Posters: Euro vs American

I found these posters for 'The Killer Inside Me'.

European posters are generally better at capturing the essence of Hollywood movies, especially character-driven stuff. Above are stunning and Affleck is pretty disturbing, but you'd never see these at an American multi-plex. They're too...what, honest? direct?...for an American audience.

Here's the U.S. version:

Don't get me wrong -- I love this, it's good work, but it seems watered down compared to the European sheets. In this poster character traits are vague -- Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba have a generic look that might come from almost any movie, while Affleck's character looks like a guy who is weighing the pros and cons of buying a used car (in fact, he looks a little dumbfounded).

In this one-sheet no one makes eye contact. The text is far more intrusive, covering almost half of two faces. It's more indefinite in every way. Even the imagery is muted, having far less contrast, saturation, and resolution than the European versions.

Don't know what that indicates about the differences in our cultures, but it's there. Most Euro one-sheets (for Hollywood movies) are just harder-hitting, deeper, more explicit and engaging when compared to the American versions.