Of these frankly superb Communist era Czech posters for Hollywood films (the top one, believe it or not, is for Ghostbusters [1984]), Jason Pirodsky of Expats.cz explains:

Some writers attribute the bizarre nature of Czech (and Polish) movie posters from the 1960s through the 1980s to “an artistic alternative to banned U.S. publicity material” (what, the posters were banned, but the movies weren’t?), but the actual story is much more interesting. While artists behind promotional material elsewhere needed to be able to sell their product in the most effective (read: least imaginative) way possible, the communist regime inadvertently created a unique environment for this particular form. Free from most commercial interests, the artists behind these posters were given an incredible amount of free reign over their design – an artistic freedom even the filmmakers behind the movies didn’t enjoy.

MORE: Top 25 Czechoslovak Movie Posters (*for US Films) (Expat.cz)

(All images: Terry Ponozky)

(H/T: Qzak)