Horror DVD Menu Screens!
Tonight, we pay tribute to horror DVD menu screens.
Somebody has to. They’re great. I own well over a hundred scary movie DVDs, and since I have the tendency to buy copies of films I’ve already seen ten thousand times, the real thrill, and frequently, the only thrill, is seeing how the production team summed everything up on those often cheesy, always awesome menus.
I plucked ten horror DVDs from my collection at random. Below are my thoughts on their menu screens.
Hellraiser III: Dig it. With the chunky text and crude blood, it looks like a game from the original Mortal Kombat era. I thought Pinhead had black eyes, but even if this was editorialized, those red eyes work. Really brings the whole color scheme together.
The Serpent and the Rainbow: Very underrated film that doesn’t get much love these days, so if you take anything from this review, I hope it’s the notion to watch The Serpent and the Rainbow.
Here we have Bill Pullman, dressed like an undead geisha, clawing his way out of a premature burial.
Nearly every promotional material associated with the film used this image, so even if you’ve never seen the movie, chances are, you’ve seen Bill Pullman freaking out with a cross on his forehead before. I don’t blame the menu makers for sticking with it, since it’s such a powerful visual.
I also like the randomly added Macanudo smoke.
Pumpkinhead: Not my favorite menu screen. Pumpkinhead’s look was no huge secret, but I still think they could’ve been a bit more “hinty” about it.
All in all, this just looks too “fun.” I kept waiting for a late animation wherein Pumpkinhead would grab a top hat from some off-screen area, only to act out the “HELLO MY BABY” Spaceballs thing. That’s not what I want from Pumpkinhead.
Actually, that’s exactly what I want from Pumpkinhead. But if they weren’t ready to give it to me, this menu should’ve been creepier.
House: Utterly perfect, even if most of you won’t think so. House is a wonderful, bizarre movie that paved way for wonderful, bizarre sequels. Even with so much absurdity to draw from, I love how the menu keeps it simple and mysterious.
Forget William Katt, forget George Wendt – the real star of House was the house itself, stuffed with monsters and mayhem and at least one reanimated marlin corpse. You can’t look at this menu and not wonder what that house’s deal is. Toss in a red outer glow, and it’s an A+ situation.
Re-Animator: I’m a sucker for that glowing green “re-agent” goop so prevalent in Re-Animator’s marketing materials, and I’m glad to see it on display here.
Since the DVD came out long after Re-Animator had already built its cult following, the menu makers were free to get goofy. If you knew nothing about the film and only had this to go by, boy, would you be in for a shock. There are so few movies featuring forced cunnilingus perpetuated by severed heads, and you’d never guess that this benign menu screen belonged to one of them. Good stuff!
Mistress of the Dark: Elvira’s best movie, by far. Probably the best thing Elvira’s ever done, actually. The menu really captures her and the movie’s spirit, where creepy is more of a style than a theme. You obviously can’t tell by the static image, but every ten seconds or so, Elvira blinks innocently as lightning sparks the clouds.
I’m totally watching Mistress of the Dark as soon as I finish writing this. Maybe I’ll mention that to Edie McClurg. I’ve been dying to open communications with Edie ever since I started following her on Twitter.
UPDATE: I went for it.
No response yet. 
My Bloody Valentine: Sorry, but this one sucks. I love this film to death, but I can’t let that distract me from objectivity. With so many iconic shots and scenes to choose from, this was the best they could come up with?
My Bloody Valentine’s legacy stems from it being just like every other slasher film while being nothing like any other slasher film, and to get a menu screen this generic and charmless makes me want to hurl monkey meat on the people responsible for it. And yes I am willing to eat a monkey to do this.
Fright Night: If Pinhead’s menu reminded me of video games from the early ‘90s, this one reminds me more of the Commodore 64 era. Love it! Even if it just rehashes the usual images associated with Fright Night, it’s done with such a low-rent, cheesy glee that I’d be completely okay with leaving this menu on my TV long enough to forever burn it into the screen. As soon as I’m done watching Elvira, I’ll get on that.
It’s Alive: I’ve never seen this movie. I’m ashamed to admit that, since It’s Alive and its sequels are considered classics. I have no recollection of buying this, and the fact that I own it could only mean that on some long ago evening, there I stood, in Best Buy, completely and totally hammered.
Still, the fact that I haven’t seen It’s Alive makes me the perfect audience for this menu screen. It doesn’t take a genius to know that there’s something weird in that stroller. A monster baby, or maybe a miniscule alien killer disguised in an infant’s Onesie. The menu hints at just enough to make my curiosity rage over It’s Alive. When I’m done with Elvira and after I finish burning the Fright Night menu into my TV screen, I’ll watch it.
God, I have a lot to do tonight.
Halloween 4: I specifically chose to end with this one. Just think it’s the strongest of the menus featured here. Halloween 4 may very well be my favorite of the entire series, but I don’t think those loyalties are affecting my opinion. This is, simply put, just a great freakin’ menu.
Moving image overlays. A terrified suburban home. Storms and shadows. Orange fonts. Michael Myers. This menu shoots eight-pointers from every angle, and the sight of it has effectively transformed 9/18 into 10/31.
To read an article that’s almost exactly like this, I also ranked the Friday the 13th movies based on VHS box art alone.
As for this one: I’d originally planned to make it a much longer article, and review something like 40 different horror DVD menus. Then I realized that nobody wants to read through 40 descriptions of DVD menus. But, if you’re the exactly the kind of oddball who can’t get enough of them, I’ve posted images from several more DVDs on the second page.
No additional commentary on those, though. Dick Van Patten was almost right: Ten is enough.
lol
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@ Dylan, yes, I couldn’t agree more. Actually, earlier in this thread, I belive I said it sucked monkey balls. Wait. Maybe it was donkey. Regardless, I believe the film to be lacking.
I think a delightful alternative would be “Basket Case,” one of my surprise favorite early 80s horror films. Way better than I expected when I sat down to watch it. WAAAAAY better.
@Ryan Basket Case is probably one of my favorite mid-80′s, really wrong, horror movies. I don’t think there was ever a moment where I was a bored and a lot of moments where I said “Holy shit!” I vaguely remember there being a sequel that I never saw.
There is a Basket Case sequel that is a apparently much weirder. It’s one of the 181 DVDs sitting on my shelf right now actually… one of these days.
For fun, let me note that in my weird hobbyish movie reviewing days, I did cover Motel Hell as well as the OTHER two Killer Tomatoes sequels (I’ve owned Return of the Killer Tomatoes too long for it to have entered my old review-queue–caught it on Comedy Central or something and loved the heck out of it. Best product placement gags ever.)–Killer Tomatoes Strike Back and Killer Tomatoes Eat France. Be aware that the last two will readily appeal to fans of the first SEQUEL–but fans of the original movie will have to “taste test” any of them before going further.
I like the Child’s Play and Creepshow 2 ones.
I also like that you snuck the Bigg Mixx mask in there.
I saw House 2 at some point in my childhood (my dad loves corny movies like that), but literally the only things I remember about it are some kind of little dog caterpillar thing, and some kind of crusty old dead dude.
This post made my night; each of them is excellent in its own way. I like Halloween 4, but I REALLY like Halloween 3. Tom Atkins is so boss.
I really really hope Edie McClurg gets back to you. A lot.
If she does, please tell her we’re all patiently waiting on a Small Wonder reboot. I’m sure she’s still in the loop with all of that.
Sorry Matt, but Elvira: Mistress of the Dark is a terrible film.
It’s not that Elvira can’t be funny, and it’s not like the film doesn’t have some dumb charm to it, but it makes the colossal mistake of slagging Attack of the Killer Tomatoes in it, one of the most sublime (and funny) low budget comedies ever made. She’s funny, she should have gotten the film and known better. Is it an in joke? Even if so, it doesn’t play that way.
I really let this film have it when I reviewed it, and this is what started me down the road of being an 80s/90s T&A movie reviewer (it’s a living.) So, that kind of sucks, too
Fun article. I laughed when Big Mixx made his surprise appearance. That’s going to have to be a lifelong Dino-Drac running gag, isn’t it?
I agree about the Pumpkinhead screen… just doesn’t quite succeed at what it’s setting out to do. But then, I’m biased. I’ve held a grudge against Pumpkinhead ever since I discovered it’s not a film about Samhain from The Real Ghostbusters.
There’s actually TWO Basket Case sequels. I own and have watched the second. It’s not bad…they certainly try to make it “weirder” by introducing more deformed “freaks,” if you will, but I didn’t enjoy it to the degree that I enjoyed the original. Don’t get me wrong though, I still definitely think it’s worth seeing and, much as in the original, the final scene left me in gape-mouthed astonishment.
Oh, and I remember looking for the third Basket Case, which resulted in one of two scenarios. Either it was never put out on DVD or it’s really rare, I can’t remember which, but you can bet your bottom dollar I’m gonna’ go take a look see now…
Holy crow, Basket Case getting a re-release on Oct. 9th!
http://www.amazon.com/Basket-Case-3-The-Progeny/dp/B008S2CTWY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348182242&sr=8-1&keywords=basket+case+3
Wow, that’s really pathetic of me considering I actually own Basket Case 3: The Progeny and it is in my 181 unwatched horror movies yet I forgot it existed. Oops! Good on you for having a better memory than me, Ryan…
Ha! I’ve designed hundreds, maybe thousands of these screens over the last ten years, including most of the Lionsgate horror titles. Thanks for the laugh.
Just read through the comments – I did the menus for Basket Case 2 and The Devil’s Rejects…also the Cabin in the Woods dvd and bd…good times!
OH DEAR GOD! The BIGG MIXX pic made me almost throw up it was so graphic! You should warn people if you’re throwing things like that at us!
Nice to see Dolls get some notice: I adore it/hate it/have been watching it every year since it was released on VHS, probably.
Though I don’t recognize anything about the image on the left of the woman on the gurney. Which makes this even better.
Hey Matt! I was at the Dollar Tree earlier today and noticed that they had iced tea Ssips. Just wanted to let you know if you weren’t aware. I live in TN, so they may not be in your neck of the woods, and if they aren’t, I’m glad to send you some if you want them. I’m loving the countdown so far. I discovered your countdown in college and it’s by far my favorite part of the Halloween season.