Scarecrow At Midnight (2011) one sheet from Mutantville Productions.
Welcome to a special edition of Streeborama as we are going to discuss the lost art of horror movie one sheets! I expect this to be an ongoing series here at Streeborama. I want to discuss the good poster art of the past, what made it work and what makes modern poster art so terrible.
Whether you’re a filmmaker or just a fan – we are all extremely familiar with one sheets – or posters as they are referred to in the common vernacular. I remember being twelve years old with a green apple lollipop in my hand wandering the aisles of the local mom and pops video store and being enthralled by the sights and horrors peering at me from the cover of the VHS boxes lining the shelves. I was never allowed to watch the movies but they intrigued me nonetheless. They often featured a mix of blood, skulls and beautiful women but it was always in a way that implied that something sinsiter was at work behind it all.
This was a time when poster art was REAL art. They were conceived by artists with an actual goal of creating something eye catching to draw a potential viewer in. Poster art was exciting, mysterious, inspirational and most all of – intriguing.
While some prefer being jacks of all trades – others strive for greatness in one art form. In this special Halloween edition of Streeborama – we give you a sneak peek into the artistic minds of Mutantville as we strive for greatness in the horror genre. In this video – Streebo reveals his secret to making a great scary movie in this discussion on “uncanny horror.”
This special v-log clocks in at over an hour and is guaranteed to make your brain bleed. Somewhere along the way Streebo discusses the works of David Cronenberg, Stuart Gordon, Clive Barker, Guillermo Del Toro and many more. Come dare to be great with MVP as we discuss what it takes to get to the heart of “uncanny horror.”
(Uncanny horrors lie beyond the cut! Click to watch.)
Mutantville Productions first learned of Robert W. Filion during our epic adventure to take Devil Comes Down to George A. Romero’s American Zombie Film Contest in 2009. During said contest Robert’s movie, See The Dead, went on to sweep his competitors into the grave including MVP’s own Devil Comes Down. Robert reaped the rewards of the contest and MVP was left rubbing our collective bruised egos and has been plotting revenge ever since.
Over the years, MVP has come to know and respect Robert as a man of many talents. Robert follows MVP’s filmmaking philosophy in that he is always ready to do whatever needs to be done to get his movies made whether it’s working as the writer, director, producer, director of photography, editing or doing his own digital FX. Robert is a filmmaker with twenty years of experience and any time he brings his considerable talents to bear it is always worth taking notice. Most recently, See The Dead played at the prestigious Nevermore Film Festival at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC.
Robert’s company Image Impact Group has been responsible for countless shorts and films over the years including Lot 66, Chekov’s Children, The Promise Jar and The Parcel. Robert never seems content to create run of the mill horror, instead he always tries to push the boundaries of the art-form technically as well as through the narrative. His films may feature undead, zombies and other sorted beasts of mayhem – but there is always an attempt to marry the surreal or psychological to the narrative.
In a recent interview with Fangoria magazine, Filion states that “I find the scariest place to navigate is my own head. I was raised in a military family and never had longterm friends, so I never really fit in, since we moved around a bunch. Though very outgoing, I found the cruelty of children a bit much to take. Even back then, I wrote stories of a fantastical nature and retreated into my own world.” Filion comments that “people are emotionally fragile, and the question I come up with time and again is, what if you push the right buttons?”
Years later, the stars would align as MVP and Filion no longer found themselves at odds, instead teaming to create a new horror anthology entitled Tales From Mutantville. This past October, Robert teamed with Mutantville Productions to shoot three short films back to back. Producer J.T.McRoberts commented on working with Filion by saying that “Robert is an inspiration to work with. He is very professional and possesses a drive and determination to create something new and exciting. He may know how to do everything that needs to be done on a film set from production manager to gaffing and beyond but he never lets work get in the way of having a good time on the set. Working with him was a real blast and I look forward to future collaborations.”
Never one to rest on his laurels, Robert has been keeping busy with projects such as Seeing and is still currently in post-production on Indigo Child for Tales From Mutantville. This weekend he is hosting a private screening of his latest project Ghost Trek. Ghost Trek was developed by writer/co-director Michael Plumides and stars Michael Melendez, Johnny “Fairplay” Dalton, Mikey B. Bartone, Gia Allemonde, Christy Johnson, and Addy Miller (of The Walking Dead).
For his dedication and professionalism to the art and craft of filmmaking, MVP is proud to chose Robert W. Filion as the inspirational filmmaker of the week.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 7:55 pm. Add a comment
The 1980′s may have been the high water mark for horror poster art. One used to be able to walk through the halls of the local video store and see a wide variety of horrific tableau’s adorning the boxes and posters promoting horror movies. In the new millennium, we are living in an era of bland posters and box art. A seemingly endless parade of floating heads and faces stare back at us from what now passes for movie posters. Where artists once strived to tell a story with a single image – now these “designers” seek to inundate us with the who’s who of actors in the film.
Poster art is truly a lost art form. That’s why it always thrills me to see the Japanese designs for Western films. They are simply the best produced poster works on the planet. Let’s celebrate this lost art form by taking a peek at a few fantastic designs from the land of the rising sun.
Posted 2 years, 2 months ago at 3:57 pm. Add a comment
