Bigfoot movie posters

[raycastile]

I'm in a Bigfoot frame of mind, so I figured it was time to show off my collection of Bigfoot movie posters.  These are all original, vintage posters.  No reprints.

I think the movie that started it all for me was Hammer's "The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas" (1957).  I remember watching this on TV with my dad during the 1970s.  It made a huge impression on me.

This is the original U.S. one-sheet:





That's Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker in the illustration, along with Maureen Connell.

There was a short wave of Yeti movies in the 50s that included Man Beast, The Snow Creature and Half Human.  I'd like to get those posters eventually, but for now the only 50s Yeti one-sheet I have is the Hammer one.

When I think of Bigfoot movies, I think of 1970s drive-in exploitation films and docudramas.  The 70s were the heyday of Bigfoot films.

Here is one of the earliest ones, "Bigfoot" (1970) with John Carradine.








But the 70s Bigfoot wave really got started with this film, "The Legend of Boggy Creek" (1972).  Most fans would consider this the definitive 70s Bigfoot movie.






I wish someone would release a soundtrack album for "Boggy Creek."  I'd love to have a clean recording of the "lonely creature song."


Some people might dispute whether this next one belongs in this lineup. "The Horror Express" (1973) is one of my favorite films.  If I wanted to introduce a new viewer to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, this is the film I would use.  The creature is a prehistoric ape man found frozen in a Himalayan cave.  It thaws out onboard a train and starts killing people.  The movie throws in zombies, Satanism and science fiction.  But I think it also qualifies as a Bigfoot/Yeti movie.  Clearly, the Himalayan origin of the monster was meant to suggest a connection with the Yeti.

This is the Italian one-sheet:







The next one is my favorite Bigfoot/Yeti poster.  It belongs to one of my favorite grindhouse films: "Shriek of the Mutilated" (1974).  Man, I love this poster.  This U.S. one-sheet is the jewel of my Bigfoot poster collection:






Look at this lurid artwork.  Pity these poor souls.






I watch this crazy movie at least once a year.  Something about it reminds me of "Dracula vs. Frankenstein."  It's terrible, but in a deliriously magical way.  It's a very Halloweeny film, good for watching this time of year.


I don't know.  Do we need a breather?  I think I do.  I'll stop here and pick it up again in a bit.

[raycastile]

Things really exploded in 1976 with three "classic" Bigfoot movies.

This next one I saw at the theater with my dad and brother.  "The Mysterious Monsters" (1976) really traumatized me.  I remember the week leading up to our trip to the theater.  I was both dreading that day and looking forward to it.  Every day I would mention it, saying how scared I was.  Then my dad would threaten not to take me if I was so nervous about it.  So I would shut up about being scared, at least for the rest of the day.

We saw it at St. Andrews Cinema, an old theater that is still in operation.  I saw "The Incredible Hulk" there this summer.  They've added a couple of extra screens, but it still looks pretty much the same as it did when I was a kid.

I remember the first scene of "The Mysterious Monsters" with Bigfoot lurking in the woods, climaxing with a closeup of Bigfoot's face.  I just about had a heart attack.  It still scares me!  The film's most famous scene comes near the end, with Bigfoot smashing his arm through a living room window, scaring a woman watching TV on the couch.  Her husband opens the front door to find Bigfoot standing on his porch.  EEEK!

Well, anyway, here is the poster:






I did not see "The Legend of Bigfoot" (1976) until I was an adult.  The commercials scared me so badly, I hid behind the couch every time they came on.  The newspaper ads with the poster art scared me so much I didn't want the paper in the house.  Throw it away!  Burn it!  Too scary!

This is my second favorite Bigfoot poster, but the central art itself is probably my favorite image of Bigfoot.  This is the Bigfoot of my imagination: emaciated, gaunt, ghostly, CREEPY.  A real boogeyman. 






I saw "Creature from Black Lake" on the CBS Late Movie.  I think it was on after an episode of Kolchak.  I remember staying up to watch it and being scared silly.

I had wanted to see it when it was first released, but my parents didn't take me.  But the newspaper ads made an impression.  I thought he looked like the Man-Thing without the snout.







"Creature from Black Lake" is one of the most polished 70s Bigfoot movies.  The cast includes Jack Elam and Dennis Fimple, and the photography is by Dean Cundey.  I wish this would get a definitive DVD release.  Heck, I wish ANY of these films would get a decent DVD release.

[raycastile]

Here is another one I saw in the theater: "Sasquatch" (1977).

This has a nice dramatization of the Ape Canyon incident.  The music is actually pretty good.  You can find mp3s of the soundtrack online.  It was released on a promotional LP.



This movie is more adventure-oriented, so it didn't scare me that much.  I watched it again a few weeks ago and thought it held up pretty good, for what it is.  I like it, but some Bigfoot movie fans consider it the best of the lot.  I wouldn't go that far.


This next poster is a little different.  It's not a movie poster.  This was just a regular poster sold in stores, copyrighted 1977.  I heard other kids talking about seeing it in stores, describing how cool it was, but I never actually laid eyes on one until I was an adult.  I have to agree with my childhood friends that it is a pretty cool poster.






I love that pre-Photoshop "fake" image.  The environment is real, but I'm not sure if the creature is really there or pasted in.  Is it a composite of multiple images?  It doesn't look like a costume.  It seems touched up or altered somehow.  It has a kind of taxidermy look, like a sideshow gaff.  It's great!

[raycastile]

We end with a pair of 1979 posters.

Here is a movie I have never seen.  Despite the tone of this poster, "Revenge of Bigfoot" (1979) is reportedly more of a comedy than a horror movie.





I like that art because it looks like depictions of Mo-Mo, the Missouri Monster.


Next is a movie I remember reading about in Famous Monsters or Starlog, but didn't actually see the film until I was an adult.  "The Capture of Bigfoot" (1979) has a bad reputation, but I thought it was a decent 70s Bigfoot film.  A little on the pedestrian side, but not bad.







That is the end of my Bigfoot/Yeti poster collection.


Besides the 50s Yeti movie posters I mentioned earlier, I'd like to obtain one-sheets for two films that originated as 60s monster movies, but were transformed via new footage into 70s Bigfoot movies:  "Legend of Blood Mountain"/"Legend of McCullough's Mountain" and "Teenagers Battle the Thing"/"Curse of Bigfoot."  I know there is a one-sheet of "McCullough's Mountain" because I missed one that sold at auction for the grand total of $2.49.  But I've never seen a poster for "Curse of Bigfoot."  It was sold direct to TV, so a poster might not even exist.  If anyone knows where to find one, let me know!

[Unknown Primate]

Very cool!

[poseablemonster]

Those are great!  I need to re-visit some of those classics.

[Jim Bertges]

Here's one you probably haven't seen, Ray. Althought it's not a Bigfoot move in the strictest sense, a Bigfoot does play a large role in it. I was just able to dig this out of a book case that has been blocked for more than a year. I hope you enjoy it.

[toysoldierman2001]

Awesome collection of posters!

[raycastile]

I like that Demonwarp poster!  I've never seen it before.  Thanks for posting that.  You were involved with the film, weren't you Jim?  Is that poster hard to find?  I know the film never received a theatrical release, much like Curse of Bigfoot.  The fact that a Demonwarp poster exists gives me hope that a Curse poster also exists.

I've never seen Demonwarp.  I've been waiting for an official DVD release before resorting to bootleg.  With some films, an official release is so unlikely that there is no point in waiting.  But I always thought Demonwarp would get a legit release one of these days, and that's the way I'd like to see it.  But maybe it's time to break down and watch a bootleg.

[mike c]

Beautiful stuff.

I love this line:
"This is the Bigfoot of my imagination: emaciated, gaunt, ghostly, CREEPY.  A real boogeyman."

My sentiments precisely! The posters for Legend of Bigfoot and Legend of Boggy Creek are both burned into my brain since childhood. Boggy Creek especially frightened me, and the poster is one of the creepiest monster images I have ever seen; that spindly, loping brute half in the dark, just at sundown... shiverrrrr! As a kid, the entire Bigfoot idea was magnetically terrifying, and I loved/hated those Shick/Sunn movies, but still made my folks drive me to the theatre to see them AGAIN. A real boogeyman, indeed.

Excellent posters, Ray. Thanks for sharing them.

Mike C.

[Jim Bertges]

Well, yeah I did something on Demonwarp. Because it was a very low budget picture, everyone involved did a lot of different jobs. Some of the stuff I did included co-writing the screenplay, building one of the sets, creating a prop for the zombies to use, performing the (dubbed) voice of Bigfoot and the Alien as well as half the zombies, typesetting the credits and setting the type for the poster and the fold out mailer that contained it. Yes, all that and a little more. It was great fun. There are a few legit copies floating around out there, it was only officially released on VHS and a heavily edited version appeared on USA cable. I've seen copies selling on eBay for $5. I've been after the Home video people at LionsGate for years to just put it out on DVD, but my pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

[raycastile]

Compared to the other slop that makes it to DVD, I don't know why they would sit on Demonwarp, a film with legit cult movie cred.  I will buy one of your copies.  At least the money is going to someone who actually worked on the film.

I know John Buechler also worked on Demonwarp.  I did a promotional video for him about 10 years ago.  I had never heard of him before I did that project.  I don't even remember how I got that job.  But it turned out all right.  He seemed like an OK fellow.

Well, yeah I did something on Demonwarp. Because it was a very low budget picture, everyone involved did a lot of different jobs. Some of the stuff I did included co-writing the screenplay, building one of the sets, creating a prop for the zombies to use, performing the (dubbed) voice of Bigfoot and the Alien as well as half the zombies, typesetting the credits and setting the type for the poster and the fold out mailer that contained it. Yes, all that and a little more. It was great fun. There are a few legit copies floating around out there, it was only officially released on VHS and a heavily edited version appeared on USA cable. I've seen copies selling on eBay for $5. I've been after the Home video people at LionsGate for years to just put it out on DVD, but my pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

[Jim Bertges]

I don't have any copies, the only one I had is still out on loan to a guy I used to work with. I do think you can find the VHS on eBay, I've seen it there occasionally. I'd be interested in your opinion.

[raycastile]

I misread your post.  I thought you were selling copies.  I checked ebay and saw there were a couple of sellers offering Demonwarp DVDs.  I was trying to figure out which one of them was you!  I will let you know my thoughts after I see the film.  Compared to other Bigfoot movies, it can't be much worse.

[raycastile]

I also see that Alpha has a new Curse of Bigfoot DVD.  I wonder if it's any better than the countless DVD-R bootlegs already out there.  This is the closest thing to a "legit" DVD release the film has ever had.  At least Alpha is a real company that manufactures real DVDs.