A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

In retrospect, I’m actually pretty surprised that they didn't put a recognizable Freddy face on the poster. Maybe with the first film, they wanted to build up Mr. Krueger’s mystique by including this more abstract version of his face? Either way, this birds-eye depiction of Nancy lying awake in bed is absolutely hypnotic and beautifully painted by an artist named Matthew Joseph Peak. Matthew painted the first five Nightmare film posters, so it’s no surprise why they all have a similar look and feel. Matthew is also the son of one of the all-time greatest movie poster artists, Bob Peak, known for classics such as West Side Story, Camelot and Apocalypse Now.