In the ’80s, marketing was something that had nothing to do with how it changed in the digital era. There were no social media back then and instead of the internet and the countless websites, there were just magazines. Presentations weren’t easy for anyone in every magazine, so the marketing companies needed to present something that would attract the eye of the audience.
In the film industry, you need a superb image and a genuine, catchy tagline. In the horror field, the first poster of each film needed to make the difference and attract horror fans. Back in the ’80s, many horror films had a cover for the VHS or the cinema poster, which was a small masterpiece. Some films even had more than one cover art, while posters also changed in different territories.
The tradition was kept for most of those ’80s films, even if some posters were changed when they hit cinemas or cult movie nights years (even decades) later, or when they were released in the DVD format.
Many of those horror film posters, famous or unknown, were a huge influence on the album covers of some heavy metal bands. The inspiration for the horror film posters was based on the covers of pulp literature and fantasy, sword & sorcery, horror books. They were also inspired by the covers of magazines, comics and horror publications, and the works of artists such as Frank Frazetta and Ken Kelly. That kind of imagery was so influential, that it even inspired movie parts, characters and scenes, besides the art of their posters. Even George Lucas was inspired by the art of Frank Frazetta. Frazetta was even offered to paint the cover of Star Wars, but he declined since he always wanted to retain the originals and the copyright, something that wouldn’t be possible with Star Wars.
Besides the paintings, there were films that had an image from the film. A striking image was also something that would offer realistic shock, like posters from the Cannibal Holocaust film. Meanwhile, in many cases, the poster and the tagline set the tone of the film, even if sometimes the posters were better than the films!
Below you will see some iconic ’80s horror film posters, a few cult favourites and also some unknown films with excellent cover art.
