Poster Of The Day - Deathsport (1978)

Deathsport was churned out in the late-Seventies by Roger Corman's New World Pictures. It had a pretty good trailer (see below) and I vaguely remember some TV spots for it that seemed neat. Of course, I was an 8-year-old when this came out, so the idea of laser-armed motorcycles was totally "boss," to use the slang of the time. I'm like a living fossil suddenly.

For a movie full motor cycles, laser blasts and explosions, it is surprisingly sluggish, even boring. It does have the smoking hot Claudia Jennings in it and she does drop her knickers. We also get David Carradine in a leather loincloth (eww).

In keeping with many Corman films, the poster is pretty bad ass. Ok, we do get barbarian guy-butt in a Speedo, which is not cool...although it is an ass...hahahaha. Ah, some days I kill me.

The poster does promise action (which there is, even if it's not well done), high-powered motor cycle death machines (eh, dirt bikes with plastic thingies stuck to them) and a glimpse at a depressing future, where the only entertainment on the floating city are gladiatorial games (quite true...except for the floating city part). Seeing that poster with the eyes of a kid again, one who hasn't seen the movie, I know why it appealed. The action is front and center. I want to see who the biker barbarian is shooting at. The motorcycle appealed to my kiddie brain, recently basted in 35 viewings of Star Wars. Plus, I was in a Robert E. Howard phase, so anything with barbarians seemed cool, even if they are barbarians of the future. The poster does have some problems. The title obscures the action and would probably be better either over or under the central image. Also, the perspective seems a little weird, but the image is pretty kinetic, so that isn't a big drawback.

Claudia Jennings, hottest future barbarian ever.

So, would adult me go see this movie? Well, I own it, so, yeah, I guess so. It's a strange film. It has all the elements to be a fun B-movie - decent actors, hot lead willing to get naked, lots of action - but it never really comes together in an entertaining whole. Still, love the poster.