Horror poster research

ANALYSIS

OF

HORROR

FILM P

OSTERS

Film poster 1“SINISTER”

SINISTER

The blood across the wall suggests it is a gory film withLots of violence and murder. The killers image is printed with blood onThe wall this is mysterious as the image has an angry facial expressionThe light on the wall reveals focused on the middle of the shots revealsThe blood. The use of blood revealing the killers face may shows that He kills a lot of people and leaves his mark…The females face is hidden which again adds to mystery which couldBe a theme for this film or the poster at least. The hollow eyes may Suggest how evil he is and how the killer shows no remorse.

The woman on the front cover is also mysterious we can not see her facial Expressions and also she is dragging blood across the wall (creating the imageOf the killers face). Also the blood is running down the wall/floor. The clothingShows she is in a asylum which is a common stereotype in horror films (they areCommonly associated)

The font of the title is shadow like this may be relevant to the killer lurking in the shadows. Sinister meaning…giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen

Furthermore there are cracks in the wall which suggest that the mental asylum or where ever This is taking place is old which suggests a history….

WHAT INFORMATION WOULD YOU EXPECT TO SEE? (BUT IS MISSING)You would usually imagine that the cover star would be the

killer however it is one of his victims, the killer is on the front cover however he is the blood splattered image not the vocal point.

The poster creates a sense of mystery as someone who had not seen the film would wonder who the women is?, why she is splatting the blood against the wall, and who is the image of on the wall?

The sense of enigma mainly stems around the women/ girl as she is fairly mysterious as she is wearing a all white jumpsuit/ pyjamas which would spring the question who is she and why does she wear these clothes?

The film producers try to create a thrill through statements like “once you see him nothing can save you” things like this portray the image that he is like nothing else and seeing this film would be unique. Furthermore the producers try to create a sense of excitement through naming former films which they have produced which were successful.

The film Sinister belongs to the horror genre the way in which I know this is because there is a killer, victim and the punchline being “once you see him nothing can save you. Finally the producers who make the film have made “Paranormal Activity” and “Insidious” both of these films also belonging to the horror genre.

Film poster 2“Nightmare On ElmStreet”

As we can see from the poster we see the killer on the front cover. He is fairly wrinkly and his skin looks burned. As two with the women on the front of the first poster his face is hidden leaving some mystery. We can see the top of a blade and also he is wearing a hat similar to a cowboy hat

The colour scheme on the poster is stereotypical to that of this genre with the dark red and black colours emphasising his evil. The text contrasts the colour scheme it is a shining white and it says “welcome to your new nightmare”

The poster has most information in which you would expect to see on a typical horror film poster and would be a good guideline or refrence when creating my own in the future.

This poster creates a sense of mystery in the sense that we cannot see the killers face and therefore we have no idea who he is. From this poster if you had not watched the film we would want to find out who he is and why he kills people/ terrorises people.

We can tell that the film is clearly in the horror genre as there is a killer he is mysterious and the title being “Nightmare on Elm Street”

Both of the punchlines are short but effective

Both of the cover stars faces are hidden

However they are very different posters as well as one “Nightmare On Elm Street” has the killer as the cover star where as “Sinister” has the women (victim) as the main cover star and the killer appears as a blood splattered image.