Tag Archives: 1980s

Horror film posters of the 1980s

Posted on by
18

As seen in adverts from the French movie magazine L’Ecran Fantastique, featuring a couple of well-known horror movies as well as some a little more obscure. Our first image is from the excellent A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise – A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, with poster design by French artist Laurent Melki, who also designed French posters for A Nightmare on Elm Street 4; Blood Feast; 2000 Maniacs; The Last House on the Left; Night of the Living Dead; Day of the Dead; Videodrome and Creepshow among many others.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. L’Ecran Fantastique No 81 1987. Art by Laurent Melki.

Next up is an advert showing the poster for House designed by artist and writer Bill Morrison, who later worked on The Simpsons and created The Beatles – The Yellow Submarine Graphic Novel. You can see his signature on the side of the doorbell, but thanks to Cameraviscera I was able to get additional info.

House. L’Ecran Fantastique No 69 1986. Art by Bill Morrison.

Next is an advert featuring the poster for The Supernaturals, a zombie film starring actress Nichelle Nichols, famous for her role as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek franchise. I can’t find any information on the name of the artist for this poster.

The Supernaturals. L’Ecran Fantastique No 70 1986.

Next up is an advert for the French poster for the cult comedy horror shocker Street Trash. Artist unknown.

Street Trash. L’Ecran Fantastique No 81 1987.

Next is an advert for the poster of the film Blood Sisters. Artist unknown.

Blood Sisters. L’Ecran Fantastique No 81 1987.

Finally, we present an advert for I. Media video cassettes, featuring some popular titles available at the time to purchase via mail order.

I. Media videos. L’Ecran Fantastique No 71 1986.

Thanks for looking!

Only 15 days to go for Halloween! 🎃🎃🎃

Fashion and Working Women in Socialist-era Hungary and Romania

Posted on by
11

Nok Magazinja 2. 1984. Hungary.

TVTA is pleased to welcome for the first time here vintage images from Hungary and Romania. These two countries join our ever-growing rosta of international advertising, posters and print images as seen in decades gone by.

Images come from the socialist-era print publications Nok Magazinja (Budapest, Hungary, translation: Women Magazine) featuring articles and photos of fashion, the arts and women’s interests; and Dolgozo No (Bucharest, Romania, translation: Working Woman) featuring articles and photos of working women and politics.

Both publications are represented here by dates from the late 1970s to the late 1980s.

“New Winds are Blowing in Fashion.” Nok Magazinja 5. 1986.

“We Wear it at Home.” Dolgozo No. Feb 1979. Romania.

Dolgozo No. Feb 1979. Romania. Cover.

Continue reading →

1980s Space Fings, Crazy Fings, and some very British comic ads

Posted on by
16

If you were around in Britain in the 1980s you might well remember some of the following adverts for comics, sweets, bubble gum, Hot Wheels, MOTU, Weetabix, Grange Hill, and, erm… Understanding Electricity. Actually, if anyone recognises the artist from the Understanding Electricity ad at the end of the post, please let me know. The style is familiar, but so far I can’t find any info.

Enjoy this blast from the past 🙂

Trebor Space Fings. 1981. UK.

Trebor Crazy Fings free stickers. 1981. UK.

‘5 for Fun’. Comics. 1981. UK.

Western Magazine. 1980. UK.

Hot Wheels. 1981. UK.

Continue reading →

Tiswas

Posted on by
6

Tiswas is a British children’s television show which aired on Saturday mornings from 1974 to 1982. “Tiswas” stands for “Today Is Saturday: Watch And Smile. Presenters included Chris Tarrant, Sally James, Lenny Henry, John Gorman, and others – including returning special guests and famous personalities. One of the most popular characters was the masked Phantom Flan Flinger – the arch villain of the show who would think nothing twice of chucking a custard pie in your face.

The show was all about fun, mayhem, riotous and slapstick humour, jokes, custard pies, puppets, impersonations, music, and famous faces. Popular slots included ‘Flanorama’, ‘Compost Corner’, and ‘Flan Your Folks’. The show spawned a hit single called ‘The Bucket of Water Song’, performed by members of the cast as ‘The Four Bucketeers’.

My Saturday morning TV childhood memories are full to bursting with excellent programmes, but Tiswas will always have a special place for its sheer mayhem and fun.

Recently I received a little bit of Tiswas in my life again – namely an armful of 1981 issues of the Tiswas Family Fun Book (later Tiswas Magazine). Flantastic! Here are the covers, ads, and selected content – all wiped clean of custard pies, and dried out from their buckets of water soaking.

Enjoy! I’m off to practice my Dying Fly movements 🙂

Tiswas Family Fun Book Vol 1 N°9 1981.

Tiswas Book of Silly Superstitions 1981.

Tiswas official money box and digital watch. 1981.

Tiswas. Bob Carolgees and Spit the Dog.

Thank you for flinging flans with us 🙂

The Doctor Who Quiz Book of Dinosaurs, 1982

Posted on by
10

Cover illustration by Geoff Hunt.

We promised you dinosaurs! And here are some – with added Doctor Who time travel stamp of approval!

Presenting, the Doctor Who Quiz Book of Dinosaurs, written by Michael Holt, published by Magnet Books, 1982.

This paperback was aimed at children, and took readers on a journey with the 5th Doctor and his companions – Nyssa and Tegan, as they travelled back and forth through time exploring prehistory. The reader is asked to solve puzzles and answer questions after each adventure is told, aided with black and white illustrations by Rowan Barnes-Murphy.

Big bad bird…

According to the Doctor, the terrifying creature pictured below is a kind of hybrid lizard-vulture-woodpecker called Archaeopteryx (say it ‘Arky-op-terricks).

It couldn’t yet fly, and instead ‘glided’ down from the tops of trees to capture its ground prey, whereupon it would “tear him to shreds with its razor-sharp toothed bill.” The creature was too heavy for flight due to having weak wing muscles and solid, heavy bones – as opposed to modern birds who have hollow bones. Its feathers were used as insulation to protect against the cold climate it inhabited.

TVTA theory: Dinosaurs became extinct not because of an asteroid or disease, but because the Archaeopteryx friggin’ ate them all!

Artisit impression of Archaeopteryx. Image: SPL/BBC.

Koringa, the crocodile-wrestling circus lady! 

In the book, according to Nyssa she once saw a video of a lady croc-wrestler called Koringa, who worked with Bertram Mills’ Circus. The Doctor disputes that Koringa wrestled with crocodiles as they are far too deadly, and rather that it was alligators she wrestled. There follows the theory on how Koringa managed to wrestle such a beast, then a quiz about the differences between alligators and crocodiles. Regarding Koringa, I checked – and she really existed; so Nyssa was right.

Rear cover:

Doctor Who bonus book advert:

Doctor Who Best Sellers. 1984.

That’s all for now…

Thank you for avoiding Archaeopteryx with us 🙂