This is the Japanese B2 for the 1973 blaxploitation crime drama Gordon’s War, directed by Ossie Davis (Cotton Comes to Harlem) and starring Paul Winfield as the eponymous Gordon Hudson. After returning from the Vietnam war he finds that his neighbourhood in Harlem has been taken over by drug dealers and that his wife has died from a heroin overdose. He gathers some of his fellow soldiers together and sets out to rid the area of the dealers.

The film is unavailable on blu-ray but receives decent enough reviews on IMDb, with one praising its use of real locations:

The location shoot in Harlem is an essential ingredient in making this film work. The feel of the streets, shops, people, cars, bars, abandoned buildings, rundown apartments and ramshackle appearances bolsters the movie greatly. There is a chase scene, car following motorcycle, that ranks among the very best of any movie anywhere, including those in poliziotteschis. That alone makes the movie.

A great portrait of the legendary country singer Willie Nelson on this poster for the film based on his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger. The film, like the source material, tells the story of a preacher in a Wild West town who seeks redemption after he kills his wife and her lover in an act of revenge.

The film took several years to come to the screen and at one point it looked like Robert Redford would play the preacher, despite Nelson always envisioning the part for himself. Sam Peckinpah was also attached to the project but left after the budget proved to be insufficient. Nelson and the director William D. Wittliff eventually raised the finance themselves through various means, and I believe Wrangler jeans may have been one of the sources – hence the inclusion of a Wrangler logo on the poster. A mock Wild West town nicknamed Willieville was built near to the singer’s home in Texas and filming took place there as well as a few other locations.

The excellent artwork is by American artist Robert Tanenbaum. To see other posters I’ve collected by him click here.

A (VHS) trailer for the film is on YouTube.

The notorious schlockmeisters Troma released this 1987 zombie splatterfest, the title of which leaves you in no doubt as to the kind of film you’re in for. The plot sees a bunch of hillbillies discovering a misplaced barrel of nuclear waste and deciding to use it as a container to brew up some moonshine. It’s not long before the toxic concoction has turned them into the titular creatures and they’re munching on a bunch of unlucky city slickers who are lost in the nearby woods.

Pericles Lewnes, the excellently named director, actually shot this film on weekends (32 in total) over the course of a year and then went about trying to sell the film to various distributors. He went on to work as a special effects technician on several subsequent Troma productions. Apparently, the film was one of the first to be released straight to video, made even easier since it was entirely shot on video tape.

This quote from a review on IMDb gives you an idea what kind of film you’re in for:

There’s plenty here for fans of the horror genre (including some hilarious Texas Chainsaw Massacre parody scenes), and (of course) fans of Full Moon and/or Troma won’t be disappointed. My personal favorite scene involves the genuinely creepy Tobacco Man. To this day, at work or in social gatherings, I’ll occasionally pull out the line “Dark times is comin’.” And when everyone looks at me like I’ve just vomited human excrement onto the rug, I know deep down that I am the coolest person in the room.

Note the text on the bottom declaring that it was filmed in ‘Entrail-Vision’ and that ‘Repeat viewing of Redneck Zombies has been shown to cause insane laughter in laboratory animals’.

The original trailer is on YouTube.

Excellent artwork by John Alvin features on this US one sheet for the release of Ron Howard‘s 1988 fantasy film Willow, which was conceived of by George Lucas. British actor Warwick Davis features as the eponymous hero and the part had been written specifically with him in mind after he appeared as an Ewok in Lucas’ Return of the Jedi. The story begins as the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) hears of a prophecy that a newborn child will bring about her downfall and sets about imprisoning all pregnant women in her castle’s dungeon.

When a child is born and identified as the one in the prophecy, the child’s mother manages to convince the mid-wife to secret her daughter out of the castle. When Queen Bavmorda discovers what has happened she sends her daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) and leader of her army General Kael in pursuit. Before being caught, the midwife manages to put the child on a raft on a river and the child ends up being found by Willow Ufgood (Davis) a a member of a race of hobbit-like people called the Nelwyns. Initially caring for the baby with his wife, Willow is persuaded to take it away from their village and back to the Daikinis (humans) when it becomes clear that there are people hunting for it. As the adventure begins, Willow and his companions soon realise they’re in for more than they bargained for.

Featuring a great performance by Val Kilmer as a selfish, reluctant hero the film still stands up today as a fun and engaging fantasy adventure with several memorable sequences and a brilliant score by James Horner. Despite being critically derided on release and not fairing too well at the box- office it has nevertheless grown something of a cult following and is notable for its use of ground-breaking special effects by Industrial Light and Magic that were used for a sequence involving a morph between several animals and a human.

The late American designer and artist John Alvin was responsible for over 135 film poster designs over a thirty year period. Alvin painted many unforgettable pieces of artwork, including Blade Runner and E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. The gallery of his posters on IMPAwards gives you an idea of the range of his work. Alvin sadly passed away too early, just shy of his 60th birthday (in 2008), but his fantastic designs will live on for generations to come.

To see the posters I’ve collected by Alvin click here.