10 Creepiest Horror Movie Posters Of All Time
8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
One of the founding features of the slasher genre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre gave horror one of its most enduring icons - Leatherface. Tobe Hopper and Kim Henkel took the story of infamous serial killer Ed Gein and somehow made a character more nightmarish than its source.
The poster for the movie depicts the scene where Leatherface hangs Kim up on a meat hook forcing her to watch as he butchers her friend with a chainsaw. The wooden structure from which she hangs has a chilling resemblance to gallows. Unlike the movie, the poster features little blood and no gore.
The illustration rewards, or depending on your viewpoint punishes, further inspection. Kim’s face is contorted in agony, a hollow lapsed circle for a mouth. The way her hands grasp at the meat hook is enough to make a viewer wince.
Leatherface is recognisable, but not fully detailed. First-time viewers will still be caught off-guard by the full grotesque Leatherface.
The poster plays with space, and the actual scene appears in only a small section. However, its tagline ("Who will survive and what will be left of them?"), which takes up as much space, is one of the genre’s best.