The best horror/exploitation movie taglines
Back in the days before the internet, film distributors who couldn't afford the high price of broadcasting a trailer over TV had to find creative ways to get their movies known by the general public. Movies posters were a big way to draw people in... bright colors, sensational images and big bold titles were the key to catching peoples eyes. A memorable tag line to accompany the poster is hard to forget and usually was a sure way to get people intrigued. This is a list devoted to some of my favorite and what I consider to be the most effective tag lines from the past. This list is comprised of movies I have seen or am at least familiar with, recommendations are accepted cause I know there are a plethora of great tag lines just waiting to be discovered! Enjoy
List activity
23K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
39 titles
- DirectorGary ShermanStarsJames FarentinoMelody AndersonJack AlbertsonSheriff Dan Gillis investigates eerie deaths in a sleepy coastal town."It will take your breath away... all of it."
I remember seeing this VHS cover as a child and thinking that a movie with a image and a tag line like that had to be absolutely terrifying. The movie is good but not THAT scary, still, the box manages to send chills down my spine. - DirectorTobe HooperStarsElizabeth BerridgeShawn CarsonJeanne AustinFour teenagers visit a local carnival for a night of innocent amusement, but soon discover that nothing there is innocent or amusing."Pay to get in. Pray to get out."
Slasher movies, to me, have the greatest tag lines. They are usually pretty clever, The Funhouse's tag line is the best example of that. - DirectorJoseph EllisonStarsDan GrimaldiCharles BonetBill RicciA disturbed young man who was burned as a child by his sadistic mother stalks women with a flamethrower."You have been warned!"
It is kind of warning you to go see this movie with caution... Why? cause this movie is very dark and very disturbing... you have been warned! - DirectorBuddy CooperJohn DouglassStarsMatt MitlerRuth MartinezBill HitchcockA college student, who accidentally killed his mother as a child, decides to take his friends to his father's fishing cabin during fall break, not knowing that his crazed father is stalking the place."By pick, by axe, by sword, bye bye!"
I have not actually seen this one but the tag line is so great I had to include it on the list. Another clever one for a slasher movie. - DirectorJoe D'AmatoStarsTisa FarrowSaverio ValloneSerena GrandiA group of friends and a hitchhiker become stranded on a tourist island where they are stalked by a disfigured cannibalistic killer who is prowling the island after killing its residents."It's not fear that tears you apart... It's him!"
This is a personal favorite of mine. This tag line is pretty vicious but so is George Eastman's insane character in the movie. Great stuff! - DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsBarbara ParkinsRichard ToddSylvia SymsIn order to secure a job at a mental institution, a young psychiatrist must interview four patients inside the asylum."You have nothing to lose but your mind."
The Amicus anthology movies had some of the best tag lines, best of all being the one for this movie. Asylum is about the minds of the mentally disturbed so this tag line fits perfectly. - DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDavid EmgeKen ForeeScott H. ReinigerDuring an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall."When there is no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth"
Absolutely unforgettable tag-line to an unforgettable movie! Another one that you hear a character say in the movie too. - DirectorPaul LynchStarsJanet JulianDavid WysockiJohn WildmanWoman is raped at cocktail party. Years later, her son grows up to be a big hairy murderous monster who stalks a group of teens shipwrecked on his island."Here are the monster's little toys. Once they were little girls and boys."
You have to love tag lines that rhyme, they are usually the best about getting stuck in your head. - DirectorJohn NewlandBuzz KulikStarsArthur KennedyTeresa WrightTom HapperA childless middle-age couple adopt a troubled youth they find living in their crawlspace and attempt to get him to rejoin society with tragic results."They wanted a son... he gave them a nightmare!"
I have not seen this made-for-TV film but I want to. Especially with a great tag line like that! - DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsCurd JürgensTerry-ThomasTom BakerAn anthology of five horror stories shared by five men trapped in the basement of an office building."Everything that makes life worth leaving!"
Another great Amicus anthology tag line! - DirectorJuan Piquer SimónStarsChristopher GeorgeLynda Day GeorgeFrank BrañaThe co-eds of a Boston college campus are targeted by a mysterious killer who is creating a human jigsaw puzzle from their body parts."...It's exactly what you think it is!"
I love this one cause it's NOT trying to be clever or ironic, its pretty direct in letting you know what the movie is about. Still it sparks your curiosity and makes want to see the movie just to know how far it goes. Also a fantastic poster that adds to the brutality of the tag line too! - DirectorJoseph ZitoStarsVicky DawsonChristopher GoutmanLawrence TierneyAn unknown killer, clad in World War II U.S. Army fatigues, stalks a small California town, bent on reliving a 35 year-old double murder by focusing on a group of college kids holding an annual graduation dance."If you think you're safe... you're DEAD wrong!"
Like I said, slasher movies tend to have excellent tag lines. - DirectorDon CoscarelliStarsA. Michael BaldwinBill ThornburyReggie BannisterA teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons."If this one doesn't scare you, you're already dead!"
I think this film might be a little overrated but the poster and tag line are perfect. - DirectorStuart GordonStarsJeffrey CombsBruce AbbottBarbara CramptonAfter an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue."Herbert West has a very good head on his shoulders... and another one in a dish on is desk."
Classic. - DirectorLucio FulciStarsTisa FarrowIan McCullochRichard JohnsonStrangers searching for a young woman's missing father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately seeks the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead."We are going to eat you!"
Could be the most famous tag line on the list. This is Jerry Gross again, promising you exactly what you are going to get from this nasty little gem. And look at that poster, its just a straight portrait shot of the most gruesome zombie in the movie! Jerry was a genius. - DirectorMeir ZarchiStarsCamille KeatonEron TaborRichard PaceAn aspiring writer is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men she systematically hunts down to seek revenge."This woman has just cut, chopped, broken and burned five men beyond recognition... but no jury in America would ever convict her!"
Makes you ask, "Why!? Why wont a jury convict her?". See the movie and find out! again, one of Jerry Gross' legendary ad campaigns along with that super-sexy poster. - DirectorChuck RussellStarsShawnee SmithKevin DillonDonovan Leitch Jr.A deadly entity from space crash-lands near a small town and begins consuming everyone in its path. Panic ensues as shady government scientists try to contain the horrific creature."Terror has no shape."
I like this one, it's incredibly literal... - DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims."Man is the warmest place to hide."
This is a famous one, I love it because it's one you might not understand going into the movie but coming out, it will make perfect sense. - DirectorMichael FindlayHoracio FredrikssonSimon NuchternStarsMargarita AmuchásteguiTina AustinAna CarroA so-called "snuff" film involving the exploits of a cult leader leading a gang of bikers in a series of supposedly real killings on film."A film that could only be made in South America, where life is CHEAP!"
An awful movie with one of the most ingenious ad campaigns in the history of film. The tag line is just a small part of it. - DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtThe crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin."In space, no one can hear you scream."
Possibly the most memorable thing about this movie next to the chest bursting scene. But, according to the show, The Universe, you actually can hear people scream in space... Nobody says you have to be scientifically accurate to be a great tagline though! - DirectorStephen ChiodoStarsGrant CramerSuzanne SnyderJohn Allen NelsonAliens who look like clowns come from outer space and terrorize a small town."In space, no one can eat ice-cream."
I hilarious take on the infamous Alien tag-line. I love this movie for not taking itself seriously. - DirectorKevin ConnorStarsRory CalhounPaul LinkeNancy ParsonsA seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the "special meat" they are famous for."Checking in is easy... checking out is hell."
There are a couple more famous tag lines for this horror comedy but I like this one best. Again, slasher movie, keeping it simple and fun. - DirectorMichael CrichtonStarsYul BrynnerRichard BenjaminJames BrolinA robot malfunction creates havoc and terror for unsuspecting vacationers at a futuristic, adult-themed amusement park."Boy have we got a vacation for you."
This one is great cause it is one of those tag lines that a character actually says in the movie! - DirectorJames SbardellatiStarsRick HillBarbi BentonRichard BrookerA lone warrior nicknamed Deathstalker is sent by a witch on a quest to find a sword, a chalice, and an amulet, two of which are held by the wicked king and sorcerer, Munkar."Journey to an age of awesome magic."
"Awesome" is a great word for a tag line to a super cheesy but totally fun movie like Deathstalker. If your making a sword and sorcery movie, it's good to throw in words like that, considering the kind of people that will be watching those movies (12-24 year old males) - DirectorThom EberhardtStarsAnita SkinnerCaren L. LarkeyPeggy McClureA lone survivor of a plane crash is haunted by a feeling unworthy of survival. Dead people start coming after her to collect her."It wants her... It's waiting... It won't be long now."
Pretty ominous.