‘School of the Holy Beast’ Japanese
We first discovered the extraordinary movie posters of
Westgate Gallery a few years ago. Their annual Cruel Summer Sale is ending soon, but if you’re into such things and haven’t taken the plunge down their “macabre, salacious” rabbit hole, there’s still time to grab some incredible finds and bargains at 50% Off Listed Prices. What makes Westgate Gallery stand proudly apart, beyond the insanely wide selection of 100% original pieces from all over the world, is the expertise of its poster concierge Christian McLaughlin, whose obsessively deep knowledge of classic, cult, exploitation horror, XXX-rated and Giallo films—and the posters created to promote them—puts his competitors to shame. For Christian, offering merely cool, rare and eye-popping “wall-candy” isn’t enough — unlike other higher-end movie-art boutiques online, he wants you to know as much as possible about the actual films behind the posters, and in so many cases, you’ll find a wide variety of artwork you never realized existed for movies you love or have only heard about.
A quick survey of Westgate’s Recent Arrivals section reveals what may be their most impressive selection yet. Where else can you find four different posters for the
1965 Russ Meyer/Tura Satana psychotic go-go dancer masterpiece Faster, Pussycat! Kill Kill!? We especially like the German one featuring full-color cartoon Satana art, from a 1980 re-release (they also have the original German release version)… alongside a hella-rare unfolded 40x60” for Dario Argento’s baroque splatter epic Suspiria, notorious Japanese nunsploitation classic School of the Holy Beast (if you think the poster’s wild, wait til you see the movie), a 46x61” and French Grande for minimalist 1974 John Carpenter sci-fi satire Dark Star. Speaking of dark, how about convicted pedophile/sexual predator Victor Salva’s 1989 debut Clownhouse — produced by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Sam Rockwell? Like clowns in horror films weren’t effed-up and scary enough already…
If you’re a Rocky Horror Picture Show cultist, a Kenneth Anger fan or both, point your peepers toward the very rare Japanese 20x29” beauties for RHPS and the Magick Lantern Cycle, refrain from drooling and remember they are, like everything else at Westgate, currently 50% Off (Discount Code No Longer Required)! Christian’s obvious love for Italian shockers means not only choice oversize posters for everything from lurid trash (1974’s Nude For Satan; Jess Franco’s sinister and psychedelic 1969 Venus In Furs, with Eurotrash royalty Klaus Kinski) to arthouse transgression (Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Criterion-approved Salo, 1975), but also reimagined stunners for Michael Crichton’s Westworld (1973) and—let’s get super-obscure!—Eyes of Hell, the trippy 1961 Julian Roffman flick about a shrink and his patients bedeviled by an ancient nightmare-inducing mask that subjects its wearers to extreme hallucinations then turns them into murderers. When shown in theaters, the mask sequences required 3D glasses… but no special equipment is required to bask in the glory of Sandro Symeoni’s wall-size 55x78”.
Of course one of Westgate Gallery’s specialties is painted/illustrated posters, both foreign and domestic, for adult films from the Golden Age of hardcore (1970-1989ish). No wonder Robin Bougie tapped WGG for rarities to include in his essential coffee table book Graphic Thrills 2. These saucy specimens superbly demonstrate the art of the tease — in an era long before anyone with a cell phone could access an endless array of pornography with titles like ‘Busty Stepmom’s Anal Gangbang’, the charmingly naughty 1-sheets for 1979’s Librianna, Bitch of the Black Sea (with its shamelessly phony “Filmed in Russia” claim), Punk Rock (1974), Lialeh (the first African-American porno movie, 1974) and Starship Eros (1980, complete with a C3PO-headed robo-stud) had the tough task of enticing patrons into their local Pussycat cinema while still maintaining enough decorum for exhibition on Main Street USA.
At the moment, Westgate also features a healthy assortment of softcore posters, displaying a wide range of styles from Pop Art (1968’s Big Switch, directed by UK future-horror maverick Pete Walker) to the old-timey carnival vibe of Switcheroo (1969) to the classic grindhouse delights of Ramrodder (a western roughie from smut-filled ’69—wink wink—costarring then-Manson Family members Bobby ‘Cupid’ Beausoleil and Catherine ‘Gypsy’ Share) and 1972’s Harry Novak spoof Please Don’t Eat My Mother, which devotees of Something Weird Video will fondly recall as the unauthorized raunchy redux of Little Shop of Horrors… in which the carnivorous monster plant enjoys a steady diet of nudie starlets, including chipmunk-cheeked fan-fave Rene Bond.
Let us assure you — the above sampling barely scratches the surface of Westgate Gallery’s remarkable collection, now numbering Over 5000 Posters… and be aware that several of their Recent Arrivals we planned to include in this post were snatched up within 48 hours of being listed. Honestly, what are you waiting for? Faster, pussycats! Shop! Shop!
The Westgate Gallery’s Cruel Summer 2021 50% off sale sees every item in stock at—you guessed it—50% off the (already reasonable) normal price. Discount is automatic at checkout. No code needed. Ends on September 21 at 11:59 PM PST
’Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! German Re-release
’Suspiria US 40x60
’Dark Star French
’Clownhouse Japanese
’Rocky Horror Picture Show Japanese
’Magick Lantern Cycle Japanese
’Nude For Satan Italian 2F
’Venus In Furs Italian 4F
’Salo Italian 2F
’Eyes of Hell Italian 4F
’Librianna, Bitch of the Black Sea US 1 Sheet ON LINEN
’Punk Rock US 1 Sheet
’Lialeh US 1 Sheet
’Starship Eros US 1 Sheet
’Big Switch US 1 Sheet
’Switcheroo US 1 Sheet
’Ramrodder US 1 Sheet
’Please Don’t Eat My Mother US 1 Sheet