Five Awesome Minimalist Poster Designs for Classic Genre Movies

Sometimes, half the fun of being a horror fan is indulging in phenomenal cover art... especially the gory, often hand-drawn imagery of the classic horror films from the VHS era (when more than a handful of horror films boasted cover art better than the movies they represented). While we love fancy artistry, it’s hard not to appreciate the growing number of fan-created minimalist poster designs that are popping up online.

 

There are a plethora of minimalist poster designs out there that are not trying to outdo the originals, but instead manage to communicate their message with one central theme and a background composed mainly of negative space. Sometimes less is more, and that point is really driven home in these five simple but shockingly effective designs.

 

 

 

Summed up as a single nail, this poster is delightfully simplistic but completely effective. Anyone who's seen the film (and probably most anyone who hasn't) immediately gets the homage this image is paying to Pinhead. Though that character didn’t really become a major part of the franchise until the second film, we still think this rendering is a brilliant tribute to the franchise at large.

 

 

 

Since Hitchcock's classic is really built around the iconic shower scene, this is a perfect way to sum up the film in a simple drawing. The film's first half builds up to Janet Leigh's character being murdered in the shower, and once that transpires, the remainder focuses on the aftermath of her untimely death. The artist's choice to focus on this indelible image would have made Norman (and perhaps Mother) very proud.

 

 

 

The shit really hits the fan when the titular character in Carrie gets pig’s blood dumped all over her prom dress, so a rope and bucket seem like appropriate choices to represent this Stephen King Classic. The climactic scene is a pivotal and iconic moment, so it’s the perfect selection for a design concept which sums up the film in a single statement. 

 

 

 

Here, we see the title of Stanley Kubrick's classic represented quite literally. Unlike many other minimalist designs, it has little to do with a character or central theme, and instead puts a creative play on the movie’s title. This is a fairly rare case, but it actually works perfectly, and you immediately know what the design is referencing.

 

 

 

This poster concept is another literal interpretation, but in this case it actually sums up the film’s content quite effectively. Unlike A Clockwork Orange, the imagery here is very telling of exactly what happens in the film, resulting in another fine example of a fan tribute to one of the all-time greats.

 

 

Honorable Mention goes to this awesome representation of one of the best action films of all time: Die Hard. Since this list concerns genre films, we didn’t feel it was fair to include it, but it's so creative in its reference to one of the most iconic scenes in the film that we couldn’t help but give it a nod.

 

What are some of your top choices for effective minimalist poster designs? Let us know in the comments below!