PosterSpy Annual Portfolio Review - 5 to 6 April 2019, Old Street Gallery, London

From the age of twelve until my late teens, I collected film posters. 'Star Wars' started me off in 1978 - trying to get an original Ralph McQuarrie quad. It was also something to do on Saturday nights in South London - using my 'Red Bus Rover' ticket to tour cinemas in Elephant and Castle, Streatham and Croydon. I also pestered cinema staff in East Ham and Barking in East London and in Bromley in Kent. I made a few friends out of the hobby, notably employees at the Odeon, Bromley, and also got my first job out of school there - though a letter to Film Review magazine made me persona non grata. I should have signed it 'Henry Krinkle' as in the case of my first published missive.

Generally, I took what the cinema staff offered, though what I was really after were genre film posters like 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', 'Alien' and 'The Blues Brothers'. I covered one wall of the bedroom I shared with my brother with nine quads, the space over my bed another three. On the bedroom door there was space for a one sheet.

It was a sad day when we moved from Peckham to Nunhead and I had to take them all down.

In later years, I bought posters from shops such as 'Forbidden Planet' and the 'Vintage Magazine Shop'. It wasn't the same. There was no uncertainty about buying a poster. Not knowing whether I would be successful was part of the appeal.

The best movie posters were the ones without quotes with evocative artwork. That said, the UK poster for 'The Blues Brothers', showing Aykroyd and Belushi dancing on top of an upside police car, had nowhere near the impact of the US poster, which used a photograph.

Some posters eluded me - notably 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi', though I still have the 'Variety' pull-out advertising 'Revenge of the Jedi' (no image, just the suggested logo) which became a collector's item when hordes of 'Star Wars' fans told George Lucas in no uncertain terms that the Jedi would not seek vengeance. 

Smash cut to 2019 and I find myself in a City of London gallery space surrounded by fan art.

There are young people who love film posters even more than me - so much so that they make their own. Some of these are better than the original release poster. Then again, they don't have the pressure to sell the film. 

Many fan artists entered their work into a competition run by PosterSpy. The results were impressive.

Adam Stothard's posters for 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'Mary Poppins Returns' create a real sense of anticipation. Both evoke the tone of the respective films - MP2's daffy chaos, Raiders' mysterious dangers. He understands that the real power of a poster is to withhold information rather than to overcrowd the picture.

Dave Merrell's poster for 'The Lost Boys' is a tour-de-force of arresting composition. Had it been the release poster, rather than the photographic one Warner Brothers used for its UK release, I might have gone to see it. The 'hidden' title also gives you a chill once you discover it, entirely in keeping with the genre. His 'Top Gun' poster is certainly an antidote to the navy recruitment advertisement of the original.

Neil Davies' poster for 'Mandy' (above) certainly adheres to the 'less is more' mantra, though the film is not a demonic possession film (as suggested here) rather a bonkers revenge drama, with Nic Cage turned up to eleven.

The work of Polish artist Aleksander Walijewski deserves particular praise, especially for 'Apocalypse Now', in which an outline of a helicopter superimposed over a sun suggests the bonkers Colonel Kurtz.

The winner Eileen Steinbach, from Hannover in Germany, impressed the judges with her take on Spike Lee's BlackkKlansman.

She accepted first prize by Skype (and wished she could have had some of the pizza).