Combs Collectibles - Frightmare
Jan 25th, 2008
This being the first month of a new year, I wanted to share some collectible items from the beginning of Jeff’s amazing cinematic career. Frightmare was not only Jeff’s first horror movie, but it was also his first leading role in a film! (Check out October’s Combs Cinema for a full review.) Although Frightmare is a little cheesy and predictable, it’s still incredibly fun to see Jeff in this “first” in his wonderful career.
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For bigger versions, click here: Front__Back
Frightmare, was originally titled, The Horror Star and also goes by several other names including Body Snatchers and The Sacrilege. This is a glossy promotional program advertising the film to distributors. I love this original poster design, and check out Stu’s decapitated head on the back!
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Fellow fan Fabrice first alerted me to the existence of these lobby cards and I very fortunately found a full set in excellent condition on ebay soon afterwards. Frightmare won a silver medal at the Avioraz Film Festival in 1983 and the French were the first to truly embrace this film.
Lobby cards were heavy paper cards that movie theatres displayed in their lobbies to attract movie-goers to see the films advertised. They usually depicted key scenes from the film to entice audiences to see the picture. This practice has sadly fallen by the wayside, but we still have the older lobby cards to enjoy!
This second card depicting the Horror Film Society is not a scene from the film itself, but much like many of the other cards, is a promotional photo taken to get audiences interested in the movie.
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Here’s the French VHS/PAL* cover to The Horror Star from Seb, Fabrice, and Stephane’s impressive collection:
*If you truly want to experience this movie properly, seek out the original Vestron VHS or European equivalent. The Troma DVD print is very muddy and the sound is awful. From what I gather, Troma made the DVD from a copy, not the original print of the film.
The trailer to The Horror Star is also online! You can check it out here.
Do you have any Combs Collectibles you’d like to share? Email me at darias_diner@yahoo.com