The Weird and Wonderful World of Polish Movie Posters

Literally Poles Apart

Innerspace (1987) / Gremlins (1984)

Tricky though it was for English-language movies to make it into Polish cinemas during the dark days of Communism, it was tougher still for local distributors to properly promote those films as, ahead of release, they’d see neither the feature nor receive any marketing materials.

Often all they had was a title, which meant creating the film’s accompanying poster was a shot in the dark. An odd, abstract and thrillingly random shot in the dark.

Occasionally the boys in marketing and their creative artist cohorts nailed the correct tone. Kubrick and Hitchcock pictures they had a pretty good handle on. More often, though, they’d create something wholly inappropriate, troubling images for broad comedies or overly artsy interpretations of by-the-numbers blockbusters.

The stranger the better though. I’ll take a crazy, beautiful work of art over a bland Photoshopped affair any day of the week.

The Fly (1986 / Jaws (1975)

Jaws 2 (1978) / Blue Thunder (1983)

Alien (1979) / Aliens (1986)

Dumbo (1942) / The Muppet Movie (1979)

Return of the Jedi (1983) / Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

The Shining (1980) / The Omen (1976)

Scanners (1981) / The Exorcist (1974)

Smokey and the Bandit (1977) / The Bachelor Party (1957)

Vertigo (1958) / The Golden Child (1986)

Weekend at Bernie’s (1989) / Trading Places (1983)

I’d love to know, in the comments below, how you reckon these posters compare with their US counterparts?