What the hell is happening with this Blu-ray cover
As Polygon’s resident physical media obsessive, I sift through press releases for hundreds of DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K discs each year. A majority of marketing materials prop up horror movies, the staple of home video, and therefore the hardest for promoters to separate from the pack.
Needless to say, I’m no longer surprised when I open the mail and find a picture of a decomposing skull full of maggots or a rushed Photoshop of 1970s film stars covered in pixelated blood. Today, however, one box stands above the rest. I am stunned, confused, horrified, and sort of impressed.
The new box art for Rosemary’s Baby defies simple adjectives like good, bad, ugly, or beautiful. At first blush, it’s a simple silhouette of Rosemary (played by Mia Farrow) pregnant with a child that (if you’re familiar with the movie) may or may not be the antichrist. Except, what’s that on her belly?
Teeth!
The art uses the ambiguous image technique, a visual illusion in which one image can be read in multiple ways. Like the rabbit-duck illusion. Or not the so kindly named “My Wife and My Mother-in-Law.”
When you look at countless Blu-rays, you come to appreciate the plight of the box cover artist. They are tasked with the impossible: appeasing hardcore fans, attracting newcomers, and conveying iconic imagery in ways surprising and respectful. Their job is a ball of contradictions, and unlike the poster artists responsible for Hollywood’s most iconic marketing, the box artist works on a fraction of the time and budget.
Which is why I can’t get over this magnificent, monstrous marvel. Please explain what in the hell is going on here!
Ultimately, I admire misguided masterpieces. Imagine having to create something comparable to the original poster for
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