12. Alien
After the success of
Alien the marketing department must have had it easy trying to sell the sequels. And Ridley Scott, after this film (and
Blade Runner)
was a name you could stick on a poster and guarantee interest. But back in 1979, it was a different story. We had had big space epics (
Star Wars) and B movie horror films but there had never been anything quite like
Alien. And Ridley Scott was a television director with no big film credits to his name. As such, if they were ever going to make this film a success, it had to be all in the marketing. This poster does it brilliantly. Let's start with the tag line 'In space no one can hear you scream'. Immediately you're hooked. (And considering the events of
Alien, it sells the film perfectly). There's immediately a something to intrigue...something potential terrifying. But this poster doesn't just rely on this tag line alone. It's also the weird, unnatural light erupting from the egg, set to the backdrop of space...there is a menace about this image - something awakening, with the eggs below signs of a larger threat. The poster cleverly never shows the alien itself. It could have done but instead its that mystery and unease that sells this film. Quite simply with the plain white font. the vast blackness of space and the eerie greenish hue - it is a bleak yet intriguing set up for what moviegoers were about the experience...