Horror Poster Analysis (3)

   This horror/ thriller mystery film was made in 2010. Its country of origin is the United States.
   The image is of a victim within the film, clearly in some sort of distress. The blurred and high tone image suggests a supernatural presence and hints the film could involve a supernatural force/ presence.
   The main colours on the poster are black, white and blue/green, which also supports the supernatural (almost sci-fi) sub-genre. The dominant black on the poster creates darkness around the victim and connotes danger. The black is seen surrounding the image, which symbolizes its being taken over. The black also shows the darkness in ways of fear and phobias. This is shown in the tagline: ‘fear lives in the dark’. There is less to be scared of in daylight, hence why the darkness is used dominantly.
   The font used for the word ‘vanishing’ is distorted and appears to be vanishing itself, this is again to connote the deep suffering of the women in the picture as well as the film’s narrative.
   The main target audience of this poster would be males as it follows the convention of a female in distress, however as with all psychological horrors a female audience could be attracted who identify with the main victim.

Horror Poster Analysis (2)

   This supernatural horror/thriller film was made in 2012. Its country of origin is the United States.
   The predominant picture is a controversial image because the young girl in the photo is both the victim and the villain in the film. She was an innocent girl, but was taken over by an ancient demon, which converted her into the demon/killer.       This is shown by the hand possessing her from the inside out. This is also supported by the tag line ‘darkness lives inside’.
   The colours of the image are pale and bland, creating a draining and lifeless look which, reflects the feelings of the girl. The title of the film (The Possession) is white which symbolizes the innocence the girl has taken away from her. The line through it represents it being gotten rid of. The date the film was released is in red to connote danger. The fonts used are jagged and rough, which induces the feelings within the film itself.
   By stating the film is based on a true story encourages the audience to watch it and find out what happens. An illusion of reality means the film will intrigue more audience members, rather than something obviously untrue.

Horror Poster Analysis (1)

This gory horror film was made in 2013. Its country of origin is the United States.
   The image on this film poster is the setting of the film, which is a cabin surrounded by woodland. The isolated area has connotations of a horror film and provokes a haunting vibe. As the main picture isn’t of the killer or victims, it encourages people to watch the film to find out more.
   The colour black conveys a dark and daunting atmosphere, which contrasts with the red, which symbolises danger and blood. Within a gory horror, a lot of blood is expected to be shed. The white tag line and information stand out against the black and draw the viewer in.
   The tagline suggests that the story is about a demon/creature waiting for its victims. The word ‘waiting’ proposes they are prepared and ready to attack.
   The font of the title of the film (Evil Dead) has sharp and clean-cut edges to enable it to stand out against the drama of the cabin. The Evil Dead font also has branches/twigs intruding in on it, which connotes the aggressiveness of the woodland surroundings.
   A male audience is the most common audience for horror films and the poster is attractive to male adults, due to the modern colours.

Scream magazine cover analysis

The masthead of this ‘Scream’ cover is in red writing, which connotes danger and blood, this is a crucial part of the magazine and the horror genre. The font captures the audience’s attention through the dripping blood, which reveals the magazine focuses on the deeper parts of the horror genre and the body horror. The mounting used for the cover lines supports this. A blood spattered wooden board is used to emphasise the body horror of the films advertised. The main image on the cover is taken from the trailer of the film. The picture uses chiaroscuro to make the image more dramatic and build the apprehension of the reader to then be encouraged to watch/read about the film. It also represents the 2 sides of the character photographed. The magazine includes a banner to draw immediate attention and inform the audience of the content in the magazine. The headline for ‘Evil Dead’ uses the same font that is used for the film and film poster. This is a good way to promote the film and bring recognition to them in more media sources. The text is bold and white to connote power and the purity that the eponymous “evil” has taken. The hand at the beginning suggests that the film is about zombies as well as the title of the film ‘Evil Dead’.

Fangoria magazine cover analysis

 

The masthead of the magazine uses typography well as it is bold and red which symbolises danger and blood. The ‘F’ and ‘A’ in the masthead have large fangs dropping down to connect to the image and represent the ‘Fang’ in Fangoria. The masthead is clearly trying to appeal to fans of gore. The cover photo is disturbing for the audience as the image directly addresses the audience with the profile/portrait shot. The distressed facial expression of the person photographed shows some sort of torment or anger is being kept within. This relates to ‘Martyrs’ narrative, which is about someone being tortured to the point of near-death to see “what is on the other side.” This is shown with the incisions in their shoulders and chest which could connote veins which are close to exploding. One of the person’s eyes is also glassed over which further illustrates the abnormality of the person. The grainy blue background adds to the unsettling feeling by the grittiness it contributes. The cover line to represent the film also directly addresses the audience through using the word ‘you’. The question of ‘Do you have the guts to watch?’ further challenges the reader and therefore would encourage them to watch the film. This has also used word play with ‘the guts to watch’ as the film clearly uses body horror as one of its main themes and conventions so they are also threatening the reader. The cover line ‘Death by orgasm’ would appeal to men and women by bringing in the connotations of sex and pleasure.



Empire magazine cover analysis

The typography of the masthead is successful with catching the readers’ eye, as it is bold and bright red, which connotes danger. The danger is also portrayed in the nefarious facial expression of Hannibal and also the red eye, which increases the danger and symbolises his evil personality. The main tagline of the magazine connects to the film with ‘what’s cooking?’, which has speech marks either side, explaining that Hannibal asks this. His quote unsettles the readers and encourages them to watch the film to know what is cooking. This theme is then reinforced by ‘Catering for cannibals’ which indicates the narrative of the film. The tagline underneath uses the pun ‘Gore blimey!’ this would attract to a male audience, as body horror is a genre mostly enjoyed by men. The second bullet point down has the question ‘Are you a psycho?’, this directly addresses the audience and would encourage the reader to buy the magazine to find out. The cover photo is grainy which adds a rough look and texture to make the magazine grittier, which symbolises the grim themes within the film. Half of Hannibal’s face is in darkness to make the image more mysterious and make the audience fear Hannibal.

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