My new post at Anorak remembers some of the most creative (and funniest…) tag-lines of the
horror movies of the 1970s.
Here’s a snippet:
TODAY, movie-going audiences
expect a certain threshold in terms of a film’s technical qualities. Viewers
expect the sound to be crisp, the picture to be in sharp focus, and special
effects to be, generally, believable.
But way back in
the seventies, many low-budget filmmakers couldn’t always hit those
rudimentary-seeming bench-marks… and yet they wanted their movies to succeed
and to be seen by the most people possible.
One cheap and effective way to achieve theatrical success was to
devise a great tag-line, one that veritably guaranteed audience curiosity, or
amusement. Indeed, a key weapon in the marketer’s arsenal in the 1970s,
at least as it applied to the horror film, was humor.
Below are ten
tag-lines from 1970s horror films that walk the line between humor,
hucksterism, and, perhaps even, in some cases, genius.
Here's a few favorites of my own:
ReplyDelete"This brain wants to LOVE...this brain wants to KILL!"
(The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant)
"For a taste of Hell!"
(Food of the Gods)
"For they shall inherit the earth... sooner than you think!"
(Empire of the Ants)