The art of selling a movie, particularly a horror movie, is often based on a distinctive and memorable ad campaign. An intriguing, horrific or even repellent image – aligned with a few keywords that aim to draw an audience in – are vital promotion, even before potential punters get to see a poster, teaser or trailer.
Some of the few keywords, or taglines (or tag lines, if you prefer), used to promote horror films have become classic in themselves, instantly recognised as part of popular cinema culture.
Here are some of the most memorable taglines in horror history (click on them to be taken to the movie from which they originate):
‘By sword. By pick. By axe. Bye bye.’
‘Cross your heart… and hope to die!‘
‘The film that could only be made in South America… where Life is CHEAP!‘
‘First they greet you, then they eat you.’
‘The good news is your dates are here. The bad news is…they’re dead.‘
‘He could be the boy next door…‘
‘If this movie doesn’t make your skin crawl…it’s on TOO TIGHT!’
‘If this one doesn’t scare you, you’re already dead!’
‘If you think you’re safe… you’re DEAD wrong!‘
‘In space, no one can hear you scream.’
‘It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent Fritters.‘
‘It will take your breath away. All of it.‘
‘It’s dead of night and everyone’s asleep. …ALMOST EVERYBODY!’
‘It’s not fear that tears you apart… It’s him!‘
‘John will never eat shish kebab again.’
‘Just when it’s safe to go back in the water …you can’t get across the beach!’
‘Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the bathroom…’
‘Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.’
‘Man is the warmest place to hide.‘
‘Norman Bates is back to normal. But mother’s off her rocker again‘
‘Pray it doesn’t happen to YOU!‘
‘The blood runs in rivers… …and the drill keeps tearing through flesh and bone’
‘They slime. They ooze. They kill!‘
“This was the night of the CRAWLING TERROR!”
‘Today the pond! Tomorrow the world!‘
‘The ultimate experience in gruelling terror’
‘Welcome to the Witching Hour.‘
‘When the left hand doesn’t know who the right hand is killing!!‘
‘When the earth spits out the Dead… they will return to tear the flesh of the Living.‘
‘When there’s no more room in HELL, the dead will walk the EARTH‘
‘Where shopping costs you an arm and a leg!‘
‘Where sleeping bags become body bags!’
‘Who will survive and what will be left of them?‘
‘You don’t have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre!‘
‘You have the right to remain silent. FOREVER!‘
‘You’ll never close your eyes again.‘
Here are lots of lesser known horror movie tag lines:
’13 keys open the doors to the house haunted by the living dead!’
’40 luscious beauties marked for murder’
‘Abby doesn’t need a man anymore… The Devil is Her Lover Now!’
‘An entire town bathed in pulsing human blood! Madmen crazed for carnage!’
‘Babes of the night, with a different appetite!’
‘The birth of your worst nightmare.’
‘A blood-dripping brain transplant turns a maniac into a monster…’
‘Blood madness… out of the fog… into your heart!’
‘Can you face the ULTIMATE in DIABOLISM …..can you stand PURE TERROR?’
‘Check in. Unpack. Relax. Take a shower.’ (Psycho, 1998)
‘Close your eyes for a second… and sleep forever.’
‘Creeping terror… striking from the depths of Hell!’
‘Death his religion – Blood his lust!’
‘Digging in the cemetery can have grave consequences.’
‘Don’t dare look behind you! Just feel the skin crawl on the back of your neck’
‘Don’t throw rice… just scream your head off!’
‘Doomed to walk the earth as slaves to the lord of the living dead!!!‘
‘Enough to make even Hitchcock jump!’
‘Every girl is frightened before her wedding night. But this time…there’s good reason!’
‘Every second your pulse pounds they grow foot by incredible foot!’
‘Everyone has nightmares about the ugliest way to die.’
‘First he chills them. Then he kills them.’
‘The first motion picture to called gore-nography!!!’
‘A gift from Heaven… or a curse from Hell!’
‘He chose his weapons… he selected his victims… he picked his nose…’
‘He wants your body. In pieces.’
‘He’s out there… out of sight, and out of his mind!’
‘Hell hath no fury like a demon scorned’
‘A horror horde of crawl-and-crush giants clawing out of the earth from mile-deep catacombs!’
‘A hunger from beyond the grave!’
If stark terror were ecstasy… living here would be sheer bliss!’
‘If you have a craving for terror come to the class reunion’
‘It’s cleavage vs. cleavers and the result is delta delta deadly!’
‘In a bowling alley from Hell, there’s only one way to score…’
‘It walks. It stalks. It tears the shriek right out of your throat.‘
‘Just when you thought it was safe to back in the tent…’
‘Love means never having to say you’re ugly’
‘Lust has never been this terrifying!’
‘Lusting for women it terrified the land!’
‘The murder mystery with a difference: you die laughing!’
‘The nightmare terror of the slithering eye that unleashed agonizing horror on a screaming world!’
‘Nine attractive girls… Four dangerous men… One endless night of terror!‘
‘Nothing so appalling in the annals of horror!’
‘Nothing you have ever witnessed before has prepared you for such sheer, stabbing shock!’
‘One crazy night of debauchery and damnation!’
‘People of Earth: your planet is about to be destroyed… sorry for the inconvenience.’
For the sake of your sanity, pray it isn’t true!’
‘Pretty young ladies make the perfect plant food!’
‘Remember that kid everyone ignored on Valentine’s Day? – He remembers you.’
‘Roaches have never tasted meat… until now.’
‘The rocking, shocking, new wave of horror!’
‘RUN – if you must HIDE – if you can SCREAM but…’
‘Save your screams until you see its face’
‘Screaming young girls sucked into a labyrinth of horror by a blood-starved ghoul from hell.’
‘The screams you hear may be your own!’
‘Sex, drugs and the walking dead’
‘Sinner… Your evil shall destroy you…’
‘Some things shouldn’t be disturbed…’
‘Someone’s taking a big slice out of the Big Apple…’
‘Something you wouldn’t dare to imagine is alive!’
‘Stalked by fear and terror… night and day!’ (The Man Who Haunted Himself, 1970)
‘They are not here for candy.’
‘They have come from another world… to stay!’
‘They lived by eating human bones… and threatened to consume the world!’
‘They’ll scare your pants off… and give you a chill for life!’
‘They’re not human. But they hunt women. Not for killing. For mating.‘
‘This film will provoke, anger and sicken!’
‘Those Slap-happy Screamsters go a’haunting!’
‘Warm blood isn’t all they suck!’
‘What mystic power did this man possess that turned men into killers – and women into animals!’
‘When was the last time you were afraid? Really afraid?‘
‘When you can’t scream anymore!‘
‘White-hot terror! Cold, clammy fear!’
‘Work. It sucks the life out of you.’
‘You may never sleep alone again!’
‘You scream, you expand, you explode.’
‘You’ll scream yourself into a state of shock when you see-‘
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