Books

CRAZY 4 CULT : CULT MOVIE ART – Book Review

By Melissa Howland | June 27, 2011

If you are a fan of cult movies and really fun art work, then you are going to love CRAZY 4 CULT: CULT MOVIE ART!

CRAZY 4 CULT started as an art show at Gallery 1988 in 2007. Now, the gallery is getting ready to do their 5th installment (July 8th) of the show. The show has become so popular that people will line up by the thousands to see it on opening night.

The book, and the art work itself, are not your typical “fan art” pieces. Are these done by movie fans… certainly! The devil is in the details. These pieces are more than that though. They are carefully selected works of art. These are crafted pieces that are hand selected, just like any other gallery in the country. The only difference is that the subject matter happens to be based on some of the greatest cult films of all times.

For those of you that do not know, this movie lover went to college for art (I have my BA in Art Therapy)… so when I received this book in the mail I was STOKED! What a great way to combine my two greatest loves!*

*If you didn’t guess “art” and “movies” then we are breaking up!

This book is 176 pages of stunning, creative, witty, and sometimes just down-right funny art pieces. Sure, these are fun, but they are also very detailed and well thought out.

Take Dave MacDowell’s painting “Appetite For Veruca”, for example. MacDowell’s painting seems like a twisted take on WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, but there is more to it than that. The painting is actually more of a Wonka themed interpretation of Robert Williams piece “Appetite For Destruction” which was originally made for, you guessed it, Guns N’ Roses. The piece was considered too graphic for the album cover and banned. In MacDowell’s piece, he brightens the colors to a more “Wonka” friendly palette, and makes the images seem more personal, including all of their faces. I applaud his use of everlasting gobstoppers instead of the skulls protruding from the red beast… clever! He still chose to keep the creepy factor in tact, which is more than fitting. I mean, WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is one of my favorite movies, but it’s still creepy! All I am saying is that I wouldn’t jump in a boat with Gene Wilder if I had the option…

Dave MacDowell “Appetite For Veruca”

(If you want to check out the inspiration for “Appetite For Veruca“, the famoous “Appetite For Destruction” by Robert Williams, just click on the thumbnail below)

Another favorite of mine has to be the Film Family Portraits of Kirk Demarais. (You can see his portrait “The Torrances, inspired by The Shining” below). Demarais takes all of our favorite cult movie families and gives them the family portrait moment that they deserve… and that are worthy of that coveted spot above the fireplace!

Kirk Demarais (www.kirkdemarais.com)

Kevin Smith lends his voice to the introduction of the book, which is a nice bonus to the already hi-five worthy book. Smith has been involved with the show in the past, and it seems only fitting for such a fun cinephile to write the introduction.

I could talk about this book all day, but instead… I am going to tell you to go out and pick up a copy! My only regret is being too poor to buy some of these pieces for my house!