Ok, this one is a bit special. In fact, when my review copy arrived in the post I tweeted the cover and found several jealous replies coming my way – and this is entirety understandable as this book is a collection of the finest cult movie inspired artwork I’ve ever seen.
L.A.’s Gallery 1988 opened in 2004 and for the last few years has been the home of the Crazy 4 Cult exhibitions which has artists from around the world interpret classic cult movies and the results are uniformly wonderful. Introduced by Kevin Smith there is a tangible affection and love for the artwork and the films on display here. Taking the very best from the first four years of the exhibition every page is a revelation – there is simply no knowing what you’ll find next and some of the pieces are astonishing.
I can only show you a few pieces below, but when you do pick up your copy (because it really is only a matter of time) page 46 has Dean MacDowell’s terrifying Dali inspired take on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and the various character portraits of the children from the film which follow are both playful and disturbing.
Travis Louie’s Eraserhead portrait manages to make Lynch’s iconic film even more horrifying and the director’s other films get a look in too, as do the gallery of Edwards from Tim Burton’s Scissorhand movie. The Big Lebowski also features heavily, as does Donnie Darko – the latter perhaps a little too much, but there is so much here to enjoy simply because the talent here is phenomenal.
It’s pretty simple – this is the finest and most esoteric collection of movie art for a long time. Titan Books are selling the book right now. Cult Movie Happiness is only a click away.
[Rating:5/5]
