I'd love to add the caveman dictionary and the cavewomen standees to my collection. Wouldn't you? One thing that strikes me funny: cavewomen always look so glamorous in their furs; the guys, not so much.
I want to see this movie. Not because of the scene photos, or the story synopsis, or the seat selling slants. I want to see this movie because this poster is awesome. It's pulpy goodness space opera with a Jetsons cartoony abandon. Cthulhu should look this good. The kicker is the astronaut being devoured in the background, then shift your gaze to the running astronaut in the foreground, looking back in horror. Wonderful.
This pressbook uses the calendar-style format. It's stapled at the top and you flip the pages up to view the Credits, Publicity, Advertising, and Exploitation sections. Maybe it's me, but I doubt Neil Sedaka's songs for Sting of Death "heighten shocking impact of underwater thriller." That jelly-fish headed man-suit looks suitably cheesy, though, so maybe I'm wrong. (Note: I left out some advertising ad mats).
This impressive 15" x 18" pressbook is packed with promotional material for a so-so movie. The "amazing audience participation" gimmick involved HYPNOMAGIC. I'll leave it to you to figure out if it was worth all the hoopla. But man, don't those hands look like Steve Ditko's Doctor Strange in action?
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This is a folder-styled pressbook, which, when opened, shows three pockets where the press sheets are held. Interestingly, this double bill promotes Frankie Avalon's Horror House over Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee in The Crimson Cult; an indication that American International wanted to appeal to a younger audience?
This 11" x 17" The Battle for the Planet of the Apes tabloid newspaper herald, which theaters would hand out to promote the movie. Nicely done.
While I'm not sure how much historical Viking and Iceni research actually wound up in this Hammer production, you certainly can't beat those chariots of death and men roasting in cages. Not everthing's about Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, right? I mean, if you can have the Satanic rites of Dracula, then I don't see much harm with the Iceni practicing savage ones in the movie.
This 10" x 15" Warner-Pathe pressbook follows the same format as their Moon Zero Two pressbook, but this one has only 8 pages (how many ice-cream and luggage tie-ins can you do with Vikings? and forget about the kiddies after you go about roasting men and driving chariots of death).
Speaking of those deadly chariots, I suspect there's a bit of phallic print-play with the cover illustration going on. Of course, you can read anything you like into those Viking horns. They're so, well, do I really need to say it? As for the movie, all I can say is, it's in my Top 10 list for worst-casting ever. Don Murray? As a Viking?
In Part 2 of our coverage on the Moon Zero Two pressbook, the last 7 pages include more publicity and promotion ideas including Revell model kits, color-in drawings for newspapers, luggage for that moon trip (yes, product placement was done in the 1960s, too!), ice cream tie-ins (called tie-ups, here; those Brits are so into bondage), and finally, as if it were an afterthought, the poster blocks page. The marketing for this movie was extensive, judging by this pressbook. Very impressive, really. (Note: the pages do not appear in the order printed.)
This 12 page pressbook from Warner-Pathe Distributors, Ltd. covers all the bases: kiddie audiences, it’s in here; astronaut pens, and moon-buggy rentals, it’s in here; gogo-booted females baring skin for the guys, it’s in here; future fashions that remind you of Gerry Anderson, it’s in here, too. All of this courtesy of Hammer Studios. I have to split this into two posts because it’s so overwhelming. And man, I’d take on James Bond for that fold display artwork. Wouldn’t you?
See Part Two of the Moon Zero Two pressbook.
The "exploitation aid"mentioned in this bi-folded, one sheet pressbook is a keeper; the movies, not so much.