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20 Great B-Movie Posters

By Jim Vorel  |  June 16, 2014  |  10:01am
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  • b-movie-posters 1956---earth-vs-the-flying-saucers 1956 - Earth vs. The Flying Saucers: I like that this one is actually addressed directly from the Flying Saucer People to the Earth People.
  • b-movie-posters 1957---from-hell-it-came 1957 - From Hell it Came: Cinema's greatest evil ... walking tree? Perhaps. Other trees aren't monster enough to bleed when stabbed.
  • b-movie-posters 1957---invasion-of-the-saucer-men 1957 - Invasion of the Saucer Men: This is the single greatest depiction of aliens in 1950s sci-fi. What more can you say? Totally awesome pop-art.
  • b-movie-posters 1957---the-giant-claw 1957 - The Giant Claw: I love this one because they knew their monster was so awful, they deliberately went out of their way to hide its face on the poster.
  • b-movie-posters 1957---the-incredible-shrinking-man 1957 - The Incredible Shrinking Man: SCIENCE IS BAFFLED! It would appear that 1957 was the greatest year in movie poster history.
  • b-movie-posters 1958---attack-of-the-50-foot-woman 1958 - Attack of the 50 Foot Woman: Drive-in cheesecake of the first order. She's a woman with breasts, except bigger!
  • b-movie-posters 1959---plan-9-from-outer-space 1959 - Plan 9 From Outer Space: Terrible movie, spectacular poster. The color scheme and composition go beyond anything Ed Wood was capable of.
  • b-movie-posters 1959---the-killer-shrews 1959 - The Killer Shrews: Effective horror minimalism that hints at the monster without showing it to you. Which is a good thing, because the monsters were dogs covered in carpet squares.
  • b-movie-posters 1961---reptilicus 1961 - Reptilicus: SEE: A mighty city trampled to destruction! SEE: Missiles and atom bombs powerless! SEE: Civilization rioting with fear!
  • b-movie-posters 1963---the-raven 1963 - The Raven: A so-called "cast poster," designed to show off the stars, it's a beautifully illustrated tableaux of the macabre.
  • b-movie-posters 1963---x-the-man-with-the-x-ray-eyes 1963 - X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes: Beautiful colors and images that suggest the possibilities of the story without giving too much away.
  • b-movie-posters 1972---horror-express 1972 - Horror Express: More lush colors with a very Dario Argento-type feel. What lurks on the Horror Express?
  • b-movie-posters 1974---foxy-brown 1974 - Foxy Brown: When 1970s-era Pam Grier is in your movie, making a great poster is easy. All you need to do is show her being sexy and kicking ass. Mission accomplished.
  • b-movie-posters 1974---legend-of-the-seven-golden-vampires 1974 - Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires: All right, what ISN'T going on in this poster? Silver axes and kung fu kicking Dracula in the face? How could anyone reasonably resist?
  • b-movie-posters 1978---crippled-avengers 1978 - Crippled Avengers: The colors and iconography are so eye-catching, you'd never be able to walk by without a sideways glance. Perfect composition.
  • b-movie-posters 1978---piranha 1978 - Piranha: Joe Dante riffs on the famous poster for Jaws by simply inserting his own predatory fish and ramping up the sexualization of the woman.
  • b-movie-posters 1982---ator-the-invincible 1982 - Ator the Invincible (Ator the Fighting Eagle): The most shameless of all the Conan rip-offs, this Ator poster is gloriously fun-bad. It looks like a rejected 1990s Rob Liefeld comic illustration that some guy airbrushed onto the side of his van.
  • b-movie-posters 1984---chud 1984 - C.H.U.D: A great perspective angle that would be straight-up stolen by the poster for the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movie.
  • b-movie-posters 1986---deadly-prey 1986 - Deadly Prey: I don't believe I need to explain why this one is amazingly fun-bad. It looks like the illustration for an NES Contra cartridge.
  • b-movie-posters 2013---sharknado 2013 - Sharknado: Great B-movie posters are largely a thing of the past, but this one is undeniably great. "Enough said" is one of the most appropriate film taglines of all time.
Start Gallery
Start Gallery
20 Great B-Movie Posters
  • b-movie-posters 1956---earth-vs-the-flying-saucers 1956 - Earth vs. The Flying Saucers: I like that this one is actually addressed directly from the Flying Saucer People to the Earth People.
  • b-movie-posters 1957---from-hell-it-came 1957 - From Hell it Came: Cinema's greatest evil ... walking tree? Perhaps. Other trees aren't monster enough to bleed when stabbed.
  • b-movie-posters 1957---invasion-of-the-saucer-men 1957 - Invasion of the Saucer Men: This is the single greatest depiction of aliens in 1950s sci-fi. What more can you say? Totally awesome pop-art.
  • b-movie-posters 1957---the-giant-claw 1957 - The Giant Claw: I love this one because they knew their monster was so awful, they deliberately went out of their way to hide its face on the poster.
  • b-movie-posters 1957---the-incredible-shrinking-man 1957 - The Incredible Shrinking Man: SCIENCE IS BAFFLED! It would appear that 1957 was the greatest year in movie poster history.
  • b-movie-posters 1958---attack-of-the-50-foot-woman 1958 - Attack of the 50 Foot Woman: Drive-in cheesecake of the first order. She's a woman with breasts, except bigger!
  • b-movie-posters 1959---plan-9-from-outer-space 1959 - Plan 9 From Outer Space: Terrible movie, spectacular poster. The color scheme and composition go beyond anything Ed Wood was capable of.
  • b-movie-posters 1959---the-killer-shrews 1959 - The Killer Shrews: Effective horror minimalism that hints at the monster without showing it to you. Which is a good thing, because the monsters were dogs covered in carpet squares.
  • b-movie-posters 1961---reptilicus 1961 - Reptilicus: SEE: A mighty city trampled to destruction! SEE: Missiles and atom bombs powerless! SEE: Civilization rioting with fear!
  • b-movie-posters 1963---the-raven 1963 - The Raven: A so-called "cast poster," designed to show off the stars, it's a beautifully illustrated tableaux of the macabre.
  • b-movie-posters 1963---x-the-man-with-the-x-ray-eyes 1963 - X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes: Beautiful colors and images that suggest the possibilities of the story without giving too much away.
  • b-movie-posters 1972---horror-express 1972 - Horror Express: More lush colors with a very Dario Argento-type feel. What lurks on the Horror Express?
  • b-movie-posters 1974---foxy-brown 1974 - Foxy Brown: When 1970s-era Pam Grier is in your movie, making a great poster is easy. All you need to do is show her being sexy and kicking ass. Mission accomplished.
  • b-movie-posters 1974---legend-of-the-seven-golden-vampires 1974 - Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires: All right, what ISN'T going on in this poster? Silver axes and kung fu kicking Dracula in the face? How could anyone reasonably resist?
  • b-movie-posters 1978---crippled-avengers 1978 - Crippled Avengers: The colors and iconography are so eye-catching, you'd never be able to walk by without a sideways glance. Perfect composition.
  • b-movie-posters 1978---piranha 1978 - Piranha: Joe Dante riffs on the famous poster for Jaws by simply inserting his own predatory fish and ramping up the sexualization of the woman.
  • b-movie-posters 1982---ator-the-invincible 1982 - Ator the Invincible (Ator the Fighting Eagle): The most shameless of all the Conan rip-offs, this Ator poster is gloriously fun-bad. It looks like a rejected 1990s Rob Liefeld comic illustration that some guy airbrushed onto the side of his van.
  • b-movie-posters 1984---chud 1984 - C.H.U.D: A great perspective angle that would be straight-up stolen by the poster for the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movie.
  • b-movie-posters 1986---deadly-prey 1986 - Deadly Prey: I don't believe I need to explain why this one is amazingly fun-bad. It looks like the illustration for an NES Contra cartridge.
  • b-movie-posters 2013---sharknado 2013 - Sharknado: Great B-movie posters are largely a thing of the past, but this one is undeniably great. "Enough said" is one of the most appropriate film taglines of all time.

If Paste’s recent list of the 100 most entertaining B movies is to be believed, there are a lot of lovers of low-budget, semi-coherent cinema out there. The perfect B movie may not be great in an objectively judged sense, but they hit us on a primal level, giving an audience exactly what they want to see in order to frighten, titillate or enthrall them in that moment. A great B movie is a people-pleaser.

Posters have always been a great part of the B-movie tradition. Sometimes featuring far better production values than the film in question, they’re the bait that was dangled in front of audiences to entice them to see that week’s most recently questionable strip of celluloid. Here are 20 of the most visually striking posters in B-movie history.

Tags
  • b movies
  • sharknado
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