Well, folks. Here we are as the saying goes. With 2015 rapidly approaching it’s ultimate demise, good ol’ Doc Rotten has entrusted yours truly to come up with a list of the top ten horror movie posters of the past year.
First, I had to come up with a criteria. Establish some rules for myself when trying to figure this out. In the past few years, horror movie posters have been a wasteland of Photo-shopped heads of the stars in the film of interest. In no way was this representative of what the film was about nor did it even give an idea of the concept behind the movie. So…
Rule 1: No dumb-ass head shot posters. (Thanks, Disturbing Behavior.)
Next, I thought about what I like about movie posters. What makes me want to see the movie just from seeing the poster. A great design, a great artist. A good poster should tell a piece of the story. I know I’m not the only one that has been lured in by a fantastic poster only to gag on the bile of the awful movie that didn’t deliver on what the poster promised. But hey, the poster did its job. It got your toot bag in the seat. So….
Rule 2: The movie doesn’t have to be a good movie for this list’s purposes. Just the poster. (Thanks, Blubberella.)
So, without further ado, here’s my list of the top ten horror movie posters of 2015. And remember, these are just my favorites. You may disagree, or have what you consider a better list, so by all means share what you think! Even though I’m on the interwebs a lot, I’ve been known to be tolerant of other people’s opinions. Enjoy!
10: We Are Still Here
This little doozy is an alternate version of the poster ultimately used, but it is my preferred one. It gives a little more of a graphic interpretation of what the movie is about. Before you think, ” I thought you said no dumbass headshot posters?”. Hey, these heads are gnarly and on fire. ‘Nuff said.
9: Zombeavers
This one’s also an alternate poster that I prefer over the original, which looked like your run of the mill SciFi channel animal goes wild movie. It almost made it look like it takes itself too serious. (?) The one presented here looks more like a survivor’s guide to avoiding undead river varmints. Waaaaay more appealing and more in line with the tone of the movie.
8: Creep
I’m not a big fan of blurbs all over a movie poster. Save that crap for the TV ads and books. It makes it look like the film doesn’t have any confidence and has to add all these quotes as if to say, “See? see how good we are? Gosh darn it, people like us!” I just hate it. And this poster was eat up with them. Luckily, I found one without all that on it. But this image. Man, does this image unsettle me. It manages to make Mark Duplass, who in the light of day looks like Bob Hope’s test tube baby, look truly terrifying.
7: Deathgasm
I love metal. I love horror. So when this movie put its metal chocolate into my horror peanut butter, I was all over it like butter meltin’ on a hot biscuit! (Ok, I’ll stop.) Love the movie. Love the poster. You know what it’s all about just by looking at it. One side note though. I would have liked to have seen a more Heavy Metal album cover look to the poster. But who knows? Maybe the Blu Ray art will rectify.
6: Spring
People either really liked this movie or really hated it. (Whisper: I liked it a lot.) But there’s no denying this is a beautifully done poster. The claws, the tentacles and the bat wings all represented in burning red slowly cooling off to show the emotional connection of the film’s two main characters at the top of the poster. Blurbs anger me a bit, but very well done.
5: Muck
I know, I know. But remember my rule. The movie may suck, but is the poster good? When I first saw this poster, a plethora of concepts swept my imagination. Let’s see, it’s called Muck. It has Kane Hodder. Awesome. The poster has one of the actors neck deep in mud. Could it be about some kind of swamp monster or sentient mud, ala The Blob? Well, anyone who saw this particular movie knows the sad answer to these questions. But, as I said before, the poster did it’s job. It made me want to see it.
4: Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
This bad boy hearkens back to the days of good, ol’ fashioned hand painted movie posters. Drew Struzan, anyone? These types of posters are few and far between anymore, and it’s good to see one attached to what looks like a hilarious horror comedy.
3: Digging up the Marrow
I really “dig” this poster. (Ahem.) Nice design, creepy and gets right to the point of what it’s trying to tell you. The way the entrance to the Marrow is depicted here is clever I thought. Yeah, here there be monsters. And sometimes that’s good enough for me.
2: Crimson Peak
There are a few posters and other art for Crimson Peak, but this one is my favorite. Not only does it tell its story, but it does so in a drawing that looks like it was actually done by a comic artist. So I’m a little biased on this one. Sweeeeeet!
Ok, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! (Or not.) My number one pick for the best horror movie poster for the year 2015…………..
1: It Follows
This sucker had several sweet posters to choose from. All of which had a retro ’70’s/’80’s vibe to them. And this is my favorite one out of them all. The movie itself was a dark, weird thing that kept making you wonder what in the crap is going on. The poster follows suit. It grabs your attention and makes you ask, “What? Who follows? What doesn’t give up?” One of my favorite films of the year. I love the whole throwback feel of this one. Others may be technically better, but this one’s my fave.
And that’s it, folks. My top ten for 2015. Let me know what you think!
Oh, yeah. One more thing. This………..
