Editorials
Best & Worst of 2009: The Year’s Best One Sheets
Before any footage from a film is seen, typically a teaser or full one sheet is released by a studio. This is an incredibly important, even detrimental process as it is the first thing the consumers will see and identify with a movie. If the poster stinks, the consumer might write it off all together, while a good poster could lead to them checking out the official website, trailer and best case scenario, hanging it from their wall (the most personal relationship any of us have with a movie). To say the least, posters are damn important. As part of our year end coverage, we present to you the year’s best theatrical posters.
BEST ONE SHEETS OF 2009
Click any to see it larger
Posters listed in no particular order
Carrying inspiration from other top-notch one sheets like Open Water, the poster for Frozen is remarkably eye-catching. Anyone who catches a glimpse of this in a theater is sure to walk over and ponder on it for a second. It’s also quite representational of the flick and is sure to get people marking their calendars for the February release.
A breath of fresh air from the previous one sheet that was incredibly confusing. The imagery is frightening, and more importantly, the tagline is awesome. “Fear Thy Neighbor.” Bing, bang, boom.
I’m not a very big fan of Screen Gems’ posters where they render an image to look like a painting, but for some reason I think the one sheet for STEPFATHER works. It’s eye-catching, simple and actually a little unnerving. Too bad the movie wasn’t half as entertaining as the poster.
I loved Lionsgate’s one sheet for their remake of MY BLOODY VALENTINE. Outside of us hardcore horror fans, the average theatergoer has no clue who the killer is. The poster gives us a clear look at the slasher while also highlighting the 3-D aspect by creating two other slightly transparent versions. Good stuff.
After Dimension’s nauseating one sheet for the remake, Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN II was blessed with this violent and chaotic masterpiece of wall art. Like the movie or not, the marketing was well done – too bad it had to go up against THE FINAL DESTINATION, a film that delivered a brutal blow at the box office.
Whether it’s by name or image, everyone knows who Jason Voorhees is, therefore there’s no reason to keep him in the shadows. Warner Bros. released this stunning one sheet for the FRIDAY THE 13TH remake that features a full shot of the infamous masked killer in all of his powerful glory. Whether that translated to film is up to you to decide.
With the movie looking to finally hit theaters in February, Universal Pictures released this gorgeous blue-tinted poster for THE WOLFMAN. Again, who doesn’t know the Wolfman? So why not let him tear it up in this action-packed one sheet that has serious bite.
To our surprise this has been one of the most popular and well-received poster debuts here on Bloody Disgusting. While CLASH OF THE TITANS is a fantasy film, there are some horrific elements like the three blind witches, the Kraken, and of course that sexy snake-headed Medusa. This one sheet screams for your attention. It’s bold, strong imagery is captivating and the color scheme blends beautifully with our hero. Aces.
With a film titled DRAG ME TO HELL it doesn’t hurt to display exactly what the film is about on your poster. I enjoy Universal’s choice in drowning out the background images and bringing our star to the forefront with the fire and brimstone. And for those of you who read the little tagline… how can you beat, “But in three days, she’s going to hell”?
A terrible, terrible film that features probably the single best one sheet of the year. Too bad you could only see it at the comfort of your home on your computer screen. Lionsgate released this “motion poster” that’s one of the first to actually do something. Vomiting ectoplasm? Yes please.
When I first saw the poster for SAW VI at the San Diego Comic Con, it blew my mind. The imagery is striking, eye-catching and bold. How incredibly arrogant is it (have to appreciate it) to feature a giant VI without even a single mention of the title. It quite simply says, “you know it, you got it, here’s it comes.”
Megan Fox’s long legs and a school shirt=WIN.
Again, not a fan of artistic renderings, but the color scheme and creepy image are beyond eye-catching. This poster calls for your attention and begs you to come over and spend a few seconds seeing what it’s all about.
There’s nothing better than a poster that tells you exactly what you’re going to see in theaters. IFC’s one sheet for ANTICHRIST says “sex in a creepy place, over and over again.” Don’t be shocked when you see a bloody penis.
Magnolia Pictures/Magnet Releasing created a series of “retro posters” for the release of Ti West’s 80’s horror period piece THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL. They’re all amazing, especially the one with the hand reaching out for you.
CHECK OUT THE WORST ONE SHEETS OF 2009
Some movies are just so beloved that you can experience them through cultural osmosis without ever sitting down to actually watch them. From loving parodies to meticulous recreations of iconic scenes, memorable filmmaking lives on even after the curtains close on the silver screen. And when it comes to horror, few films can compete with the massive impact that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining had on popular culture as a whole.
Whether or not you think the flick is a good adaptation of Stephen King’s seminal novel, 1980’s The Shining slowly but surely grew into one of the most influential genre movies ever made, inspiring everything from surprisingly heartfelt sequels to classic episodes of The Simpsons. However, not all The Shining references are created equal, and today I’d like to shine a light on six unexpected homages to Kubrick’s iconic film.
In this list, we’ll be focusing on references and Easter eggs that either came out of the blue or came from creators that you wouldn’t expect to be fans of this classic ghost story. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite references to the Torrance family and the Overlook Hotel if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. A Nightmare on FaceTime – South Park (2012)
Regardless of the brand’s iffy reputation among former employees, the death of Blockbuster Video was a serious blow to fans of physical media. Of course, some folks were more affected by this than others, and South Park’s Randy Marsh definitely took things a little too far in the twelfth episode of the show’s sixteenth season.
Titled A Nightmare on FaceTime, the main plot of this 2012 story is a surprisingly faithful recreation of The Shining where Randy purchases an empty Blockbuster store and begins to go mad once he realizes that his investment may not have been a very good idea due to the rise of streaming and the now-defunct RedBox storefronts.
4. The Overlook Hotel Level – Ready Player One (2018)
I was never really a fan of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, so I viewed Stephen Spielberg’s divisive adaptation of the novel as an improvement over the source material despite having its own narrative issues. In fact, I actually prefer how Spielberg changed the story by removing several references to his own work and replacing a lengthy Blade Runner detour with an over-the-top homage to The Shining.
A CGI-heavy recreation of the film’s most iconic moments that feels like a big-budget ghost train ride set within the Overlook Hotel, this intense sequence is more of a recreation of the freaky aesthetics of The Shining rather than its mind-bending narrative. However, it’s still fun to see Spielberg make a heartfelt tribute to a filmmaker that was once his close personal friend.
3. IKEA Singapore Halloween Ad (2014)
It makes sense that commercials don’t typically borrow from the horror genre, as it might be a bad idea to scare away potential customers, but some references are just too much fun to pass up.
That’s probably why the publicists behind this Ikea ad from Singapore were allowed to turn their commercial into a genuinely unsettling recreation of Danny’s tricycle scene from The Shining. After all, nobody cares if your store is haunted so long as it offers late-night shopping hours and a large selection of merchandise that you can become lost in forever and ever…
2. The End of ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’ – Community (2014)
Community is no stranger to recreating iconic movie moments within the show, and the series had previously tackled horror tropes in episodes like the fan-favorite Epidemiology. However, the most laugh-out-loud moment on this particular list comes from a brief gag towards the end of the season five episode ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’.
The majority of this episode has nothing to do with scary movies, but there’s a brief subplot involving supporting character Chang and a possible encounter with ghosts that leads him to question his own existence. This subplot culminates in the episode’s hilarious ending where the camera zooms in on a black-and-white photograph of Chang in period clothing at some kind of celebration, just like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining.
However, the picture’s subtitle eventually reveals that it’s merely a conveniently placed keepsake from the ‘Old Timey Photo Club’.
1. The Overlook Hedge Maze Sequence – Zootopia 2 (2025)
Disney movies are pretty far removed from both the gruesome horror of Stephen King and the heady filmmaking of Stanley Kubrick, so I don’t think anyone was expecting the climax of last year’s Zootopia sequel to take place in an animated version of the snowy hedge maze from The Shining.
In this unexpectedly intense sequence, friend-turned-villain Pawbert Lynxley (an unhinged lynx cat played by Andy Samberg) chases our protagonists through a creepy labyrinth in a loving recreation of Jack Nicholson’s icy demise outside the Overlook Hotel. The actual ending here might be a little more child-friendly than what’s being referenced, but it’s amazing that the filmmakers were able to push the horror elements as far as they did – especially since the scene doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the movie.
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