Okay, I'm a big movie geek (surprise!) and love seeing old ads from back in the day. Recently I got my hands on some early 80s issues of Variety and couldn't believe the treasures found inside. Naturally, I'll have to share with my fellow Mobians. Here is what I snapped so far before my camera's battery died.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN was a huge hit in 1982, so naturally the ripoffs flew into production:





Notice how big Fulci's name is:



A Cannon gallery (or how to bring a tear to Marty McKee's eye).

The Bronson artwork looks like it was ripped off the artist's desk half done:







THE GRADUATES OF MALIBU HIGH (nice art!) eventually became YOUNG WARRIORS


And some more films that got retitled:

TRICK OR TREAT became ROCKTOBER BLOOD



SLAY RIDE turned into SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT



WINNER BEST ADVANCE ARTWORK EVER!!!

And now for something extremely rare - the 1983 issue had a 6 page spread for Laurel Entertainment, Inc. Among the usual suspects like an adaptation of Stephen King's THE STAND and DAY OF THE DEAD (same artwork as the poster) is an add for a mysterious Romero movie co-presented by Marvel Comics. It is shrouded in mystery and promises "the creation of the hero of the century." Anyone know what this was supposed to be?



And now to get super geeky on you! Also in this section is an advertisement for George A. Romero's FRANKENSTEIN! Now I am a Romero nerd and keep track of the stuff he was attached to but never made and this is the first time I have ever heard of this. So Romero tried to give the ol' Frankenstein story a crack like Argento did in the 70s. Pretty amazing, eh?



EDIT: Further digging online shows that the first image was for Romero's COPPERHEAD project that never got off the ground. More info here:

http://www.boblayton.com/Archive/October%2...t05.artfind.htm

That is great stuff. I used to have some 1989-90 issues of Variety that I thoughtlessly left in a box in my parents' basement and my mother ended up tossing them years after I moved out.

I remember the issues I had showcasing a lot of filmed and unfilmed projects from Vestron Pictures and (mostly) from Menahem Golan's short-lived post-Cannon outfit 21st Century Film Corporation: stuff like Albert Pyun's CAPTAIN AMERICA, Luigi Cozzi's THE BLACK CAT, Fred Williamson's THREE DAYS TO A KILL (only that wasn't the title in the Variety ad), the Michael Caine-Roger Moore BULLSEYE!, the never-filmed (or at least never-completed) TERROR IN MANHATTAN, a follow-up to the Robert Englund PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and many others that escape me. Seriously, Variety from 1989-90 seemed like little more than a Menahem Golan/Harry Alan Towers press kit.

I had all of those but, sadly, threw most away during a bout with stupidity.

However, I did save the announcement for the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake. Note the ad at the bottom announcing "1990 - The year of SPIDER-MAN" on there (when 21rst Century had Albert Pyun as the director).

Oh man, these are great. I seem to remember a full page SPIDER-MAN, as well as a SHE-HULK from a Cannes issue that featured the photo below.

I sorta remember that SHE-HULK ad. Wasn't that Bridgette Nielsen in that?

Another thing I am a sucker for are movies that got announced but never got made. Here are a couple.

21st Century teased us with this promise in 1991:



Ovidio Assonitis did the same with this; looks like he was gonna direct too:

Do any of these Varietys happen to tell us who is going to play Sammy in CHIEF ZABU?

Speaking of Romero, I remember an ad in one of the trades for a Romero horror project called "APARTMENT LIVING" which was about an apartment that's alive, duh! That was later 80s, though.

I also remember Variety ads for Romero's SHOO-BE-DOO-BE-MOON back in the late '70s/early '80s.

HA! A man after my own heart as I've often wondered what the hell this ad meant. I think it is some kind of CIA code.

Didn't TERROR IN MANHATTAN with Robert Englund eventually morph into DANSE MACABRE, once 21st Century got a sweetheart deal on filming in Russia?

Yeah. Greydon Clark was the announced director of TERROR IN MANHATTAN, and ended up doing DANSE MACABRE.

It was made even more infamous after being referenced on MST3K.

http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:119444

http://www.film.com/movies/chief-zabu/14692709

Besides Zack Norman as "Sammy," also starring Allen Garfield, Allan Arbus, Manu Tupou, Lucianne Buchanan, Ed Lauter, Marianna Hill, Shirley Stoller, Joseph Warren, Ferdinand Mayne

Directed by "B.L. STRYKER" and "MANN & MACHINE" creator Neil Cohen.

Reportedly released by IFM in 1989

And don't forget that before this, Zack Norman was "Terrance Hackley" in MOONBEAM!

I've been looking for a copy of SHE for YEARS. Is it as bad as everyone has said?

Here is another "never made it to film" ad for you. Lately it seems all Ruggero Deodato can do is try to get a new cannibal flick off the ground. Well, he's been trying for 25 years! Here is the ad announcing the production of CANNIBAL FURY. It never got made and he ended up giving us RAIDERS OF ATLANTIS in 1983 (God bless him!). Perhaps this morphed into CUT AND RUN, which shot in 84 and came out in 85 but featured minimal cannibals?

"Some extra-terrestrials aren't friendly."

And some are a bit too friendly.

That XTRO ad is really jaw dropping in its bizarre audacity - did they really think this would sell tix? Maybe it would've but sheesh...

I wonder how they presented the concept to the illustrator? I mean, I bet he (I doubt the person who did the artwork for this was a woman) didn't get many dates while drawing this or maybe he just threw a shroud over it when bringing dates home...or, if married - how'd he explain it to his wife?

:blink:

Going the Italian exploitation route tonight.

2020 TEXAS GLADIATORS with a bit more emphasis on the Texas portion:



Fernando Di Leo's THE VIOLENT BREED, which promises an "international cast" which ended up basically being Henry Silva:



THE FINAL EXECUTOR, again with Filman promising an "international cast" which ended up being Woody Strode; notice Anthony Dawson (Antonio Margheriti) was also announced as director while Romolo Guerrieri actually directed it.



Finally, some racy artwork for Bruno Mattei's SCALPS. I'll just post a link as I don't want to get anyone in trouble. Definitely NSFW!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v638/uda...nt=100_0927.jpg

The "international cast" of THE VIOLENT BREED "basically ended up being Henry Silva"? You forget Woody Strode? I thought we knew you.

Man, that's great stuff. THE FINAL EXECUTOR ended up being called THE FINAL EXECUTIONER. I wonder what Margheriti would've brought to that. Probably commandos.

I wonder who top-billed "David Green" is in 2020: TEXAS GLADIATORS. We know "Kevin Mancuso" is actually both Joe D'Amato and George Eastman. Along with Harrison Muller, the Texas Gladiators ended up being Al Cliver, Peter Hooten, the great Al Yamanouchi, and the instantly-forgotten Daniel Stephen.

I enjoy it (not saying much really) but it strikes me as one of those films that throws as much as possible into the mix so that you'll end up having either an absolute riot or just a really bad headache.

I saw it via a cheap second hand VHS that I picked up as a result of my post-apocalyptic addiction and maybe that just added to the charm. It's like RED SONJA meets a 80s post-apocalyptic movie in the form of a rock music video.

William, thanks for posting this stuff, it's fantastic!

Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Here is an interesting look at my favorite zombie film - RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. This is the announcement for when Tobe Hooper was attached and it was to be in 3-D!



And speaking of 3-D (these are all from 1983 or 1983-D as some say), here is Charles Band threatening a sequel to PARASITE, which I would love to have seen.



And the promise of this series hitting 3-D boggles this mind:



And here is that early CREEPSHOW 2 artwork (4 years before it was made) I promised for you:

Here are two ads that serve as great examples of how to get the most out of a full page ad.

First, we have Alexander Beck offering up the Chimpanzee family film CARNIVAL MAGIC ("finest family film since E.T.") opposite THE HOLLYWOOD RIPPER!



And here is 21st Century packing in 11 amazing flicks on one page:

So is 21st Century including AIDA in its action pictures or its horror pictures?

Since FIRST BLOOD was such a huge hit in 1982, this was quickly announced in 1983.



And some nice preliminary artwork for ANGEL.

Mr. Wilson:

I'm loving this stuff! Thanks for posting!

Sometime in 83-85 or so, Cannon Films ran an ad in VARIETY for their (never-made) version of THE GOLEM that was to star Charles Bronson. I had a copy of the issue at some point, but it got lost/misplaced during a move. Have you come across this ad in any VARIETY? It was part of the multi-page ads that Cannon would take out.

I have never seen that one before. I've got an issue from 1985 coming to me, so maybe it will be in there. The idea of Bronson facing off with The Golem is amazing! Would it be a battle to see who has the better stone face?

Three quick ones here.

First, a small Disney ad (they never took out big ones for some reason) with an early title for one of their 1982 hits.



And a nice, full-page ad boasting about the box office returns of Larry Cohen's Q.



More Italian exploitation:

Who is Joe Spencer? Or Jill Elliot for that matter.

Just a few random ones tonight.

This first one is something Brian Camp might appreciate. A full page ad from 1983 for the first two SHAOLIN TEMPLE entries starring one "Jet Lee." This is a full 10 years before I ever heard of him.



A very bland announcement for Fuller's THIEVES AFTER DARK:



A great three-fer here. SOLDIER SOLDIER never got made, but that is some great art.



A curious slick ad for a Rob Cohen movie that seems to deal with white slavery but never got made. I love the art and it reminds me of the opening credits of the latest Bond.

I have to see TRUCKIN' BUDDY MCCOY.

Joe Franklin loves him some Al Adamson?

I'm right there with you!

I'm going on an all-out Charles Band binge tonight! Love him or hate him, you could always count on Band to deliver some fine artwork. These are all from a slick ad section in a issue I recently received from 1985.

Gorgeous early art for the Klaus Kinski starrer CRAWLSPACE:



Artwork for David Allen's forever-in-the-making THE PRIMEVALS:



Two flicks by Tim Kincaid; the posters are 100% better than anything in the movies and Marty and I can attest to that fact:





Two projects by the writing team of Danny Bilson & Paul De Meo, who gave us some of the best Empire scripts (TRANCERS, ZONE TROOPERS). DECAPITRON was bandied about by Band during his Full Moon years as well.





MURDERCYCLE!!! (this eventually did get made during the lean Full Moon years, but I imagine the Empire one would have been better):



Art for Stuart Gordon's DOLLS, but with a slight title change:



Linda Blair + bikini = greatness:

Another Cannon gallery today with an emphasis on films they announced that never got made. These are all from 1985.

Here is a proposed sequel to JOE (1970) with Peter Boyle returning and co-scripting!



Here is an odd one - a sci-fi revision titled PINOCCHIO: THE ROBOT, written by Dan O'Bannon & Don Jakoby and directed by Tobe Hooper; they had already delivered LIFEFORCE and INVADERS FROM MARS for Cannon.



A sequel to INVASION U.S.A. (the sound you hear is Marty McKee shedding a tear):



SPIDER-MAN announcement when Joseph Zito was attached:



CAPTAIN AMERICA to be directed by Michael Winner (now Jon Barnett is crying):

A Captain America movie by the writer of AMERICAN NINJA, REVENGE OF THE NINJA and NINJA III: THE DOMINATION. That I would like to have seen.

I'm pretty sure NIGHT HUNTER became AVENGING FORCE, which starred Michael Dudikoff as Matt Hunter and a screenplay by James Booth, who played a supporting role.

Wow! I never even noticed that the lead characters in INVASION U.S.A. and AVENGING FORCE shared the same name (generic as it is).

Also, the screenplay for the Zito SPIDER-MAN can be found online. According to an old Cinefantastique article I read, Zito had approached then relatively unknown Stateside Bob Hoskins to play Doc Ock.

This really takes me back, to when I visited the Morris County Library (NJ) every so often to leaf through the Varietys. I remember some of these very ads, and when Cannon signed Norris to some huge multiyear deal they ran a bunch, most of which didn't get off the ground. (I believe THE VIOLENT THREE was at one time intended for Norris, Bronson, and Lee Marvin.)

ENDGAME sure ooks like a unique take on the Beckett play. :)

"I wonder how they presented the concept to the illustrator? I mean, I bet he (I doubt the person who did the artwork for this was a woman) didn't get many dates while drawing this or maybe he just threw a shroud over it when bringing dates home...or, if married - how'd he explain it to his wife?"

We should make a movie out of this.

Sean,

THanks! This thread rocks! Why can't slick ads be more like this more often. I wonder what would have happened if Winner had made CAPTAIN AMERICA? The match is so odd yet to right.

I'm bumping this thread up with more cool 80s art! These are from an issue from 1985 and I hope you enjoy them.

Early artwork for THE TOXIC AVENGER; notice no face and what would become his mop is a poorly drawn shotgun:



Early CRITTERS & ELM STREET 2 artwork:



Sybil Danning PANTHER SQUAD ad (WTF with the spaceman?):



I have no idea about this Japanese film, but that artwork sold me in about 2 seconds:



As you probably know by now, I am a sucker for stuff announced but never made. Here is a two-for-one ad. First up is TOWARDS ZERO, promising Alex Cox as director and a screenplay by Ugo Pirro. Next to it is KING OF THE CANNIBAL ISLANDS, an adaptation of Melville's TYPEE to be directed by Jonathan Demme.