# Paintings or photos that play a major part in horror movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274 "2015-10-02T16:43:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/41 "2015-10-03T19:32:20Z")
Although it is a bit of a stretch to call **Blade Runner** a horror film, Deckard lives in a flat full of photographs. This is a key clue that suggests he is a replicant himself since it is mentioned in the film replicants covet photographs as an emotional reinforcement to their fake / missing past. The film also has a famous scene with Deckard using advanced technology to analyse a photograph for clues. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/42 "2015-10-03T19:35:11Z")
Another Stephen King book and film. In **It** Pennywise the Clown is seen in various old photographs. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/43 "2015-10-05T07:16:14Z")
1. There are photos at the end of the movie “The Craft” which start to move when the main character gets control of her powers. But, the photos themselves are pretty ordinary, it’s the moving bit that’s supposed to be creepy. 2. In the movie “Dead Again” (I think, I might be mis-remembering the title), one of the reincarnated characters has made a bunch of paintings (and sculptures and other artistic items) of scissors. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/44 "2015-10-05T07:22:12Z")
Ooh, here’s another one, although I don’t know if this counts as horror. In the Dr. Who episode “Vincent and the Doctor” one of Van Gogh’s paintings has a creature inside a house. There might be other altered Van Gogh paintings in there, but I can’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/45 "2015-10-05T07:23:47Z")
It doesn’t play a major part in the movie, but the painting in _Manos: The Hands of Fate_ is certainly [creepy.](http://media1.fdncms.com/charlotte/imager/halloween-countdown-manos-the-hands-of-fate/u/slideshow/2884714/1349735097-manos-hd-1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/46 "2015-10-05T16:00:50Z")
One that’s creepy on its own, but that I’ve also seen in some horror/suspense films is Goya’s [Saturn Devouring His Son](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Devouring_His_Son#/media/File:Francisco_de_Goya,_Saturno_devorando_a_su_hijo_%281819-1823%29.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/47 "2015-10-05T19:22:26Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > Did anyone ever do a talkie version of another short story from the same collection, _The Road Virus Goes North_? That prominently features a spooky painting. Might be too obscure though. I was going to mention this one. And they adapted some of King’s _Nightmares and Dreamscapes_ into a miniseries a few years ago. While _Road Virus_ wasn’t in that book, it was [included](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1251210/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) in the series. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/48 "2015-10-05T21:37:42Z")
In the original The Omen movie, there’s a photographer who realizes that when he takes pictures of people who are about to die, a black mark appears on the photo. The closer it is to their death, the longer the mark appears. The mark starts at the neck, so it gives a somewhat noose-like feel. Then the photographer takes a picture of himself in the mirror and there’s a black mark. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/49 "2015-10-05T21:40:40Z")
Blowup ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/50 "2015-10-06T16:22:10Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Hope this helps: (pix from “[Escape Clause](https://www.google.com/search?q=night+gallery+pilot&espv=2&biw=1274&bih=682&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI8eTZjNekyAIVzjWICh0qpA5B&dpr=1.25)”) > > I don’t know how you’d use this, but there was a movie in the late '70s–“[Burnt Offerings](https://www.google.com/search?q=burnt+offerings+movie&espv=2&biw=1274&bih=682&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMIt4XextekyAIVTTuICh3REwRW#imgrc=_)”-- about a vampire house and anyone who died there joined the creepy gallery of pix on the walls. Also has a great pic of Karen Black–and her bridgework–from “Trilogy Of Terror.” I know exactly the photos you mean so I looked at the _Burnt Offerings_ link, \*\* Mr mutt\*\*. No photos of the family, but plenty of scary ass Karen “I’ve been waiting for you Ben” Black :eek::mad::p. Oh, and a shot of her at the end of _Trilogy of Terror._. . . \ note to self: don’t click on the link when you know the movie contains oogie images. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/51 "2015-10-06T17:47:55Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > _Night Gallery_ seemed to _want_ to do Lovecraft, but either they couldn’t bring themselves to do it, or their sponsors held them back, or something. Two Lovecraftian pieces turned into jokes, the Pickman’s Model one came off halfway decent, and the others failed. I seem to recall that they did an OK version of _Cool Air_. Does that sound familiar to anyone? (Of course, they changed the narrating character into a woman and gave her a love interest role, but otherwise more faithful to the story than most Lovecraft adaptations.) ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/52 "2015-10-06T18:25:15Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I seem to recall that they did an OK version of _Cool Air_. Does that sound familiar to anyone? > > (Of course, they changed the narrating character into a woman and gave her a love interest role, but otherwise more faithful to the story than most Lovecraft adaptations.) Yup. And it is as you say; the main character is now a woman who is attracted to the mysterious Doctor, but is puzzled by his obsession with air conditioning. And it retains the original ending, unlike their version of “Pickman’s Model,” which changed things up considerably, and had a rather dumb looking rubber monster suit… Both paintings were actually pretty good, though. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/53 "2015-10-06T18:30:16Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I seem to recall that they did an OK version of _Cool Air_. Does that sound familiar to anyone? > > (Of course, they changed the narrating character into a woman and gave her a love interest role, but otherwise more faithful to the story than most Lovecraft adaptations.) And except for the jokey ending (_TWO_ different death dates on his tombstone) which undercut the effect of the story. No painting involved in that one (except the one used to introduce the story, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/54 "2015-10-06T18:38:30Z")
The movie **The Haunting** included a painting of the owner of the mansion which was pretty creepy. I can’t seem to find too many good pictures, but here’s [a](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-wANNalUGwb0/UCF3ELJKJOI/AAAAAAAAAAk/KOZ7qUUNM6Y/hugh) [couple](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wXwsFgctW3o/Ul2t8nOxkvI/AAAAAAAA_G4/R3_7hkbQ2BQ/s1600/The+Haunting+-+set+3.jpg). (Weird movie - average script, incredible cast, and some of the best Art Direction I’ve ever seen in a movie). ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/55 "2015-10-06T19:22:44Z")
I wish I had more room to work with. That and a way to reproduce this stuff. These are some awesomely creepy images, some of which I’ve never seen before but scary as hell nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/56 "2015-10-06T20:58:15Z")
Ran across an old magazine ad that offered poster prints of various paintings from \*Night Gallery. \* Really wish I could still order some of those… ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/57 "2015-10-06T22:32:27Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I know exactly the photos you mean so I looked at the _Burnt Offerings_ link, \*\* Mr mutt\*\*. No photos of the family, but plenty of scary ass Karen “I’ve been waiting for you Ben” Black :eek::mad::p. Oh, and a shot of her at the end of _Trilogy of Terror._. . . \ > note to self: don’t click on the link when you know the movie contains oogie images. “Burnt Offerings” is on Amazon Prime as we speak–Prime is free rental, otherwise, $2.99 USD (I think; might be off by a buck). I’m gonna watch it tomorrow while the wife is away (she’s a sissy-pants). > [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > Ran across an old magazine ad that offered poster prints of various paintings from \*Night Gallery. > \* > Really wish I could still order some of those… **Master W-K** , you may come over and kick my behind as hard as you wish–I had one of those as a teen (“House - With Ghost”) and have no idea where it went. It was the coolest thing I ever possessed, and I had a seven-foot glow-in-the-dark Frankenstein monster dealie hanging in my room, but **NG** skunked it by a parsec. _sob_ ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/58 "2015-10-06T23:14:57Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > **Master W-K** , you may come over and kick my behind as hard as you wish–I had one of those as a teen (“House - With Ghost”) and have no idea where it went. It was the coolest thing I ever possessed, and I had a seven-foot glow-in-the-dark Frankenstein monster dealie hanging in my room, but **NG** skunked it by a parsec. _sob_ Ohh, you bastard. At least it wasn’t “Girl With The Hungry Eyes…” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/59 "2015-10-06T23:34:57Z")
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHW731mFuBY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHW731mFuBY) > [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > Ohh, you bastard. > At least it wasn’t “Girl With The Hungry Eyes…” The biggest chill I ever got from Night Gallery was several years after it went off the air. Mom had the radio on (country, of course) when all of a sudden, SHIT! IT’S _**[THE TUNE IN DAN’S CAFE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHW731mFuBY)**_!! The room slid sideways for a moment then my brother came running in and hollered his fool head off **THE TUNE! THE TUNE!** Go play outside, you two! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274/60 "2015-10-07T00:46:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ray Bradbury wrote “The Crowd,” a 1955 short story in which a man realizes that the same people keep showing up at car-accident scenes. He compares photographs across many years and sees them again and again, unaged. Brrrr. Later adapted for TV on _Ray Bradbury’s Theater_. Can’t find an image of the actual photograph they used, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paintings-or-photos-that-play-a-major-part-in-horror-movies/733274.md?page=4)