Currently on the Gallery 1988 Web site there is contest to win a signed copy of the Crazy 4 Cult poster by artist Christopher Lee. A faux screen-printed onesheet, drawn in the style of 1950s UPA cartoons (they did “Mr. Magoo”) with a bit of “Pink Panther” thrown in, the winner is whomever can name the most references to the cult movies splayed around the “Laugh-In” font.



Some are obvious: Vader, Napoleon Dynamite, Howard the Duck, Spinal Tap. Some more esoteric: a red stapler, an ambulatory bloody hand, a “rawring” bunny.



Hosted by filmmaker Kevin Smith and his producing partner Scott Mosier, Cult invited over 50 artists to cast their unique eye on classic cult cinema. Why should Scarface, with its oil-based paintings on Olvera Street, be the only film to get the artistic treatment? Isn’t Chunk and his Shuffle Truffle just as much an archetype of American culture and a patron saint of gangsters and rappers? Artist Jeff McMillan has the Goonie join Borat, Pee-wee, the Dude, Divine, Leatherface, Alex (A Clockwork Orange) and a dozen other cult icons.



A standout piece is Greg “Craola” Simkins’ Ed, which has the titular character of Tim Burton’s fantasy bellow, scissorhands outstretched, as a black and white tentacle pierces his chest and wraps around his black speckled heart as Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas offers up a fresh valentine. It expertly captures the existential pathos that pervades all of Burton’s films.



Usually attempting to be as areligious as possible in these pages, I must urge any fan of cinema to drink the Kool-Aid and join this movement.



Gallery 1988 is located at 7020 Melrose Ave. at La Brea Ave. Hours: Tue-Sun, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., closed Wed. Price: Free. For more information, call (323) 937-7088 or visit www.nineteeneightyeight.com.