Good marketing is essential to the success of any movie. Because the horror genre is such a visual and visceral medium, a good poster can go a long way toward captivating an audience and sparking their imagination. A truly provocative image can also accentuate the legacy of a film and make it more memorable. The '80s had a little bit of everything, from bloody slasher movies to horrifying creatures, and creepy killer dolls. Here are some of the best posters that are synonymous with the decade.
The Thing (1982)
What is The Thing, actually? The poster doesn't explain much other than you're going to have to show up at the theater and find out exactly what it is that is killing members of an arctic research team one by one and inhabiting their bodies. With sub-zero temperatures outside the cramped research facility, they are a bunch of sitting ducks trapped inside with the bizarre amalgam of a creature that inhabits whatever it has an appetite for.
The Fog (1980)
An isolated harbor with very few residents — check. A single lighthouse to illuminate the entire space — another check. A rolling fog that serves as the perfect cover for mysterious creatures to lurk, stalk, and then attack you — that's a check. Scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis took some time away from Michael Myers and the Halloween franchise, along with Adrienne Barbeau, to fumble around in the 1980 scare-fest The Fog, and the image is a visceral reminder that you should definitely be afraid of what you can't see.
The Shining (1980)
Is there a more iconic image in all of film than the loony tunes, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) peering through the splintered door that he has just taken an axe to? Yes, that's right, "Heeeere's Johnny!" and weeee're officially terrified. Almost as much as Shelley Duvall's terror-stricken Wendy who is on the wrong side of Jack's cabin fevered induced psychosis. The poster from 1980's The Shining may very well be the most memorable, most visceral image in the history of horror.
The Lost Boys (1987)
Michael (Jason Patric) may be in the forefront of this poster sporting some seriously hip 1987 Ray Bans, but it's the demonic glares of Kiefer Sutherland and his motley band of miscreant vampires that really stick with you from this image. The Lost Boys, in particular Sutherland's appearance as both David and his vampire alter ego, is one of the most visually frightening appearances on film from the entire year.
CHUD (1984)
Do you ever walk over a manhole on the street and wonder if a Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller is just waiting to emerge, grab your leg and pull you in? We sometimes do because of the cult classic's poster that shows a CHUD coming out of such a manhole in the 1984 campy trash horror flick. Starring a young Daniel Stern and John Heard (Home Alone) the CHUD poster may be the best thing about the film, unfortunately.
The Burning (1981)
The poster for the 1981 horror flick The Burning is just about as straightforward as you can get. The image of Cropsy (Lou David) with his patented shears towering over a river of blood is truly visceral and tells you all you need to know about the film. A young Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter star as teen campers who leave the camp's caretaker, Cropsy, burning and left for dead. Cropsy has other ideas though and exacts some revenge with the help of his razor sharp sheers. A true cult favorite in horror circles, and a must-watch if you loved Friday the 13th.
The Stuff (1985)
When a mysterious new dessert treat becomes all the rage, it turns out that The Stuff is more than just a harmless new candy, but an addictive killer entity. A beautiful satire about crass consumerism in the United States, the poster is a remarkable image of "the stuff" oozing from the eyes and mouth of a distorted and tortured face and is without a doubt one of the very best horror posters of not only the ;80s, but in the history of horror.
Creepshow 2 (1987)
Everyone's favorite ghoulish skeleton, Raul is sitting right behind you enjoying a bucket of popcorn and telling you to turn your phone off. You should probably heed his advice while taking in this 1987 anthology based on several Stephen King stories with screenplays written by the legendary George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Monkey Shines). Pay no attention to the mixed reviews, true horror fans will enjoy the stories in the sequel to the hugely successful Romero directed original.
Poltergeist (1982)
Of course, "They're Here!" We know it. You know it. Everybody knows it when Carol Anne Freeling (Heather O'Rourke) is sitting crisscross in front of the static covered, spirit filled portal of a television screen that only bad things can happen. Sorry Mom (JoBeth Williams) and Dad (Craig T. Nelson), but you've angered the spirits of the souls that are buried underneath your ranch-style house, and the poltergeist is going to take your darling little girl as a little payback.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Funny how a bunch of entries on this list came from the year 1980, right? Anyway, this poster can be summed up with five words: "Camp Crystal Lake" and "Jason Voorhies." In what many consider the pre-eminent '80s slasher film, the outline of the masked killer framing the forest of Camp Crystal Lake is a chilling reminder of the machete wielding freak show that was on a mission to slaughter each and every unsuspecting camp counselor he could find. Friday the 13th introduced a new subgenre within horror, and the poster is a perfect symbol.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Of course the Minister of Macabre, Wes Craven is going to be included in this list. His seminal horror classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street has a truly iconic poster. With Freddy Krueger's (Robert Englund) shimmering bladed fingers font and center, there is no mistaking who and what is to be feared in this film. Children of the '80s didn't want to go to sleep for weeks after Craven's tale of the dream hunting slasher haunted their slumber after seeing the 1984 flick.
Halloween 2 (1981)
So if there is such a thing as the "three tenors" of opera, then Michael Myers, along with Jason Voorhies and Freddy Krueger, would definitely have to be considered the "three slashers" of horror. The unmistakable closeup of the black and white duality of Myer's Phantom of the Opera-style mask is directly in your face on the poster for Halloween 2. Of all the Halloween movies and posters, it's the image's minimalism that accentuates the terror of the mindless and barbaric killer with an insatiable appetite for murder.
Fright Night (1985)
So you're saying you wouldn't trick-or-treat at the house depicted on the 1985 cult classic Fright Night on Halloween? Neither would we. With a positively horrifying vampire face emerging from the mist over the house of your friendly neighborhood vampire, Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), he's not exactly the type of guy to ask for a cup of sugar if you in a pinch. Never mind that if you look closely, you can see the bloodsucker peering from the illuminated upstairs bedroom waiting for his next victim to turn.
The Fly (1986)
A couple of barely tested teleportation pods and a narcissistic scientist running the show? What could go wrong? Just about everything as Martin Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) accidently hybridizes himself with a common housefly and emerges as a horrifying combination of human and fly. As the poster teases, what emerges from Brundlefly's misguided science experiment should terrify you.
Child's Play (1988)
There are a couple of posters for the 1988 scream fest, Child's Play, but there's little doubt that the image of little Chucky with a large knife raised next to his demonic doll face preparing to plunge it into his next victim is the far more ominous of the two. There is just something inherently creepy in an inanimate object that we associate with the innocence of youth being used as the vehicle of terror that gets us every time.
The Evil Dead (1981)
Sam Raimi's terrific tale starring Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams has a truly horrifying poster of a zombified hand coming out of the ground and grabbing a woman and pulling her down into the ground as she helplessly reaches an outstretched arm toward the sky trying to save herself. The Evil Dead was the first of a series that became a fan favorite with a mix of gory jump scares with the charisma and dark humor of Campbell as Ash.