Funny Games, Quarantine lead each list
The 2008 Autopsy Report is a month-long look at the year in horror. An unflinching and frank examination of the genre’s accomplishments, lapses, trends and random (or, rampant) stupidity in the big screen, television and direct-to-DVD world. This weekly series will sift through the detritus of the last twelve months and see what worked and what didn’t, why and why not. Ultimately, the Autopsy Report will culminate in our year-end best and worst of 2008 list.
They’re integral to getting butts in theater seats. And while many could argue that the art of the film poster has buckled to insipid floating headshots of actors there are still some studios that strive to break today’s norm with, gasp, a thing called creativity. After sifting through 2008’s horror one-sheets, I’ve cobbled together my favorites and my least faves The focus is narrowed down to theatrical releases in 2008 only (be it a wide or limited debut) and limited to five entries per category when I found I was really reaching to find more than that to slip under “favorites.” You can click on the banners below to see each poster in hi-res.
Pretty much what I would expect for a Michael Haneke film. Simple. Beautiful. Eye-catching. A bit sexy (yeah, I kinda think it is). And a a bit off. On its own, the selected image – a rheumy-eyed Naomi Watts – is bold, blunt and a ominous contradiction to the title that’s compounded by the tagline “You must admit, you brought this on yourself.” Funny, it’s not. Deceptive? Absolutely. Universal thought it was so cool, its own marketing team ripped off the poster for their own one-sheet for The Strangers which featured a somber, abused Liv Tyler.
Balk at how juvenile this is all you want, I love it. Especially the layout. It’s aggressive and doesn’t put on airs of being anything more than a monster movie. The design is a complete antithesis to 2007’s Primeval which duped audiences into thinking they were being sold a serial killer thriller. This film screams, “Hey, you’re coming to see a flick about a giant f**kin’ crocodile and we ain’t lyin’!” Some might think it’s tacky. I’ll accept that. It’s a cut above most of the derivative artwork that comes out for nature-run-amok fare. And it gives that flabby reptile from the 1980 Alligator one-sheet a run for its steroids.
Here’s a one-sheet about the details. Upon first glance, it’s about as mysterious as the television and theatrical ad campaign that surrounded the film. It’s a poster about the sky. Then, your peepers are pulled to decapitated Lady Liberty’s mangled backside and the wake left in the water…the devastated city skyline…the helicopters hovering in the smoke. There was some creative online speculation that said if you looked close enough you could see the Cloverfield monster among the ripped apart buildings, or even in the friggin’ clouds. Sure, if you’re smokin’ some “clover-dope.” One thing is true, however: You find yourself studying the art for a few good minutes and that’s a telling sign of an effective one sheet.
Topical, apocalyptic and, sure, a bit familiar, Diary of the Dead‘s U.S. one-sheet (which is stronger than the UK Quad) is one of those posters that evokes a larger budget than what George Romero actually had. Remember Reign of Fire and its promised dragons versus helicopters battle over burning London? It didn’t happen, but boy was it coooool. Here we’ve got a suburban street afflicted with the undead and multiple explosions. Holy shit! Okay, so we didn’t see that, but I’m sure old George had that in mind. It’s the thought that counts and this poster sure was alluring with a striking sense of composition and color scheme.
Jigsaw’s back! Metaphorically speaking, of course. What I like about this poster is that it offers you a moment of hesitation. You see it, you react (generally with an, “Oh, that’s kind of gross.” as most Saw posters make one do), then the questions flood in. Who’s behind the mask? And, ultimately, does someone actually stroll around the whole sequel wearing Tobin Bell’s face?! The answer is, no, of course not, but kudos to Lionsgate for taking a figurative approach with their early marketing. The teaser’s embrace of negative space and enthusiastic use of “white” fits right in with its predecessors – too bad a vapid final one-sheet followed.
This is rather unforgivable. Shame on Screen Gems. In a film brimming with any number of scenes to serve as a springboard for their marketing campaign they chose this single image to exploit and push on unsuspecting movie-goers. Of course, those not foreign film savvy – who haven’t seen Rec the Spanish film upon which this one is based – won’t know the significance of this travesty until they’ve seen the film. Still, this design is rather L-A-Z-Y and takes the number one slot for multiple offenses.
I liked this poster better when it was used for The Skeleton Key, no wait, The Return. Or was it The Grudge 2? Whatever the case, this did absolutely nothing to fire me up for an unneeded American remake. Too plain, creepy but not creepy enough and not enough Alba.
Both the teaser and the final one-sheet presented the same dull art. As a teaser, this image works great. The giant “x” garners a modicum of recognition. It’s classy. Smart. But to carry it over and use it for all U.S. ads was just plain silly. Fox (“20th Century,” I mean, not “Mulder”) loses points with me there. But I guess when you have a film with a plot as mediocre as this one has, I’d be hard-pressed to come up with creative key art, too.
I’m not exactly sure what’s supposed to be going on here. It’s Asia Argento’s face, I know. That’s always welcome in my book. But the “scratches” all over the one-sheet give me reason to believe someone got a bit trigger-happy with the texture application in Photoshop. This DVD art actually gives you something to chew on. A startled-looking Asia? Hardly the kind of poster I expected to get for a long-awaited sequel.
This movie needed help getting into the public eye and its unimaginative one-sheet did little to help its cause. Star Rhona Mitra’s not even dead center, instead that honor goes to a character who dies part of the way through the film. And even though I understand the intention of the art’s layout, I still hate it. My eyes want to straighten it out. Neil Marshall’s film is big and blazing with firepower and I think this poster puts a cap on that. Very disappointing. Universal marketing should have taken a cue from the posters of the films that inspired Marshall in this venture, Mad Max and Escape from New York, when designing their one-sheet.
Previous Autopsy Reports:
⢠DVD Sequelitis
⢠Fear Itself
Source: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor
