Top Ten Horror Movie Taglines

So the other day I was looking through my DVDs deciding which one to watch, so I picked out the original The Last House on The Left and there it was, the tagline “To Avoid fainting, keep repeating ‘It’s only a movie…It’s only a movie…” It’s so awesome. So it got me thinking what other great horror taglines are out there? So I racked the old memory banks to bring you my top 10. These are the ones that I thought were either awesome, made me laugh out loud, or was just straight to the point.

I could have went on forever as there are absolutely thousands of awesome taglines out there and I kept questioning myself if I have chosen the right ones, but, you can never get the perfect list, so here's some that I enjoyed....

So, here we go in no particular order my Top 10 Horror Movie Taglines:

Night of the Living Dead (1968): “They won’t stay dead!” Brilliant, George A. Romero’s zombie classic had me hooked with that tagline. How do you kill something that won’t stay dead? Who knows?
But I do know that this movie and that tagline is awesome and sums up the whole movie. An absolute favourite of mine and I’m sure it is yours.

This film pretty much set the tone for every zombie film since, it’s basically the holy grail of what a zombie film should be.
The plot; a group of people take refuge in a farm-house from an onslaught of blood thirsty zombies.


It’s Alive (1974): “There’s only one thing wrong with the Davis baby: it’s alive.” That is brilliant! It's a great one as it leads directly into the title of the film. Truly awesome and the fact Rick Baker did the special effects for this gem makes this even more awesome. And I have to add possibly one of the greatest quotes ever from Lieutenant Perkins: “Hunting and killing babies doesn't seem to be my specialty." Yoy think?

Brilliant, recently there was a remake of this film from director Josef Rusnak in 2008, I’m yet to see it, but I've been told it’s a stinker. The plot; the Davies are expecting a baby, but it turns out to be a monster which has a habit for killing when it’s scared… and it’s easily scared.

The Nail Gun Massacre (1985): “It’s cheaper than a chainsaw!” Well thank you for guiding me in my choice of instrument of death. If you love low-budget gore films of the 80s I recommend you check this out. I don't see this one mentioned as much as I think it should, but maybe it's just me. Also if you feel like causing some dismemberment, remember a nail gun is cheaper than a chainsaw.

I miss the eighties, the mindless violence, the often cheesy acting and dialogue. Damn, I miss that decade. The plot involves the rape of a local woman by some construction workers, and a mysterious killer takes revenge on the rapists… with a nail gun!


Breeders (1986): “Anything this hideous must be stopped from breeding.” Genius! Not only is the tagline laugh out loud brilliance, the quotes are just as epic. Dr Gamble Pace “It’s a case like this that makes me want to kill every man ever born.” Okay.... Also just for pure randomness Det. Dale Andriotti “You’re fuckin’ bananas!”.

Shame about the movie itself though, it plays out more like a soft-core porn film rather than a sci/fi horror movie, still it has its charm and that artwork is pretty killer, though. The plot; many women are admitted to hospital who have been raped by something from another world, the beast only attacks young virgin girls.

The Day of the Dolphin (1973) "Unwittingly, he trained a dolphin to kill the President of the United States." Probably the least horror on this list, but it is a sci-fi/thriller so I'll let it slide. And c'mon, how could I pass up the opportunity to use that tagline? I mean, that's just awesome in my humble opinion.

Just imagine going to the video-store on a Friday night and you catch a glimpse of that tagline; A dolphin, trained to kill the president? Uh, I'll take you thank you very much. The film is based upon the 1967 novel Un animal doué de raison, by French writer Robert Merle and differs from the book. Although both do feature dolphins that are trained for warfare. The plot; dolphins are taught to communicate with humans and to be used to carry out assassinations. It's actually a great film which was nominated for two Academy Awards, sadly it didn't do to well on its initial release. Check it out if you can.

Army of Darkness (1992): “Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.” This just sums up Evil Dead’s true brilliance, although it focused much more on comedy it was still an awesome time, if I never knew anything about the Evil Dead franchise, that tagline tells me THIS is going to be awesome!

And check out that artwork, it is a thing of pure beauty.

 The plot; our hero Ash is transported to 1300 A.D. where he must battle the army of the dead with his “boomstick” in one hand and chainsaw attached to the other and retrieve the Necronomicon so he can get home.

Freaks (1932): “Can a full-grown woman truly love a midget?” What?!? This movie was banned in many countries and Todd Browning’s career unfortunately never recovered after this. This is a must see, a truly beautiful love story which leaves a pro-founding effect on you once you have watched it, even though this was made nearly 82 years ago, it still holds up well. If you haven't seen this one, do yourself a favor and hunt this one down, you'll be glad you did. And then, you'll be "One of us!"

The plot; a beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of the side-show performers but his deformed friends soon find out she is only marrying him for his inheritance.


The Last House on The Left (1972): “To avoid fainting, keep repeating ‘It’s only a movie…It’s only a movie…” Effective and many people during the time of release fainted in theatres due to its graphic content. The tagline according to Sean S. Cunningham originated from a woman who watched a cut of the film and was covering her eyes muttering the words “It’s only a movie…”

This is one of my all time favourite movies which is still so brutal for me, even to this day. I recently shown this to someone who had never seen it before and they thought it was pretty tame. But everyone has different perceptions and maybe it just doesn't have the same impact in this day and age? The plot; a pair of young girls head to a rock concert for Mari’s birthday, on their way there they try to get some marijuana, but soon they are kidnapped by a group of psychotic convicts and all hell is unleashed on them.

Black Christmas [AKA Silent Night, Evil Night] (1974) “If this movie doesn’t make your skin crawl…it’s on too tight!” Awesome, this is a great movie that deserves more credit than it gets, don’t bother with the remake stick to the original. I remember watching this for the first time many moons ago, it had me hooked, I thought the ending was brilliant, set the tone for a lot of slashers later.

The plot; a sorority house is terrorized by a mysterious stranger who makes frightening phone calls to the house and soon the sorority sisters are killed off on Christmas break. If the tagline wasn’t awesome enough to get you to watch this, believe me watch this film.


The Lift (1983) “Take the stairs. Take the stairs. For God’s sake, take the stairs!!!” Well, I guess I’m taking the stairs then. This is a truly awesome tagline, the movie wasn't bad either, but it has its downfalls like the cringe worthy tap-dancing janitor. I mean, why? Well, why not I guess?

The plot, a lift starts malfunctioning where incidents happen and some deaths are caused by the lift, an engineer is called in but is dumbfounded as he cannot understand what is wrong. Is it a malfunction or is it something else?

Well there you have it, my Top 10 Horror Movie Taglines. I could have easily done a top one hundred but I think ten is plenty, I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane and relieved some of these classic movies, hopefully if you haven’t seen some of the above then my words may have encouraged you to check them out.

Here are some honorable mentions; A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) “If Nancy doesn't wake up screaming, she won’t wake up at all…”, Re-Animator (1985) “Herbert West has a very good head on his shoulders…and another one in a dish on his desk.”, Phantasm (1979) “If this one doesn't scare you, you’re already dead!”, Alien (1979) “In space, no one can hear you scream.”, Dawn of the Dead (1978) “When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth.”, House (1986) “Ding dong. You’re dead.”, Jaws 2 (1978) "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water." Ravenous (1999) “You are who you eat.” and The Fly (1986) “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

Please be sure to add your own or maybe make your own list I would like to know what you guys think?