Battle of the Bloody Arts #4

Dracula (aka Horror of Dracula) (1958)
Dir: Terence Fisher
Italian one-sheet



Cinema's most famous bloodsucker, Dracula, has taken the silver screen by storm in many different films and through many different forms. Despite the publication of Bram Stokers novel in 1897, England's own Hammer Studios were arguably the pioneers in bringing the infamous fanged creature into mainstream popular culture some sixty years later with their onslaught of Christoper Lee and Peter Cushing-driven shockers. This magnificent poster from the 1958 vehicle is a near perfect embodiment of both pure pulp artwork and straight-up Gothic horror and would serve as a basic template for almost every subsequent Hammer one-sheet and day bill released thereafter. One of the key contributors to this poster's success is the gorgeous paint work - a lost practice in today's movie marketing realm of Photoshop nightmares - and the richness of color and contrast provided by every visible stroke. The overpowering image of Lee's Dracula looming over a screaming Mina provides a classic example of monster tormenting damsel and is strikingly exemplified by the splintered tree branches reaching out into the darkness, resembling in many ways the visage of cracked glass. The trembling blood red title text Dracula Il Vampiro (as per the Italian release) is bold, punchy and immediate and further drums home the arresting imagery evidenced above. Sadly, promotional ploys as beautifully composed as these rarely come along anymore in contemporary horror, especially within the dominion of blood-leeching monster mashes.

Dracula 3000 (2004)
Dir: Darrell Roodt
US DVD box art



Part of me finds it insurmountably difficult to write about things that I consider to be bad, even if the reasons why are clearly obvious and easy to identify. Consequently, atrocious poster art is something I struggle with more than anything...and this brings me to the 'artwork' for the glorious motion picture that is Dracula 3000. Baring no connection to Patrick Lussier's equally underwhelming Dracula 2000, the cover art for this direct-to-DVD reject features some of the most inept imagery I've yet to see hit the rental shelves and, in true forsaken movie style, has very little to do with the film itself. As I'm sure you can all see, the sole point of focus here is the ridiculous fanged robo-vamp (who would have thought technology and the undead would come together in such a way?) entombed by a wall of metal cables and non-descript chrome fixtures, the design of which makes the cover appear more as if it were an advertisement for a lame video game rather than a five star horror movie staring Casper Van Dien (just kidding). But seriously, the Photoshop composition is awful, the illustration is laughably cartoonish and the tag line is beyond insulting, making this one of the worst campaigns for a vampire movie in recent memory. And what's more, someone got paid to design it.

It really is a cruel world.