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[title]The interview wrapped, but Dave Milligan of Exotic Originals stuck around to drop his personal poster hall of fame on us.
Before anything else, here’s Dave being honest: ‘It’s my personal top ten, though the order isn’t set in stone or anything. It might change tomorrow or even the day after because it's hard to narrow things down!’
With that preface, what follows are Dave’s current right-this-second rankings, courtesy of today’s Dave. Tomorrow’s Dave might shuffle the deck, swap out entries, or flip the order entirely. That restless, ever-shifting perspective is exactly what makes Exotic Originals worth circling back to.
1. Apocalypse Now (1979)
Right out of the gate, we’re going nuclear. This is ‘a huge, stunning two-sheet piece by Thailand’s greatest cinema poster artist of all time’ – a certain Tongdee Panumas – and if that sounds like overblown praise, the list will make believers out of you.
Quick fact drop before you go hunting on the usual online listings: ‘it was never a regular Thai size one-sheet, that’s a well-known fake’, so if someone’s peddling that story to you, run.
Now, about acquiring one of these. Deep breath. ‘It’s extraordinarily rare and has changed hands for crazy money. I’m not going to state a price range here, because I think it’s massively overpriced and I don’t want to qualify this price in any way.’ Dave’s diplomatic restraint is clear here. When the market goes bananas, silence can speak louder than the numbers.
But here’s the thing that transcends price tags and auction drama: ‘A lot of prolific collectors across the world have named it as the greatest film poster of all time – from any country.’ Not the best Thai poster. Not even the best Asian poster. The greatest, anywhere. Dave concludes simply, ‘It’s not difficult to see why it’s so highly revered.’
2. Mad Max (1979)
This one’s ‘another Tongdee masterclass and the pride of my collection’ and Dave’s not being modest about it. When something sits on a list this competitive, humility goes out the window and rightfully so.
Why does this poster command such reverence? Well, ‘I think the entire poster is incredible,’ he says, ‘but I think the typography of the film’s title is such a standout.’ The lettering ‘is based on the aesthetic of the original international poster’s title font and with Thai script, it looks incredible.’
But it gets better. Tongdee didn’t exactly just copy the Western design and call it a day. According to Dave, ‘I think he’s improved the Western logo’s overall design massively.’
3. Friday the 13th (1980)
Three words from Dave on this one: ‘Incredible. The fonts. The colours’.
Surprise, surprise! It’s ‘again, Tongdee Panumas – the guy is an absolute genius’. At this point, you start to realise that Tongdee basically owned the late ‘70s and early ‘80s Thai poster scene, churning out masterpiece after masterpiece and this one sits right at the top of that golden streak.
This is the kind of poster that stops you cold. It’s not just advertising when it’s really a promise of what’s waiting in the theatre. And few posters have ever promised this hard.
4. King of Comedy (1983)
‘This is one of my favourite films of all time’, Dave says, ‘and I was very surprised that it got a Thai theatrical release’. It makes sense when he explains how ‘it’s pretty offbeat and it’s massively underrated’, though thankfully ‘a lot of fans have made sure it’s got the gold star cult classic status it deserves’.
How offbeat are we talking? According to Dave, it’s ‘the most left of centre Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro film that ever happened’. And that’s saying something from a director-actor duo who’ve never exactly played it safe, wrapping it in that distinctly ‘80s media saturation anxiety that somehow feels even more relevant now.
Dave’s clearly stoked about snagging this one: ‘I only recently got one of these – honestly, I never thought I’d get one. So I’m a happy boy right now!’ Oh! And the artist? ‘Again – Tongdee!’
5. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
‘I am a huge John Carpenter fan and I had to pick one.’ So begins this love letter to both director and designer. ‘This one is an absolute beauty and is exceptionally rarely seen’.
Dave notes, though, that ‘it’s not my favourite Carpenter film and although the Thai poster for The Thing is perhaps the piece that has collectors salivating far more, given apparently only 50 were ever printed.’ There's a calculated choice happening here. ‘But I'm going by artwork here and this one wins, hands down’. It’s about the visual mastery, the composition, the way ink and paper come together to create something transcendent.
Take a wild guess before we reveal the artist: ‘again the artist is Tongdee!’ Shocking absolutely no one at this point.
Dave runs through the Carpenter catalogue with obvious affection – ‘Escape From New York, Halloween, They Live all had great posters too and Prince Of Darkness has an absolute acid trip of a poster, which is probably fitting for what is for me, one of the greatest horror films ever made’.
He adds that ‘I have never seen a Thai poster for Halloween III: Season of the Witch’ then shares a genuine disappointment: ‘Big Trouble In Little China never had a good Thai poster – they pulled a Star Wars and just slapped Thai texts over the international artwork’ and while that original art is gorgeous, Dave would’ve loved ‘to have seen a Thai take on this one’.
6. Deep Red (1975)
‘One of Italian horror maestro Dario Argento’s greatest films got a simple (by Thai horror standards) yet stunning piece.’
And there’s a story here that makes this entry even sweeter. Dave says he ‘just finally found one of these and it was for French director Gaspar Noé (Irreversible, Enter The Void) who is a regular customer.’
When Gaspar made a film with Argento last year, Dave naturally ‘offered it to him first as he had been asking about it.’ The universe aligned here, with a giallo legend's poster going to a director who had collaborated with said legend.
Dave also tells us how Gaspar ‘is a lovely guy – nothing like you’d expect, the sort of character who would make such twisted cinema and a huge poster collector.’
7. Death Wish (1974)
‘The gun in motion is badass and this is one of my favourite posters of all time.’
This one’s another all-time favourite and in a list this brutal – that means it’s staking a claim on the summit and probably never coming down.
‘I never thought I’d own one,’ Dave says and we can see the appreciation born from longing. He adds, ‘It was one of the top two on my grail list, alongside King of Comedy.’
But acquiring a grail is rarely a clean victory. ‘It’s as stunning as it is rare,’ Dave explains further. ‘It was a bit of a mess when I got it.’ Fifty-plus years had left their mark: grime, wear, all the inevitable entropy of surviving half a century.
So Dave did this: ‘I had it professionally restored.’ But not just any restoration. He found Darrell Kobza: 'Darrell and I share an ethos regarding restoration – no repainting. Just a bath in a solution which doesn’t damage the paper to get fifty years plus of grot and grime out, some very minor touch-ups and a linen backing.’
The approach protects the delicate piece, makes it display significantly better, but never fundamentally alters what it is. ‘Darrell Kobza did a phenomenal job,’ Dave says and the image you’re seeing? That’s his actual piece. The gun still frozen in that badass motion blur. The grail, finally home.
8. The Beyond (1981)
Bold statement incoming: ‘Horror posters do not get better than this’.
We’re talking about ‘the most well known and beloved film from maverick Italian director Lucio Fulci’s Gates of Hell trilogy’ and ‘this is an absolute stunner, utterly iconic and has often been imitated, but never bettered’.
Here, we get to credit another maestro: ‘This poster was done by legendary Thai artist Noppadol’ and in a list dominated by one genius, it’s genuinely refreshing to celebrate another master of the craft.
9. Psycho II (1983)
‘An incredibly and beautifully detailed piece for the enormously underrated sequel to the Hitchcock classic, Psycho’. Already we’re on interesting ground: sequels to untouchable classics rarely get their flowers, but here we are.
Now brace yourself for this hot take: ‘Some people will call this blasphemy, but I far prefer Psycho II over the first film – a comment that would no doubt have Hitchcock spinning in his grave and get a hell of a lot of cinephiles' knickers in a twist’.
But as Dave rightly points out: ‘You don’t choose what you like!’ Taste doesn’t arrive via committee approval or critical consensus!
10. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Let’s start with a confession from Dave: ‘I must admit I am absolutely no Trekkie (that’s a name for Star Trek's hardcore fanbase), but I absolutely love this film.’ Sometimes you don’t really need the Starfleet manual to recognise greatness when it beams directly into your eyeballs.
Why does Dave love it? Well, ‘it features one of the best sci-fi horror sequences of all time with the ear bugs, I won’t spoil it if you haven’t seen it and the performance from Ricardo Montalban as Khan is incredible. One of the best and most complex on-screen baddies of all time.’
Now, for the poster itself, Dave’s enthusiastic here: the poster is ‘unbelievable, easily the best Thai Star Trek poster and easily my favourite Thai sci-fi poster.’ According to Dave, it's ‘a masterpiece’, though the artist remains to be confirmed.