By Richard Hollis

Titan Books, out now

A career-spanning coffee table book that showcases the poster artwork for the films of Dynamation maestro Ray Harryhausen from Mighty Joe Young to Clash of the Titans.

Titan are no strangers when it comes to producing high quality, lavish art books, and this new weighty tome is no exception. Movie posters by definition are meant to be seen large to catch your attention, and so this collection of memorabilia is reproduced at the largest practical scale, at times revealing the paper folds of the Quad poster or the ravages of time.

Richard Hollis has done a commendable job in providing a rich, fact-filled commentary to each film from 1959 to 1981. We find out what Ray’s role was on each film (First Technician, Technical Effects, etc) and then a potted history of the movie’s production, release and poster-related trivia. This is particularly helpful on lesser-known films like The Animal World. Of course, being produced in association with the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation there’s a sense of authenticity about the content too.

The paper poster is becoming a lost art form as more cinemas use digital versions. The posters themselves are also becoming more generic with the same poster used around the world. But the days covered here were far more exciting, with different territories creating their own (often bizarre to Western eyes) variants that focus on the most bizarre details. Some are less than honest about what you’ll see in the movie, others are coy about revealing too much of the creature, while some are… Japanese.

Across the 200 pages we see campaign books, newspaper ads, lobby cards, one-sheets and double-feature posters. We discover that Valley of Gwangi becomes Vendetta of Gwangi in Italian and that a bizarre Dynarama Zodiac was created for The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

Verdict: A gorgeous treasury of artwork from a time where the poster had to do so much work in selling its movie. You’ll no doubt bathe in a nostalgic glow when you spot the Quad that you saw in the lobby of your local Gaumont, then just chuckle at the bonkers creation by some foreign artists who clearly had never seen the film. 10/10

Nick Joy