"Lovers caught in a dark tide of sinister TERROR!"
"Everything you might imagine is shown in this motion picture!"
Loglines such as these recall the mostly lowbrow films of wildly varying quality which played in the old grindhouse theaters on 42nd Street in New York City. Here in Austin on Friday night, one of Fantastic Fest 2015's more cultured events was held. That is, if you find attending a gallery showing of rare, vintage exploitation posters to be culture; for those of us who are rabid film fans, this is high art indeed. Director Nicolas Winding Refn presided over the event, and for those of you who don't already know, Refn is the auteur behind films such as The Neon Demon, Bronson, Only God Forgives, Valhalla Rising, and The Pusher series --- and he has launched an imprint with FAB Press.
The first book in this collection, Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing showcases his 300+ poster collection, and launched at the Mondo Gallery. Refn attended to sign copies of the massive coffee table tome. Also in attendance were artist Jay Shaw, who provided the cover art, and Alan Jones (Dario Argento scholar and Film 4 FrightFest founder), who authored the text. Interested film fans can pre-order the book (it comes out October 5th) directly from FAB Press or Amazon. Check out the gallery below for photos of the opening reception.