956)
Mexican Lobby Card
Not to be confused with Swamp Woman, Swamp Women was directed by Roger Corman and ridiculed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. I bet it still made money for the drive-ins that played it. Filmed on location in Louisiana, I'm not sure what was worse: the swamp the actors had to act in or the abandoned motel accommodations they had to endure. There's a future horror movie in that scenario I'd wager. This one's in the public domain, so you can probably watch it on YouTube. If you dare. Here's the pressbook to help you make up your mind.
Jungle Book (1942)
Mexican Lobby Card
Sabu (Sabu Dastigir), truly unforgettable in The Thief of Baghdad, stars in this 1942 version of the Jungle Book.
The Loves of Hercules (1960)
Mexican Lobby Card
Interesting title switch for this Mexican lobby card for The Loves of Hercules. La Venganza de Hercules implies the Mark Forest vehicle (although he plays Goliath, not Hercules), Goliath and the Dragon. Mickey Hargitay battles against the glamorous Queen Hippolyta who wants to turn him into a tree, and a three-headed dragon in the Underworld that just wants to eat him. I'll leave it up to you to decide which one is more dangerous. All I can say is Steve Reeves will always be MY Hercules. This is an enjoyably bad movie to be enjoyed in the company of fellow bad movie lovers.
The Mark of Zorror (1940)
Mexican Lobby Card
An action-packed movie with lots of swordplay. A young Bruce Wayne attends a showing of it with his parents during that fateful night.
Mission Stardust (1967)
Mexican Lobby Card
Another 1960s space opera. It's interesting to note the cowboy approach here (guns drawn or blazing), which is used on many Mexican lobby cards for Westerns. I recommend reading Gary Westfahl's The Spacesuit Film: A History, 1918-1969 if you're into "spacesuit" movies.
First Men in the Moon (1964) Pressbook
Here's the pressbook for First Men in the Moon, another memorable Ray Harryhausen effects movie. Of course, CGI makes it all look very easy these days. While the science is off, the art direction is imaginative and the movie is fun to watch. Thanks to ZC reader Terry Michitsch for requesting this one: I thought I had posted it years ago. Yup, my organizing skills are awful and my closet is too big.
Comic reader version: Download First Men in the Moon Pressbook
See more movie pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.
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