13 Controversial Horror Movie Posters That Were Banned from Public Display
John Squires
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2008’s Australian film Dying Breed was based on the real-life tale of cannibalistic killer Alexander Pearce, who was dubbed “The Pieman.” Not only did the film force many locals to flee theaters, faint, and even vomit, but so too did the poster art induce similar nausea, thanks to its depiction of a pie filled with all sorts of human parts. It was actually the agency responsible for putting up ads in bus shelters that decided it was too gross for mass consumption, refusing to display the art in public. Mmm. Meat pie.
Over in the UK, this poster for the Eli Roth-produced The Last Exorcism didn’t terrorize the public for very long, as the Advertising Standards Authority removed all traces of it in the wake of over 100 parental complaints. It was the fact that these posters were placed in close proximity to schools that resulted in the majority of the outcry, with many parents finding the art distressing and feeling that the girl looked like she had suffered a sexual assault of some kind. Here in the States a black & white filter was put over the art, and nobody – to my knowledge – complained about it.
