Ghost House Pictures

Background : Ghost House Pictures was established in 2002 by Sam Raimi (who is the founder of Renaissance Pictures) and Robert Tapert to produce high-concept horror films. Most of its theatrical films are produced and distributed by Mandate Pictures.

1st Logo (October 22, 2002-)
Nicknames : "The Skull", "Creepy Skull", "Evil Skull", "The Skull of Doom"

L ogo : In a dim light what appears to be a haunted house, an old door slams shut by itself. The camera moves to the door's keyhole, through which a skull suddenly moves into view. The camera pulls back and zooms out to show that the skull is vignetted in the keyhole. As the camera pulls back and zooms out, the words "GHOST" and "HOUSE" materialize in a "ghostly" manner in white on either side of the keyhole, and "PICTURES" in white appears underneath in smaller text.

Trivia : That logo was created by Prologue.

Variant : On Evil Dead, after the TriStar Pictures, and FilmDistrict logos complete, it then segues into the Ghost House Pictures logo.

FX/SFX : The door slamming shut (by itself! Oooo!), the camera moving around the door, the skull appearing. The effects here are at least equivalent to whatever movie it is attached to.

Cheesy Factor : The movement of the skull seems mechanical, almost like in a haunted house but that may be deliberate.

Music/Sounds : A loud bang is heard when the door slams (with what sounds like someone screaming from a distance before the door slams), and typical spooky horror movie music with a child singing wordlessly. A whoosh is heard when the skull slides from the left. Also, an evil laugh is heard when the text appears, followed by a man screaming when the Ghost House Pictures logo fades out. On Evil Dead, there is no scary music with a child singing, just the sound of the door slamming. On The Possession. while the skull slides from the left, it makes a louder and scarier whoosh sound than the normal version, sounding like a short roar. On The Grudge, the opening theme is heard over it.

Availability : Common on horror films released by the company. That debuted on The Grudge. That's also seen on The Messengers, Evil Dead, The Possession, Saw II, Cloverfield, and Don't Breathe. This logo, however, doesn't appear on films released by Ghost House Underground, as they are not by Ghost House Pictures.

Scare Factor : High to nightmare, though this is most likely intentional. The skull appearing may be a surprise at first, but the loud door slam is startling even if you know it is coming, but the next logo is scarier...

2nd Logo (March 15, 2009-)
Nicknames : "The Skull II", "Creepy Skull II ", "Evil Skull II", '' The Skull Escaped From His Haunted House',' "The Skull of Doom II", "Zooming Skull",

L ogo : On a black BG, the skull from the previous logo emerges from the darkness and zooms in, this time shown in full view. The words "GHOST HOUSE" and"PICTURES" appear below like in the previous logo, but now they have some stains dripping down on the words "GHOST HOUSE". The skull seems to vibrate while the logo goes.

Variants: Along with the MGM logo on Poltergeist, after it zooms in, a TV glitch appears as if something was trying to mess up technology, and on Boogeyman 2, the logo is tinted dark blue.

FX/SFX : The skull moving and showing effects.

Cheesy Factor : The skull's zooming in is very choppy, even more than the previous logo.

Music/Sounds : Same as the 1st logo, but without the door slamming. Sometimes, the opening theme of the movie.

Availability : So far only seen on Drag Me To Hell and the 2015 reboot of Poltergeist.

Scare Factor : Nightmare. It may be scarier than before, because of the hi-res skull shown fully. The way the skull appears out of nowhere and rapidly zooms in (a la Viacom's "V of Doom") can catch unsuspecting people off-guard. Definitely one of the scariest logos ever.