Home | Recreation And Leisure | Entertainment | Movies

A History of Horror Movie Posters

By: Steven Hasenplaugh

Read More About Movies

For most of us, going to the movies was always exciting, especially if it was a horror movie. However, what is it that actually draws us to watch these movies? A lot of us tend to rely on word of mouth; usually coming from people that have seen the movie before. For the majority of us, the one thing that mostly attracts us to watch these horror movies is the horror movie poster. This is because these posters are able to communicate a lot of information about the film in a single image.

The art work and effort that was put in to create these posters have made them very sought after today, and there are now many collectors of horror film posters. To meet this demand, there has been an increasing number of websites and portals to make this material available to these collectors.

If you take a look at a history of horror film posters, you will notice that it extends as far back as the first movies produced in Hollywood. Movie posters in general were originally never intended to be sold. They were loaned or rented to movie theaters during the run of the show. A limited number of prints were made. At the end of the run, the posters were returned to the studios. As people became aware of the value of the posters, theater owners began ignoring the return policy.

During the great depression in the 1930's, the studios started a new effort to ensure the return of movie posters. They paid 15 cents for every poster returned. This effort failed mainly due to the low value imposed by the studios in relation to the price of gas and bread. Many copies were destroyed by natural disasters and damages caused in the Second World War. This made the remaining copies extremely valuable. As a matter of fact, less than 20 copies exist from movies that were made between 1930 and 1945. Some of the horror movie posters included in this small list is King Kong, Frankenstein, and The Bride of Frankenstein.

Although the first horror movies were produced in Europe a few years into the 1920's, these were essentially short films that did not really lead to much. This of course excluded the film Nosferatu, which was produced in 1922 in Germany as a silent movie. Many people still believe that this is the most frightening adaptation of Dracula. The design of the poster for this movie, although simplistic, portrayed a frightening picture of shadowy dread.

What are considered the first real commercial horror films produced in Hollywood, were made in the 1930s. The first of these was Dracula, which was released in 1931. This was the first full-length movie based on Bram Stokers vampire and was based on the hit stage production of the same name. The design of the poster for this film had more color to its dimensions compared to previous horror movie posters.

In the same year Frankenstein was released. The vivid poster created for this movie reflects two main themes. The first being a scientist in the background mixing his chemicals, and the main face of Frankenstein displayed in the center reflecting how good intentions can sometimes lead to horrific consequences by monsters of our own making.

Another horror movie poster that also surfaced quite frequently when taking a look at a history of horror movie posters is the unforgettable 1973 poster for the Exorcist'. This poster eerily depicts a priest walking under a streetlamp towards a house. Until today the Exorcist' is still considered as one of the greatest horror movies ever produced.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Horror movie posters have been around as long as there's been horror movies. Check out www.horror-movie-poster.com for all your favorite horror movie posters.

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Movies Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Recreation And Leisure | Entertainment | Movies
Sign Up for a free account.
Our other websites
All about SEO
Beauty Tips Forum
Submit Articles
Member Login
Link Us
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Sitemap
New Stuff
About Us
Developer
Good shopping portal
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

counter easy hit

Powered by Article Dashboard