From Zombos' Closet

Monster Times Issue 30 February 1974

Issue 30 of The Monster Times gives Long Island a bad rap by providing way too much coverage on The Horror of Party Beach, annoys comic book fans with an assessment of The World's Worst Comics, and goes ape over John Landis's Schlock. Continuing the schlock motif, Joe Kane explores the 1950s teenage-slanted horror movies, with perhaps a bit more negativity than is warranted, and William Grefe (the director of Stanley) is interviewed. The best article is a rundown on all the really bad horror movies we can't seem to forget. 

 

Conquest of Space (1955) Movie Pressbook

The fascination with outer space exploration and interplanetary travel (and evil aliens) fueled a lot of 1950s science fiction cinema. Usually it was either the after effects of space travel causing more harm than anticipated (the Quatermass Xperiment: The Creeping Unknown is a good example), or it was finding out that once you got to where you were going, monstrous alien monsters (I'm open to a better term if you've got one) wanted to eat you or do other nasty things (like in The Angry Red Planet). Then, of course, you had George Pal insisting on giving us movies that focused on the more positive and challenging aspects of space exploration. He even insisted on adding as much scientifically accurate information (at least what was known back then) as possible. Wild, right? Here's the pressbook for George Pal's Conquest of Space.

Audrey Rose (1977) Movie Pressbook

Many 1970s pressbooks focus on admats, which are placed up front in the pressbook, and then add a page or two of article promotion toward the end of the pressbook. If based on a novel or there's a novelization of the movie, there's a page devoted to it. Many 1970s pressbooks are rather bland because of this less stylish and often repeated format. This movie has that slow 70s pacing, but still is a good one to watch.

Mexican Lobby Card: Tarzan Y La Diablesa

Here's an interesting one: this Mexican lobby card for Tarzan and the She-Devil, Tarzan Y La Diablesa, is a bit confusing. This is a beautiful lobby highlighting Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, but Lex Barker played Tarzan in the 1953 movie. Oops. 

Mexican Lobby Card: Ghosts on the Loose (1943)

The East Side Kids mix it up with Bela Lugosi in Ghosts on the Loose. A salary dispute with Leo Gorcey, the "brains" of the group, would lead to The Bowery Boys movies beginning in 1945.

More Stuff in the Closet:

• A Bowery Boys Halloween
• Bowery Boys Mexican Lobby Card
• Another Bowery Boys Mexican Lobby Card

Mexican Lobby Card: El Misterio Del Latigo Negro (1958)

This Mexican lobby card for El Misterio Del Latigo Negro is gorgeous and a fine example of how much talent-driven composition Mexican lobbies can achieve. 

Mexican Lobby Card: The Deadly Wrestling Hold (1990)

The Deadly Wrestling Hold, La Llave Mortal, is promoted in a Mexican lobby card that uses two inset fight scenes for half of the lobby and illustration for the other half. 

Mexican Lobby Card: The Invisible Terror (1969)

I'm not sure who the artist is here, for this The Invisible Terror Mexican lobby card, but this minimalist illustration always catches my eye.

Mexican Lobby Card: Aventuras Del Latigo Negro (1961)

Beautiful blend of colors, illustration, and inset scene make this Mexican lobby card for Aventuras Del Latigo Negro a sophisticated promotional piece. (See another great Latigo Negro lobby here.)

Mexican Lobby Card: Curucu, Beast of the Amazon (1956)

Beast of a movie is more like it. Curucu, Beast of the Amazon is an awful mess of editing, direction (Curt Siodmak), and acting, which make this one a terror to watch. Monster is laughable. From IMDb: "Director Curt Siodmak said of this film, "I shot it down there [in Brazil], in the jungles. I never recovered, physically." Neither did the audience.

Mexican Lobby Card: House of Frights (1963)

Light-hearted illustration with pastel colors makes this La Cas De Los Espantos Mexican lobby card a good teaser for the movie. Is it just me or does the inset scene remind you of a Jack Kirby drawn panel in the way the women are positioned and emoting?

Mexican Lobby Card: The Body Snatchers (1956)

A wrestler is forced to swap brains with a gorilla, the usual mayhem ensues: Ladron De Cadaveras, The Body Snatchers. This Mexican lobby card is unbalanced with the floating heads added in the top left corner, but from bottom left to top right, there's a more stylized flow showing.