50 Greatest Mondo Posters
Certified works of art
Dirty Harry (1971)
The Poster: A simplistic but effective interpretation of the classic cop thriller – which of course involved Clint Eastwood using a gun a fair bit.
Coolest Detail: The firearm, edged with the unmistakable profile of our man Eastwood.
The Burning (1981)
The Poster: A suitably gory homage to the classic ‘80s slasher, in which a horribly burned caretaker takes care of summer camp counsellors – by chopping them to pieces.
Coolest Detail: That river of blood. Pure slasher.
The Mummy (1932)
The Poster: Old school horror gets a brush-up.
Coolest Detail: Clearly it’s got to be The Mummy. If only this poster was in 3D…
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
The Poster: Star-spangled and ambient, taking the original Close Encounters poster and adding a little Mondo magic.
Coolest Detail: The juxtaposition of the starry night sky with the twinkly lights of the spaceship.
Blade II (2002)
The Poster: Guns-blazing, bat-screeching, blade-wielding masterpiece that perfectly captures the mad/bad world of our titular anti-hero.
Coolest Detail: The inclusion of that new breed of vamp, replete with extended mandibles – which still look like mangled lady bits.
Maniac Cop 2 (1980)
The Poster: Fiery and in-yer-face, just like William Lustig’s goretastic, out-there sequel. Yes, the one that stars horror ledge Bruce Campbell.
Coolest Detail: The skull shape formed by the flames.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
The Poster: The cast of the comic book sequel strike chin-jutting poses in a pseudo-Gothic composition.
Coolest Detail: Hellboy’s smoking gun – though strange that his red right hand isn’t given more prominence.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
The Poster: Grimy cityscapes tussle with Shredder and his forces, as the Turtles – handily picked out in their characteristic green – go on battle control.
Coolest Detail: Shredder!
Alien (1979)
The Poster: A blush-green monochrome beauty that perfectly evokes the mood of Ridley Scott’s original, and gives us another look at that space jockey in advance of Prometheus .
Coolest Detail: Ripley is obviously the coolest, especially as she’s the only one with the smarts enough to survive.
Gremlins (1984)
The Poster: Those pesky gremlins jostle for space on the film’s poster – they obviously all think they’re the star of the picture. And they’d be right.
Coolest Detail: The gremlin who’s wearing old school red-green 3D glasses!
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.