Back in the mid-1980s, Canadian retailer Zellers offered an exclusive line of Atari 2600-compatible video games. Produced in Taiwan, these titles were knockoffs of existing popular games. That is except for Challenge, which was a byte-for-byte clone of lesser-known European cartridge.
An unremarkable title it attracted gamers with its apparently Ghostbusters-inspired cover art. Unlike Zellers’ other notorious titles, however, Challenge was not a copy of Activision’s Ghostbusters. In fact, the gameplay, which has you dodge some type of enemy while navigating a serpentine maze, bears no resemblance to the 1984 sci-fi/comedy/horror hit film. And yet the knock-off game still had a connection to the Activision cart programmed.
As revealed in a recent auction by Hake’s of a Challenge cartridge, the box art for the game originated in the March 1985 issue of Electronic Games Magazine, accompanying the article “Catching Ghosts With The Boss Buster,” a piece which profiled Ghostbusters’ legendary programmer David Crane.
The image, which depicts a male and female Ghostbuster battling a monstrous dog-like creature emerging from a computer, was created by painter and former graffiti artist Duncan Eagleson. In addition to his work for Electronic Games Magazine, Eagleson contributed to a number of noteworthy projects in the 1980s. One help the first film in the now multi-property franchise A Nightmare on Elm Street secure financing.
Despite the ultimate ubiquitous nature of horror films in the 1980s, writer-director Wes Craven had difficulty finding a home for Freddy Krueger. Finally in 1983, the nearly bankrupt New Line Cinema, which had only distributed films thus far, decided to produce Craven’s movie. To secure financing, Craven and New Line employed a number of marketing tricks to pitch potential backers (often referred to as a “pitch deck”). Those included a draft movie poster.
Enter Eagleson. Informed only by the description in the script, and possibly Craven’s inspiration for Freddy’s weapon of choice, the effect cave bears had on primal man, Eagleson painted a beautiful poster that suggests the power of the film’s villain without spoiling it entirely. scene on suburban street. We’re shown what appears to be a serene suburban street. Upon closer inspection, however, the otherwise blue sky is being torn open by three curved metal blades.
While not used for the final U.S. movie poster, which was created by Matt Peak, Eagleson’s art was used in other marketing efforts, including promotions in France, Yugoslavia and Germany.
Of course, once the film was released in the fall of 1984, it was an instant success, grossed $57 million worldwide and rescuing New Line from financial disaster.
As mentioned above, Hake’s auction of the Zellers knock-off game sold for $35. That price included a copy of the Eagleson’s art as featured in Electronic Games Magazine. Eagleson’s original Nightmare painting sold at auction in 2024 for $15,340.
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