In the United States, movie posters are used for one very specific purpose – they give the viewers a small taste of the movie they’re advertising, mostly by providing basic information such as the stars, director, and overall tone. Horrors get a lot of use out of skulls and splattered blood, comedies like to show off their lead funny guy making a silly face, award-bait dramas display full ensembles of acclaimed actors in beautiful costumes. Some particularly awesome posters do transcend the “marketing device” thing and get to be iconic in their own right (hello, fellow Struzan fans!) But on the whole, they’re pretty forgettable.

In Poland, however, movie posters are freakin’ crazy. A lot of them do get the point about their respective films across, but in way more colorful and creative ways than anything I’ve seen here in America. Check out these:

They’re for Gandhi, The Big Lebowski and Alice in Wonderland (2010), respectively. I would love to have any of these three hanging inside a frame in my room, and not just because I happen to like the movies. They’re genuinely interesting pieces on their own, and from what I’ve found via Google search, there are a ton more Polish posters equally as cool, even if many of them don’t seem to have any real connection with the movie they’re advertising.

However, I also found an astonishing amount of posters that weren’t just abstract or confusing, but downright terrifying. Most are for horror and sci-fi flicks, but a surprising number of them aren’t for scary movies at all. Here are the top 13 that stuck out to me (and then proceeded to haunt my dreams.)

13.  Raging Bull

This is pretty cool overall. The red background and sketchy art make an appealing combination. But does he really need to punch through the guy’s face? Gah.

12. Romancing the Stone

A skull and a red laser thingy through the eye socket – pretty standard for a horror flick. The creepy part is when you realize that somebody thought of this after watching Romancing the Stone. What kind of a psycho is this artist?

11.  The Shining

Oddly enough, despite the weird proportions and colorful shading I totally see Shelley Duvall here. I just wish she didn’t look ready to bite my head off.

10.   Face/Off

Call me crazy, but I’m just a little unnerved by the image of a man ripping off his own stitched-on face.

9.  Betrayed (1988)

I’ve never seen this film, but from what I’ve read it doesn’t have much to do with half-decayed corpses covered in a fine layer of dust and spider webs. So don’t ask me why the artist chose to draw that, and in the creepiest way possible.

8.  Jaws 2

Well, now they’re just taking the title way too literally. But am I the only one who thinks there should be a movie about a shark with 2 mouths?

7.  Terms of Endearment

What better way to advertise your tear-jerker dramedy about a sweet mother-daughter relationship than with telephones capable of biting your ear off?

6.   The Birds

As creepy as this is, I can’t help but think it’s frakking awesome, too. Kudos, Poland. You win this one.

5.  Alien

You know how sometimes, when you’re all alone and you know it, you still get the feeling that you’re being watched? I’m pretty sure it’s this thing, silently watching you, waiting for just the right moment to attack…

4.  Amadeus

I can’t tell if this is supposed to be Mozart or Salieri, but whoever it is, he’s going to devour your soul.

3.  Howard the Duck

This is probably supposed to be homage to Uncle Sam, but it looks more like a poster promoting an evil mutant dictator in the post-apocalyptic future. Or should that be ducktator? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

2.  Pollyanna

You remember Pollyanna, right? The Disney family-flick starring Hayley Mills as the perpetual optimist? Apparently it’s the secret precursor to the Silent Hill franchise.

1.  Weekend at Bernie’s

I just… There’s no…. Okay, I really can’t think of a good description for this abomination. It speaks for itself.