Here's a pdf copy of Dyna-Mite! Entertainment's press kit for Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride (The Satanic Rites of Dracula). This Dynamite Entertainment is not related to the comic book publishing imprint of Dynamic Forces.
A truly terrifying movie in so many ways. And, of course, there’s Britt Ekland’s slappy nude dance, too. Instead of trying to remake an already excellent movie, the Nicolas Cage Wicker Man should have gone for a sequel instead. Who wouldn’t want to see Lord Summerisle burn bright when the harvest fails again the following year? Download The Wicker Man Pressbook (Comic Reader Version). See more pressbooks From Zombos’ Closet.
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This fragile 16 x 21.5 inches, 12 pages, pressbook for Chandu the Magician, starring Bela Lugosi as the sinister villain, is very impressive. Unfortunately, the pulpy paper has taken a beating. I was surprised when the dealer and collector I purchased this from sent the pressbook folded sharply to a quarter of its size, which caused further damage to the interior pages. I expected saner handling, especially from a fellow collector. Oh well, at least I have it. Here’s the Return of Chandu pressbook portfolio that was also impressive, and the Mexican lobby card.
Comic reader version: Download Chandu the Magician Pressbook
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With Caroline Munro and Tom Baker, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a lot of fun. Add in Ray Harryhausen’s stop motion effects and it’s quite a fantasy delight.
Comic reader version: Download Golden Voyage of Sinbad Pressbook
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Not quite Dawn of the Dead, but hey, its got zombies.
Comic reader version: Download Zombies of Mora Tau Pressbook
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A clairvoyant gambler hypnotizes someone who later murders somebody else. Cue the crime and mystery drama. Early pressbooks were often printed on newsprint paper, so they don’t hold up too well and brown with age. But that gives them a certain charm, don’t you think? What’s also charming are the promotional ideas for The Witching Hour. For instance, take this one: “In every town there are large clocks displayed, on the sidewalk or in windows, which are daily consulted by large numbers of persons for the correct time. For example, there is usually such a clock in a telegraph office or jeweler’s window…” Then there’s the ambulating street clock that chimes as it goes. Ah, the good old days–of promotion, that is.
Comic reader version: Download The Witching Hour Pressbook
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After Forbidden Planet, MGM needed another film to make use of Robby the Robot to help balance their books. That’s where The Invisible Boy comes into the picture. It’s an odd mix of science fiction and kid-fare, so the script is very 1950s. But delve a little deeper and you’ll find one of the screens more interesting and foreboding narratives about artificial intelligence and menacing technology. Robby is actually from the future (a nod to Forbidden Planet), but it takes Timmie, the lonely and misunderstood boy whose parents are eggheads times ten, to reassemble the robot after the supercomputer gives him the smarts. Unbeknownst to the boy, his newfound robotic playmate is under the control of the supercomputer, and that bit of technology has sinister plans for mankind. The Invisible Boy may be dated by its 1950s manners and mores, but deep down, there’s a prescient message for all us Timmies.
Comic viewer version: Download The Invisible Boy Pressbook
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The Buck Rogers serial launched a million imaginations, along with Flash Gordon. Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe) and his sidekick Buddy (Jackie Moran) awake 500 years in the future. They soon find the world of the future is not a happy place and jump into action fighting Killer Kane (Anthony Warde). All this will be familiar to fans of the 1979 television series starring Gil Gerard (well, except for Buddy, who was replaced by Twiki (Felix Silla), the diminutive robot). But Buster Crabbe, who played Flash Gordon, was the first Buck, and this serial is a lot of retro fun.
Comic reader version: Download Buck Rogers Pressbook
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Here's another ghost-inspired crime comedy (cromedy?) from Columbia Pictures. Some pages are out of order but this 8 page pressbook is complete. The 1940s saw a lot of movies using a ghostly theme in storyline or title or both. This one seems to use it mainly in the title, sadly.
Comic reader version: Download The Ghost that Walks Alone Pressbook
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Another 1940s crime story with little to do with ghosts, courtesy of Monogram Pictures. Joan Woodbury played the Queen in Bride of Frankenstein.
Comic reader version: Download The Living Ghost
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Quite a bit of promotional push in this pressbook for Whispering Ghosts with Milton Berle and Willie Best. Best also starred with Bob Hope in The Ghost Breakers. Best's movie output was prolific, but according to Wikipedia "is sometimes reviled because he was often called upon to play stereotypically lazy, illiterate, and/or simple-minded characters in films. Of the 124 films he appeared in, he received screen credit in at least 77, an unusual feat for an African-American bit player."
Comic reader version: Download Whispering Ghosts Pressbook
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A fascinating and entertaining blend of crime, noir, gorilla, and horror. Paramount's The Monster and the Girl starts off as a noir in tone and camerawork, but then ignores that and moves on to an ape-murdering-for-vengeance storyline. It gets my vote for the best man-in-gorilla-suit movie produced in the 1940s and possible the best, period. The story plays all the emotional angles, and tosses in a faithful dog for good measure (like in Man-Mad Monster, also released in 1941). There's something simply mesmerizing, odd, and sometimes head-scratching with the mad-scientist and gorilla cycle of horror movies, but this movie works it's magic and makes it, well, work! I highly recommend it. As for this pressbook, my word, it's amazing! The amount of promotion and article coverage reaches twenty packed pages.
Comic reader version: Download Monster and the Girl Pressbook
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