An American Werewolf In London (1981)

“You’d be surprised what horrors a man is capable of.”

I don’t write anywhere near as much about my work as I used to. Occasionally I flick through old posts and cringe a little. It’s like hearing your voice on tape – “God, do I really sound like that?” But sometimes it helps to flesh out the context a little.

I watch a lot of movies. Especially old movies. My overbearing retrophilia aside, I also really love old film posters. The industry was different, as was marketing and advertising. Contemporary film advertising is just oogey vanilla. It’s almost completely standardised, set, fixed, and dull. The marketing people tell the studio they need a star to sell the picture, so nearly all posters are now just glorified headshots of actors, photoshopped into waxen austerity. Posters have become generic, uninspired, the cinematic equivalent of cornflakes packaging.

That kind of explains some of why I like doing this stuff. It’s the way I’d like to see something advertised – indirect, messy, a little enigmatic. I want it to stand on it’s own as a piece of art, rather than just a marketing tool. Most film posters I’ve played around with so far have been in that very simplified, minimalist style of graphics – originally this was a way for me to turn out some work quickly and also to learn some restraint. My natural impulse is towards clutter.

Well, I’ve done a lot of simple shit. This is back to my home territory.