The Vault of Horror (1973)

The Vault of Horror is an Amicus Productions anthology, which tells several spine tingle tales, shared by five men trapped in the basement of an office building. Yep…this film takes place inside an office building..not a graveyard! There is a brief moment at the end of the film, where the men walk out into a misty graveyard, but certainly not enough to justify this poster.  As for the guy reaching out in a last gasp effort to escape a tomb, it’s complete fiction. I guess the illustrator heard VAULT and just ran with it!

Blood Beach (1981)

I’ve spoke before about the poster for the 1981 creature feature Blood Beach. The scene that appears on the poster is not the same as what happens in the film. In fact, it’s so widely different, that it’s clear that poster artist had never seen the film. Here in the poster , we have a young bikini clad lady being pulled down under the sand, a beach full of people unaware of the horror unfolding mere feet away. The entire scene is lit by the red glows of a sunset. In the film, an old lady, walking her dog in the early morning, gets pulled down. Yep… this poster really got sexed-up and dropped the whole early morning dog walker for something a little more sexy and scary!

The Evil dead (1981)

The Evil Dead is without doubt one of the finest horror films ever made.  But, oh boy,  does the poster mis-sell the film. We have a young woman, wearing a ripped nightgown, being pulled underground by a blooded hand. The closest we get to this, is the scene where Ash buries Linda, only for her to grab at his arm from her shallow grave. The poster has literally nothing to do with the film, nor does it depicts any scenes that take place.

Alien (1979)

A classic example of a film poster jumping the gun, is the 1979 Alien one-sheet. Before the movie begun filming a teaser was released using decorated chicken eggs to represent the Alien spores. It was this image, of the chicken egg with light flowing out form it’s cracks, that appeared on the films posters. If you have seen the film, you know that the eggs look nothing like this. Yep, the Alien film  had not even been filmed when the promotional items were made.

The Thing (1982)

John Carpenter’s 1982 science fiction horror film, The Thing, sees a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter an alien being that assimilates and then imitates other organisms. What the creature does not do is split open heads to reveal crystal reflective glowing insides. This mystic poster implies something more supernatural than otherworldly, and does a poor job of actually reflecting the film.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

The Nightmare on Elm Street films have always had wonderfully illustrated posters, but the one that really stands out is from the third film. Displaying four of the kids that Freddy Kruger haunts in the film. At first glance theirs nothing wrong with the image, but on closer inspection, you’ll begin to spot a few issues. Taryn White’s punk alter ego now has bleach blond hair, instead of the spiked black mullet from the film. She’s also wearing clothes that never appear in the film, including a bright pink top, leopard print leggings and a chain belt. Nancy Thompson has also gone through a clothes change, now donning a flowing sheer nightgown And what on earth is Joey Crusel holding…is that… a mace? The poster artist was clearly given character breakdowns, but had no idea what they would look like or what they would be doing in the film.

Keep Rotten”

“Morti” The Mortician