Ghost House Pictures

Logo descriptions by Treg Smithee

Editions by DoomBox

Video captures courtesy of KiNoLoGoIntroRelease, Rob Brasil, and ane 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, 2004-)
Nicknames: "The Skull", "Creepy Skull", "Evil Skull", "The Skull of Doom", "The Door Slamming", "The Skull Through a Keyhole", "Pop Goes The Skull", "And Then a Skeleton Popped Out!"

Logo: In dim light, an old door slams shut by itself. The view moves to the door's keyhole, through which an evil smiling skull suddenly moves into view from the left. The view pulls back to show the skull vignetted in the keyhole. As the view pulls back, the words "GHOST HOUSE" materialize in a "ghostly" manner in white on either side of the keyhole, and "PICTURES" appears below the keyhole in spaced-out letters.

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

Music/Sounds: We first hear a sound with sounds like someone screaming in a distance (possibly a victim in the haunted house) and then a loud bang when the door slams, causing the screaming to stop, then typical spooky horror movie music with ghostly singing in a high pitched tone. A whoosh is heard when the skull slides from the left. On The Possession, while the skull slides from the left, it makes a louder and scarier whoosh sound then the normal version, sounding like a short roar. Sometimes, it's the opening theme of the movie, and/or we only hear the door slam and the ghostly singing, or only the door slamming, or no sounds at all. For example, on the film, Evil Dead, the door slam out is the only sound heard in the logo. The sound of the door slam sometimes depends on the film it's being used in.

Availability: Common on horror films released by the company. It debuted on The Grudge. It's also seen on Boogeyman, The Messengers, Don't Breathe, the sequels Boogeyman 2 and The Grudge 2, Rise: Blood Hunter, the third part of the series The Grudge 3 and Boogeyman 3, 30 Days Of Night, etc. This logo, however, did not appear in the films released by Ghost House Underground, as they are not by Ghost House Pictures.

Editor's Note: A scary, but interesting logo. The next logo is a different story...

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

Logo: On a black background, 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.

FX/SFX: The skull moving and showing effects.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo, but the whoosh sound is omitted. Sometimes, it's opening theme of the movie.

Availability: So far, only seen on Drag Me to Hell and the 2015 remake of Poltergeist. This is used in tandem with the previous logo.

Editor's Note: It's another downgrade from the previous logo. Nothing much to say.