A good poster can make or break someone watching a new movie. In fact, I often find myself trying out new movies based on how their posters grab me. Every year, I try to honor the best horror poster designs: separating the boring actor photos from the truly artistic works. This year has had a lot of great poster designs that deserve recognition for how they sell their film. Below is a selection of my top posters of the year, in no particular order.
The best horror posters of 2022
Ultrasound
Perhaps one of the cooler posters we’ve seen in a while, there’s plenty to draw attention to in this colorful retro artwork. From the color palette to the muted tones reminiscent of 90s computer technology, this poster looks great. The simple shapes capture both the eye and the illusion of the face, and the closer you look, the more interesting stones stand out. Not to mention the hypnotic font for the title.
Ultrasound it’s a dark psychological sci-fi that works better the less you know going in, so this poster works well to intrigue the viewer without giving away almost anything of the film’s plot. If I haven’t made it clear, I love this poster.
X
Many of the X posters I didn’t like, but this one stood out to me as the homage to 1970’s grindhouse films that this movie does. The subject is prominently centered over a circular film canister that functions as a backdrop and nod to the film’s subject. It also features my favorite character, the alligator, getting up to some outrageous moves, which is always fun.
spectator
spectator is a fun little film that centers around the iconic Maika Monroe, and this poster knows that all eyes are on her. I love the minimal use of contrasting colors and the collage look of the poster. It’s muted, but still fills the space with a fun pattern. It also works well for the subject as the film is about people following Monroe’s character and of course the title alludes to Watcher.
not
While I didn’t like any of the other Nope posters, this is a fantastic, bold choice. The poster doesn’t feature people, but it does offer good, spoiler-free images from the film in a non-traditional way. At first looking like an abstract design, the poster takes the design of Steven Yeun’s character’s bold red suit and combines it with eye-catching rhinestones, all of which together are styled to show a scene from the movie, a UFO abducting a horse.
Resurrection
This poster is literally eye-catching in more ways than one. This is one of the few “big head” posters that I like because it adds design elements that make it more visually interesting. He keeps it simplistic with a large black and white image of Rebecca Hall’s grim face, then ties it all together with the centered red lines framing her emotionless eye.
Barbaric
Barbaric had a number of interesting posters that deserve recognition. Almost all use a high-contrast red and black color scheme. The first featuring the big face resembles classic horror movie posters from the 1980s, with an almost painted-on horrified face and stylized font. I also like how the font creates a perspective layer for the camera, adding another interesting element to the poster. Second, I love the simple layout with the title also doubling as a tunnel, alluding to the themes in the film. I also think the last one uses a minimal design and uses its red in a fantastic way. The door is also a great poster piece.
Hellbender
Not many horror posters use the color white, but this one uses it along with contrasting accents of black and red to create a horror atmosphere. This poster exudes a magical atmosphere with a mysterious symbol hovering above a woman in a strange crown, inviting the viewer to wonder what it means. The high-contrast face is eerily lit, and the font alludes to the metal music that also appears in Hellbender.
runner
It’s not often you see a pair of shoes as the cover of a movie, and these are pretty cool. Once again, a very minimal poster that asks a lot of questions. Where are these shoes from? Why are they full of blood? Who is the runner and what circumstances led him to get his shoes so dirty? The second poster for the visual album runner it’s also stylistically interesting, both having an ’80s vibe that’s very much present in the film itself.
Fresh
Fresh has a number of poster banners. The first one has some of the most interesting typography I’ve seen in a recent poster, and it goes well with the otherwise boring image of the actors in the background. Similar to many other posters on this list, the poster uses saturated color to draw the eye, in pink and red, suggesting the romantic plot. The next poster is a realistic hand in a container of wrapped meat, a vivid image and very relevant to the plot. The latest poster is just a feast for the eyes, updating the myth of Adam and Eve.
All jacked up and full of worms
I am looking at this poster and have questions. I haven’t had a chance to see this movie yet, but this poster makes it a priority. The poster tells me that this movie is a crazy ride, with a font so stylized it’s hard to read and intense colors that bring out a very intriguing mix inside this woman’s mouth. Simple and effective!
The creeper
This poster really stands out to me, probably due to the choice of yellow, which is not common on horror posters, and its portrait painting style. I love how the poster is designed to have the yellow smoke coming out of the eyes, done in a very aesthetically pleasing way and also hinting that this film might be about the paranormal. While the poster only features a woman doing nothing particularly interesting, her emerging from the darkness and painted in an impressionistic style make this a memorable poster.
Crazy Heidi
Crazy Heidi is a horror exploitation interpretation of the Swiss book Heide, and this poster plays on that to grab the viewer’s attention. At first, the poster might look like a Swiss movie poster from the 1960s The sound of Music, but looking more closely you would see that it is not quite that kind of movie. I love a good retro looking poster, and this one stands out from the sea of 80’s horror posters.
Nanny
Nanny shows the gradual descent into despair of an immigrant mother who takes on a stressful job as a nanny. This poster also uses an impressionistic watercolor painting style that brings in some nice colors. The watercolor painting also comes close to what looks like splotches of paint coming from different areas of her face, which also doubles as water, which is a theme in this film.
The leech
The poster for The leech has one of the most subtle Christmas posters I’ve seen. Yes, it’s red and green, used charmingly, but it doesn’t hit you over the head with Santa or other Christmas trophies like all the others. This poster is a Giallo poster from the 1980s with colored faces floating in a distorted way. It also suggests that Christianity is a big theme, as the cross is the only non-red or green item in the poster. Finally, that font is fantastic.
hatching
hatching has an immediately striking poster at first sight. It has a minimalist symmetry, with the title centered between the two human halves, and that’s before you realize that the crack is like an eggshell, motivated by the film’s unique premise involving a large egg. The second also has the theme of eggs, but also uses shadows in a very interesting way and relies on the magnificent wallpaper of the film.
And these are my favorite horror movie posters of 2022. There are many notable posters I could have included, but these are the cream of the crop. Now, do movies stand up to their single sheets? See more 2022 posters i liked here.