Film
Piranha
1978
UK Quad / (30″ x 40″) / Single Sided / Printed in England by Leonard Ripley & Co Ltd. London
British / UK
Very fine / originally folded (as issued)
Joe Dante
Bradford Dilman, Heather Menzies, Keenan Wynn, Kevin McCarthy
“They came downriver in their thousands. Their teeth could strip a living man to the bone in seconds.”
Bob Larkin’s finished artwork for the Piranha movie poster closely follows the Jaws poster formula and is a great and one of the best examples of exploitation artwork; i.e. scantily clothed beauty on top of the water being menaced by a large over-sized creature with very large teeth. The original UK quad film poster offered here is from first year of release 1978. Originally folded (as issued) this scarce unrestored example presents to excellent effect with incredible B movie monster art and bright vivid colours. A fine piece of very desirable collectable original movie memorabilia.
TRIVIA: This was Steven Spielberg’s favourite of all the Jaws rip-off films and it was only through his personal intervention that a court case was dropped where Universal Studios (the producers of Jaws) tried to sue New World, who made Piranha.
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Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria... read more +
“There’s something in the water at Lost River Lake. Something you can’t see…something you can’t feel…until it’s too late!”
Out of all the “Jaws” ripoffs and parodies out there, Joe Dantes’ “Piranha” stands tall as one of the best. It’s a smart, funny, engaging picture in the best B movie tradition. There’s no dull moments, and no filler, just a lot of good piranha action and a terrific cast that makes it tons of fun for film buffs.
Marking the first solo directorial effort for Dante (after having co-helmed “Hollywood Boulevard” with Allan Arkush), it stars Bradford Dillman (“Bug”) and Heather Menzies-Urich (“Sssssss”) as Paul Grogan, a cranky loner / boozer and Maggie McKeown, a not terribly competent skip tracer who band together to find the objects of Maggies’ latest search. When Maggie hastily drains a pond to determine its contents, she sets the plot in motion: the pond contained ravenous piranha that have been genetically engineered. So now the mission is to save as many of the people in the piranhas’ path as possible.
You know you’re in for a good time with a cast also including Kevin McCarthy (“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” ’56), Keenan Wynn (“Point Blank”), Barbara Steele (“Black Sunday”), Dick Miller (“A Bucket of Blood”), Belinda Balaski (“The Howling”), and Paul Bartel (“Eating Raoul”). Bartel is especially funny as a macho, hard driving camp director. The savvy screenplay (his first) is by John Sayles, who makes a great uncredited cameo appearance as an Army sentry. He balances the appeal of low budget genre pictures from decades past with an irresistible amount of campiness, some memorable lines, and a political subtext. The movie was a great starting off point for some movie veterans (such as producer Jon Davison and production manager Tom Jacobson), and combined the efforts of a couple of visual and makeup effects experts – Jon Berg, Robert Short, Chris Walas, Adam Beckett, Phil Tippett, Peter Kuran, Rob Bottin. Look for Bottins’ own mangled head in a brief appearance. To complete the drive-in package, there’s also some brief breast shots in the movie. And at the end, Pauls’ method of solving the problem is amusing in its ecological incorrectness…This is one movie that deserves to be considered a cult classic.
Trade Address:
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Old Amersham
HP7 0HL
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Mint
A poster that has never been used or displayed and may show the most minor signs of age and wear. The poster should have no holes or tears.
Near Mint
A generally unused poster with fresh, saturated colors. May have minimal tears at folds. Has no significant holes, no paper loss, may have minor tears along edges, may have fine pin holes.
Very Fine
A poster with bright colour and crisp overall appearance. It may have very general signs of use including slight fold separation and fold wear. It may have pin holes or very minor tears. This is the highest grade allowed for a poster that has been restored either on linen or on paper.
Fine
A poster with good colors and overall clean appearance. It may have minor tears small paper loss and minor stains. It may have some fold seperation.
Good
An average poster with overall fresh color. May have tears, minor paper loss, minor hazing. Paper may be brittle due to age, may have minor stains. May have a small amount of writing in an unobtrusive place. May have medium or major restoration.
Fair
A poster with faded colors and brittle paper, showing significant signs of use. May have tears and paper loss. May have tape, writing, stains in image area. In need of restoration or had major restoration.
Poor
A poster that is worn, torn, and/or damaged. May have staining, cracking, dry rot, and/or large tears. May be heavily soiled, may have pieces missing. In need of major restoration.
All photographs and images used on our site are photographs of the actual poster/item you are buying, we do not use stock photographs.
LOBBY CARD
11 x 14″ printed on heavy stock paper. Used as display in theatre lobbies. Originally made in sets of eight. Some sets have a title card, which contains credits and artwork, essentially a mini-poster. The remaining seven cards are coloured photographic credits and poster artwork showing different scenes from the movie.
WINDOW CARD
14 x 22″ printed on heavy stock paper with the top 4-6 inches usually left blank for the local cinema owner to fill in the cinema and the date it was due to play. Largely discontinued during the 1970’s.
HALF SHEET
22 x 28″ printed on heavy stock paper. The image displayed is normally a smaller version of the main poster, although some do have different artworks and sometimes come in two versions.
INSERT
14 x 36″ printed on heavy stock paper. Inserts usually have the same artwork as a one sheet. Popular with collectors since they are smaller and easier to frame. Normally come tri folded or rolled.
STYLE Y/FORTY BY SIXTY
40 x 60″ printed on heavy stock paper. Rare since they were primarily used for major motion pictures only. Designed to be used outside the theatre, on an easel, normally at a drive-in movie theatre.
ONE-SHEET
27 x 41″ printed on paper. This is the most common size of poster, intended to be displayed in a glass “marquee” case. It is the most sought after size by collectors. Since the 1980’s most posters are sent to the theatre rolled and maybe slightly smaller measuring 27″ by 40″ and with the advent of backlit light boxes a growing number of modern movie posters are available double-sided and the more traditional single-sided.
THREE-SHEET
41 x 81″ printed on paper. These were printed on two or three separate sheets designed to overlap, few survive. Used for larger advertising spaces, normally posted on walls, perfect for huge movie theatres the drive-in, where people could see them from a distance. From the 1970’s on, three-sheets were sometimes printed in one piece and issued as “international” versions to be used abroad.
BRITISH QUAD
30 x 40″ Most common poster size used in the UK. British Quads are horizontal and may have different artwork to the US one sheet. Like a US one sheet they normally come in two versions. Like a US one sheet they are usually supplied single-sided or more commonly now as a double sided poster.
BRITISH ONE-SHEET
27 X 40″, printed on paper. Very rarely used size.
ITALIAN LOCANDINA
13 x 28″ six inches shorter than the US insert, very nice size to frame. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.
ITALIAN PHOTOBUSTA
18 x 26″ Glossy, high quality, used as lobby cards in Italy. Size may vary, either vertical or horizontal format. There are also double Photobusta or mini Photobusta.
2-FOGLIO (DUE)
(DUE): 39 x 55″ This is the standard poster size used in Italy. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.
4-FOGLIO
(QUATTRO) 55 x 79″ Very large Italian poster printed in two pieces, often contains very beautiful artwork.
FRENCH
47 x 63″ (GRANDE) or 24 x 33″ (PETITE) French movie posters normally come with different artwork to either the US or the UK. Like the Italian’s some of the artwork is extrememly beautiful.
