We start to get afraid of horror movies long before we even sit down to watch them. So here are here are 10 most insane horror movie posters designed with some creative thoughts and reminds you of the movie when you just see them without even watching the film. Some horror posters have made their mark over the years and become iconic in cinema history. So without further ado, these are the top 10 horror movie posters that will stay with you long after you’ve watched the film…
The Exorcist (1973)
There’s not many horror posters as creepily ambient as The Exorcist. The poster shows Father Merrin standing under a streetlamp, illuminated by an eerie glow as he gears up to face the demonic force within Regan’s room. The cragement of light and shadow creates a rather disquieting aura, turning it into one of the most haunting posters ever designed.
Halloween (1978)
The Halloween poster is minimalist but chilling. The transformation of a knife into a pumpkin embodies the slasher genre — a trail of violence lies beneath an innocent holiday. The glowing eyes and the ominous knife foreshadow the dogged pursuits of Michael Myers, resulting in an indelible piece of horror cinema.
Jaws (1975)
Although it is often categorized as a thriller, Jaws has horror elements that make it one of the scariest films of all time. The poster shows a giant shark swimming up toward a swimmer in the surf, capturing the fear of things you can’t see under the ocean. Its minimalist design, coupled with a bold title font, has led to this work becoming an iconic piece of horror history.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
The coming of Freddy Krueger into this world was announced with a nightmarish poster of the wide-eyed, terrified Nancy as clawed hands emerged from the darkness around her. “Unless Nancy wakes up screaming a whole lot, she’s not gonna wake up at all” may be one of the most terrifying tag lines of any film, ever, and one of the most chilling horror film posters of all time.
The Silence of the Lambs 1991
The Silence of the Lambs poster is scarier in its simplicity. The image, which shows a close-up of Clarice Starling’s face with a death’s-head hawkmoth across her mouth, is haunting in its unsettling quality. And upon closer inspection, the markings on the moth contain a hidden image of Salvador Dalí’s In Voluptas Mors — which features a skull formed of nude figures — adding to the creep factor.
1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Nasty, brutish, and disturbing, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre poster captures the film’s unbidden horror. Leatherface’s having his chainsaw drawn in bright sunlight is terrifying evidence that evil doesn’t happen exclusively at night. The grainy quality and the big red type only heighten its grim authenticity.
It (2017)
The current remake of It had a fearful one-sheet displaying Pennywise freezing Georgie a blood-red balloon in the dark along with the morbid tagline of “You’ll float too.” And while that disturbing tagline is certainly its own kind of tease, the poster’s jarring simplicity — and the stark contrast of the deep shadows to Pennywise’s evil grin — makes for one of the most menacing horror posters in recent memory.
The Shining (1980)
The Shining has had many posters over the decades but the iconic one is a very simple yellow one with a distorted, screaming face. The simple approach, coupled with the creepy tagline “The tide of terror that swept America is here,” captures the film’s psychological horror perfectly.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
This horror film is psychological in nature, and its poster is both elegant and extremely unsettling. With the silhouette of a baby carriage above a green background that pixilates into an anxious face (Mia Farrow’s), the poster creates an immediate sense of ominous foreboding. The minimalism enhances the horror, rendering it a classic of poster design.
Hereditary (2018)
One of the scariest horror films in years, Hereditary had an equally unsettling poster. The poster, which prominently features the anxious and body language of its star Toni Collette and Milly Shapiro, perfectly captures the film’s sense of both psychological torment and supernatural dread. Its dark, moody tones bring an added level of creepiness that lingers for viewers.
Conclusion
Good horror movie posters do not simply advertise a film — they tell a story, build anticipation and leave an indelible psychological mark. Visuals so terrifying, the above posters are inseparable from their places in the annals of horror cinema. These posters tend to torment the viewer far beyond the credits roll, whether it be through disturbing imagery, eerie simplicity, or clever symbolism.
