The Black Klansman

Forty years before Chappelle’s Show made the joke, a black man spends his nights in a most curious manner…

This is a sampling from a private collection of rare, massive 40” x 60” posters that were printed on cardstock for drive-In movie theaters.  More posters and related merchandise are online at hautecampe.com (“Archeaologists of the Strange”).  All are for sale at auction until February 8, when the bidding closes.

Haute Campe offers a collection of original rare, vintage film posters from the 1940s-1970s originating mostly from drive-ins and grindhouse theaters. Most of the posters went through a single distributor called National Screen Service, hence the “property of N.S.S.” at the bottom of 99% of the movie posters printed in the 20th century!  While many posters were destroyed by the elements and others were pulled off the wall by collectors, a great many returned to the distributor’s archives and piled up for many many years. 

We were fortunate enough to be able to acquire a large part of the archives and the treasures were fantastic, including rarely-seen posters that were for small run promotions and exceedingly impossible to find sizes like the gorgeous and massive 40” x 60” silkscreens created for drive-in movie theaters.

This is just a selection from the first part of the alphabet…
 

Blood and Black Lace

Mario Bava directed this 1964 film that created the template for the “body count” slasher films of the 1980s.
 

Blood Bath

A 1966 stinker that started out in Yugoslavia as a spy film and—being judged unreleasable—had extra sequences filmed in Venice, California and was re-edited as a horror movie.
 

Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb

Based on a tale by Dracula author Bram Stoker, this Hammer horror film featured their expected balance of blood and cleavage.
 

Blood of the Virgins

In 1967, the first Argentinian vampire film offers viewers a unique experience called “Erotomania!”
 

Burn Witch Burn

A sensational film based on a supernatural horror novel by Fritz Leiber that claims witchcraft flourishes as an open secret amongst women.
 

Confessions of an Opium Eater

Vincent Price becomes embroiled in a tong war in early 20th century San Francisco with the requisite spooky skeletons and exploitation thrown in for good measure.
 

Corridors of Blood

Boris Karloff plays a disgraced anesthetic-addicted surgeon in 1840s London with a very special hobby.
 

The Crawling Hand

The dismembered hand of an astronaut possessed by an evil alien intelligence goes on a killing spree.  Luckily a hungry cat saves everyone at the end.  Burt Reynolds screen tested twice for this film and was turned down both times.
 

Daughter of Dr, Jekyll

The late Dr. Jekyll’s daughter boasts a split personality and is blamed for a horrific rampage of werewolf terror.
 

Dementia 13

Francis Ford Coppola’s first “mainstream” film was this gothic horror created with Roger Corman for a budget of $22,000.
 

Deranged

Deranged: The confessions of a Necrophile is loosely based on serial killer Ed Gein and features a man using corpses for various aspects of home decor.
 

Devils of Darkness

This Hammer-inspired bit of gothic horror features vampires, witches, and a cult of Satan worshippers.
 

The Dunwich Horror

H.P. Lovecraft presented with the patina of 1960s cinema.
 

Gun Girls

A 1957 film for the hot rod generation with a gang of teenage girls looking for kicks and ignoring their probation officers’ warnings.
 

Hitler

A 1962 biopic attempting to explore Hitler as a historical figure with just a light pinch of exploitation film thrown in for good measure.
 

The Hooked Generation

Shoot-em-up scenes and trippy psychedelic sequences play out as a series of delinquents pursue their kicks.
 

The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant

One brain wants to love, one wants to kill after a medical experiment goes awry!
 

LSD Flesh of Devil

A hallucinogen-paranoid tale of espionage and psychedelic “acting.”
 

Madame Kitty AKA Salon Kitty

A Nazi-run brothel in Berlin is home to wiretapping and espionage… and of course sex.
 

Mini-Skirt Mob

A 1968 motorcycle gang of tough, hard-living girls manipulate men and wreak havoc when their leader is jilted.
 

Molesters

A Pop Art poster masterpiece, with weird shuddering pink “Molesters” titling; the film studies INTERPOL’s process of pursuing sex offenders and applying classifications, including voyeurs, rapists, sadists, and masochists.  As the film is obviously inappropriate subject matter and focuses heavily on offenses against minors, the poster is particularly wince-inspiring that it both announces that the film is “unsuitable for youth” but also that attendees under 16 will be admitted as long as they are “accompanied by an adult.”
 

Nature Girl and the Slaver

A 1957 West German film that promoted an “untouched nymphet beauty” jungle goddess captured by slave traders.