Films were about films…not who was in them. With an abundance of titles in the market, the question quickly became, How do we stand out and get noticed? The answer: Male the box art so tantalizing, so lurid, that you cant believe exists. You would never pick up a DVD or Blu-ray nowadays that would show you or tell you the things that distribution did back in the day to get you to rent their flick.
What were going to look at is 20 of the most lurid, seedy, and yes, tantalizing VHS cover art to grace the horror genre. They are in loose order, but since everyone has different lines, youll have to judge for yourself. Lets try a little something fun while we are at it. While you are looking at these, imagine you have a $100.00 bill in your pocket. At $79.99 to $99.99 for the average VHS, these cost some serious money even by todays standards. It wasnt until 1986 that prices really started to drop into the $20.00 range.
Let me know which films you think you would have bought in the comments box below.
20 Lurid VHS Box Covers
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#20
Cannibal Ferox aka Make Them Die Slowly (1981)
I know I’m starting off visually light, but the title alone screamed to be picked up. A group of scientists travel to study a native tribe only to find that they are slaves to drug dealers. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the natives are restless and are about to take their revenge in the most graphic way possible. The cover tells you that this is a film so disturbing and graphic, we can’t even put a picture on the cover. The great thing is, they put plenty of graphic pics on the back which makes you say, “If they can show me all this, good lord, what is it that they can’t show me?!...I have to know!”
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#19
The Sinful Dwarf (1973)
A film about a woman who runs a boarding house…and runs heroin and white drugged up slaves out of a secret room. Even worse, she has a wicked dwarf for a son who commits unthinkable sexual acts on the female captives. Yes. It’s a real movie (I get that question often). A dwarf looking rather evil on the cover, two naked women, the dwarf standing over a girl and a dog, holding a club in a threatening manner. The cover even teases us with a “terrifying secret in the attic!” Hell, with all that, I’m in. I first rented this film at 15. That may be what’s wrong with me…
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#18
Caged Virgins aka Requiem for a Vampire (1971)
Two female criminals are in a car being pursued by the cops. During a firefight, their male driver is killed. On foot, the two girls come across a castle owned by a vampire. This is one of those films whose title was changed specifically to lure more people in. Sure, vampires are cool, but two half naked women surrounded by chained women and skulls in a pit? Add in the tagline: “Their innocence violated beyond description…” and it makes for a hot selling movie.
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#17
Snuff (1976)
A film involving a cult leader and a biker gang doing real killings. Is it real? Come on. But look at the cover. The people who made this film were never seen again. This movie flew off the shelves just because of the art. There was even an investigation! Love it!
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#16
Straight jacket (1982)
A recovering alcoholic moves into a house and begins to have visions of her own bloody demise. This is a weird cover that though it paints a graphic picture, is presented in a fun pop art style that connects with the brain differently. It almost makes the film seem “fun”. What do you think?
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#15
Alien Prey (1981)
An alien comes to and takes over a male body to move in with a lesbian couple. He then reveals his plan to eat us all! Ah, the good old days of taking a reprehensible image and slapping it on the cover. This tells you all you need to know about the film. Why would you not pick it up?
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#14
Body Shop (1973)
A story about true love! After a plastic surgeon’s beautiful wife is killed, he begins killing and cutting up new women to make a better version of his dead wife! This cover is for gore seekers only. Both the front and back is so graphic that there is no mistaking the movie you are getting. “The meating place for dismembers only." Join the club.
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#13
Vengeance is Mine (1979)
Three psychotic criminals attack a secluded farmer who gets the upper hand and tortures them in the cellar. What can you say about this cover? A man with a shotgun has his head cut off by a chainsaw and his blood sprays on the blade. Though the back picture are as colorful, people waited the whole film just to see that scene in the front cover. I remember watch the second half with my hands in front of my face because as much as I wanted to see that…I didn’t.
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#12
The Driller Killer (1979)
A struggling artist takes out his frustrations on the homeless with a power drill. Forget the catchy title with this one.I used to look away from this box at the video store while many others would snatch it up immediately. The image was so graphic that you can almost hear the drill. Of course, it tells you that “the drill keeps tearing through flesh and bone” and “a steel stomach is required to watch the final scenes of mayhem." You swore you weren’t going to rent it…all the way to the counter.
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#11
Hack ‘o Lantern aka Halloween Night (1988)
A nice old man is revealed to be the leader of a satanic cult that sacrifices people on Halloween. The original art under the original title was much better and more in line with the film. However, this art sold better. Which would you rent for thrills? Halloween Night or Hack ‘o Lantern? This graphic cover was very popular. Also, notice the tagline on the back? “Join the adventure, if you dare.” Really?
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#10
Three On A Meat hook (1973)
A weird twist on the Ed Gein premise. Four girls head off to the country and end up, well, on a meat hook. The front cover is more subliminally shocking than anything. But, that wasn’t enough. The brutality on the back of the box was something that made you stare over and over.
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#9
Nekromantik (1988)
Basically, a love triangle between a man, a woman, and a slimy, rotted, corpse. This is one of the most revolting films of all time. You picked this up because you simply couldn’t believe your eyes. The front cover could be interpreted as artistic, but when you flipped the box over, you knew you had to see this. Pay close attention to the pic on the bottom left. This box wanted you to know you would go places that you may regret.
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#8
The Gore Gore Girls (1972)
A reporter and a detective team up to solve a series of murders involving strippers. This cover crossed all lines. The graphically illustrated front cover mixes extreme violence and sex on the same page while proclaiming to be “The most gruesome motion picture ever made.” Plenty of films mixed these elements on the cover, but never spelled it out. But just in case you needed help, the back cover gave you live action pics that made the whole thing even worse.
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#7
The Nightmare Maker aka Night Warning (1982)
An orphaned teenager ends up with his Aunt, who doesn’t want to share him. The bloody woman on the cover looks like her throat is slit and she is in the throes of death. As if that wasn’t an odd enough selling feature, the banner states that it was names best horror of the year. The box sold you bloody violence, depravity, and incest. All the things that were big in this era.
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#6
Last House On The Left (1972)
A film like this needs no intro. But if you were wondering what it was about, two girls are tortured, raped, and killed. The killers then take refuge in the house of one of the victims parents. When they find out, all hell breaks loose! This box left nothing to the imagination. In fact, it’s even misleading when it comes to the amount of violence in the film. The chainsaw is a nice touch though. It took me years to work up the nerve to watch this.
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#5
Bloody Moon (1981)
A foreign language school in Spain is the setting for a series of bloody killing with garden shears. As interesting as that plot may sound, it didn’t seem to matter to the distributer. The box looks more like an insert card. All they wanted you to know is that women would be killed and degraded. The scary thing is that this film flew off the shelves.
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#4
The Mad Butcher (1971)
A butcher goes crazy and ends up in an asylum. After being released, he returns to life as a butcher. Problem is, he starts killing people and grinding them into sausage! This is a great example of something that wouldn’t fly today. A man holding a clever with a naked woman in a grinder. Notice that there is no lurid tagline. There was no tagline on the box of the English language version either. This image alone was the selling point. Yikes!
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#3
Color Me Blood Red (1965)
A psychopathic artist kills people to use their blood for paint. Yep. That’s pretty much the story. How else would you illustrate the cover?This would be more disturbing if it looked more real, but the message is loud and clear. But just in case the strung up woman with her guts hanging out wasn’t enough, you have the photos on the back to drive home the point. Lewis knew his audience so he rarely bothered with catchy phrases and seductive details. You knew what to expect from him because it was painted on the cover so to speak.
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#2
The Nail Gun Massacre (1985)
After a woman is gang raped by construction workers, people start dying at the hands of a nail gun-sporting killer. This was an odd cover. The killer looks kind of sci-fi, almost like Charlie Sheen in The Wraith. It reads as a cheap sci-fi movie with slasher elements. A half-dressed woman nailed to a doorway is what this movie wants you to see. Plus, you can see the killer in action on the back. Crazy.
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#1
Blood Splash aka Nightmare in a damaged Brain (1981)
A mental patient escapes the hospital but can’t stop killing innocent people. Maybe the most disgusting cover for me, both then and now. Simply because the violence against the woman is so tangible. It's pure brutality and it is sold as entertainment. Arguably, you can say that about most of these, but I wonder about the guys that picked up this gem based solely on the cover.
