Hung, Drawn and Executed: The Horror Art of Graham Humphreys

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Graham Humphreys' career as a poster artist looms large over horror cinema. From designing the iconic Evil Dead poster to Nightmare on Elm Street and House of a Thousand Corpses, his work is familiar to everyone. It's easy to see why his work grabs the attention of horror fans and filmmakers alike as he continually and systematically sets the bar ever higher in his quest for sheer terror and pure entertainment. With over forty years experience he is one of the few contemporary illustrators using the traditional medium of gouache to paint his images.

'Graham immediately understood the essence of our film and painted an image that ripped up the traditions and threw the movie right in your face. I loved this poster!' Sam Raimi, director, producer, screenwriter, actor

'the whole episode, which seemed like a deleted sequence from a 1980s Italian giallo, made a strong impression on me, clearly demonstrating the manic, confrontational power of Graham's work at a time when simply owning some of those titles on VHS could indelibly mark one out as a clear and present danger to orderly, bourgeois society.' Richard Stanley, director, producer, screenwriter

Reviews

"Graham immediately understood the essence of our film and painted an image that ripped up the traditions and threw the movie right in your face. I loved this poster!" --Sam Raimi, director, producer, screenwriter, actor "Graham Humphreys' art is at once beautiful and transformative." --Clive Barker, screenwriter and novelist "How do I love Graham Humphreys's artistry Let me count the ways. The genre of horror, because of its examination of things dark and strange, demands a certain theatricality in approach. And capturing the spirit and tone of a horror film in a single image such as a poster or DVD cover is especially challenging. Time and again Graham's masterful art work meets and exceeds that challenge. His illustrations are consistently vivid, energetic and always convey an uncanny sense of motion and emotion. Graham Humphreys is at the pinnacle of his craft and I am so honored to have been the subject of a number of his." --Jeffrey Combs, author, Re-Animator "I've long been an admirer of Graham's wonderful artwork. For me, there's nothing that quite says HORROR like the queasy, lurid phantasms he conjures up with such wit, skill and imagination. I think I found The Evil Dead poster scarier than the film!" --Mark Gatiss, actor, screenwriter and novelist

Author Bio

Graham Humphreys is an illustrator and visual artist best known for producing film posters. During the 1980s, Humphreys worked with Palace Pictures, producing publicity material for such films as Dream Demon, Basket Case, The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Nightmare on Elm Street. Current projects include vinyl LP sleeves, posters, private commissions, and work for horror film festivals.