The Rise of the Throwback Movie/TV Poster

I'm diggin' it. Truly. We're seeing that sort of throwback homage to some of the classic VHS-style mock-ups of artwork on tape covers and the posters you buy at the store to hang on the walls. That's when movies and TV shows were, like, golden, and you worshiped the characters, because you had to hold onto their stories for an entire week before the next episode. Movies were different, though, but only because back in the day, theaters and drive-ins were so much more prevalent than they used to be (everyone streams Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Vudu, Comcast, and just about anything else these days).

But Just How Much of a Throwback to Nostalgic Movie/TV Are We Seeing?

Enter: Stranger Things, for instance: check out the poster sending media shockwaves and turning Netflix into even more of a popcorn juggernaut than before:

Of course, the show itself was the actual throwback to such classics as ET, Alien, and even action films like Commando with Ahnuld Swarzenegger (I know I spelled it wrong, intentionally), but I believe Stranger Things wouldn't have had that much of a chance if it wasn't for the explosion in the galaxy that was The Force Awakens, bringing in a poster echoing that of the iconic original.

Something about artwork makes you want to imagine more of what the movie or TV show is about.... I think that's the draw. We're even seeing it with other vehicles out there, such as....

It was, of course, back in the day when promos, teasers, and other marketing vehicles were more about creativity and not about money, realism, and photography. It was about painting a picture, not just revealing the cast, title or tagline. American Horror Story may have been a modern take on the horror genre, but it certainly had its nostalgia, just like this upcoming horror film that we're almost positive will make headlines with critics --

This is a film that hasn't even been released, yet. So take note: the age of the creative art poster for film and TV is continuing to grow as a trend, bringing back what we love about what we watch in the dark of the night, or in a theater, or perhaps, on the back of our pickup truck with a white sheet on the backyard wall of our house.

Like I Said: I'm Diggin' It

Who knows. Maybe this trend will bring back in waves the age of the drive-in. That's when people really loved going to the movies and not have to spend a truckload of money. It was about getting together and being entertained. Not about commerce.

Let's see it continue to go that way. I'm aching to toss my popcorn in the air, because a freakin' demon on screen just scared the sh*t out of me.