Horror Poster Analyses

‘The Return’ is a Psychological thriller/horror made in 2006 from the USA. The main focus of the poster is the distorted eye which although isn’t proven to be the victim, highly indicates it is a female with the smudged eyeliner and mascara. The handprint in the middle of the eye looks like it is reaching out to the audience to perhaps show that someone or something is trapped.

Being a psychological based film, it is understandable why there isn’t a picture of a killer as the culprit is hidden as a more spiritual based figure. The designer of the poster accurately makes the eye the centre piece as it is associated that that eyes are a window to the soul, which is connected to the plot of the story.

The 2 dominant colours of the poster are black and white, although there are some light shades of blue incorporated to make the poster look more chilling and disturbing. The colour turquoise is supposed to represent communication and clarity of mind, which highly links with the story of the previous victim trying to communicate with the main character. Black has a connotation of being secretive and adding a sense of mystery that is a key factor to the film and many other horror films however white suggests youth and purity and links with the early stages of the character who had visions and self-mutilated as a child, which is supposed to be an innocent time in a person’s life.

The font used on the poster for the tagline and the name of the lead actress has san serifs which indicate an old style of lettering whereas the title of the film is a new, more modern font which gives a clue to the clash of both the past and present. The size of the font is quite small so all the focus will be on the eye while the colours are in keep with the colour scheme to maintain a contrast between the light and dark tones of the poster. The positioning of the text is symmetrical to fit the positioning of the eye and the symmetrical shape of an eye.

The tagline of the film “The past never dies. It kills.” This shows that the film is a collision of both the past and present and that events that happened in the characters past are back to ‘haunt her’, indicating a supernatural or spiritual character which also acts as another victim but also a cause to some of the victims traumas. By saying “It kills”, it also indicates that the previous victim of the killer is seeking revenge which she eventually does through the main character.

The target audience for this film would be mainly male as it possesses almost all of the qualities that are included for a horror film, which is aimed at the male genre. With the main character being a young, vulnerable female actress she is seen as a sexual connotation which heightens the appeal to men yet the film still appeals to a large female audience as the film involves psychology and mystery to even out any ‘gore’ and blood.

‘Shutter’ was made in 2008 from the USA and is a Horror thriller and is a remake of the original film with the same name from Thailand made 4 years before. Even through the photos have a low opacity and are hard to see clearly, the pictures of both victims are in the photos in their everyday lives.  The pictures don’t make the victims look scared or endangered and seem to be the lives before the film started as in the centre there is a picture of their wedding day. These pictures tell the audience how much of an effect the spirit/killer affected their relationship and how happy they were before until the events of the film started.

The image of the main killer is very dark and blurry to maintain a sense of mystery to the character and to keep the audience interested in the unknown identity. The face dominates the page, with the black hair blending to look like an old photograph which leaves little room for features and detail which makes the killer look frightening with the non-human face elements. Although their isn’t necessarily a mask, the black eyes and mouth which have a similar look as if they had been made in graffiti paint that makes the look quite iconic and recognisable.

The colours, like in a majority of horror films are black and white however the poster does feature so lighter colours on the photos and a combination of green and yellows to represent the production of a photography processing. In the centre of the page to the left of the killer, it has shades of red to show the exposure used within the photo as do the cracks and lines in the image.

The font used on the poster is very traditional and ordinary and has visual similarities to the ‘FrankRuehl’ typeface with serifs and a difference in width on the curves of the letters. Although the writing at the top may cover more space on the page, the positioning of the title is just below the centre where your eyes are instantly attracted to by the killer, meaning the title doesn’t have to cover up a large space and attract the attention s this would look too overbearing with the large image. The type colour also contrasts with the darkness of the image and doesn’t need to be really bold as the black and white balance out altogether quite evenly while the blemishes of dark give the lettering a distorted and decaying look, suiting the genre of the film.

The tagline of “The most terrifying images are the ones that are real” gives an indication, along with the title of the film that it heavily involves cameras and photographs and also gives a clue into the psychological aspect of the film and that it’s not just a graphic film with extremities of gore and related content. By saying “the ones that are real” also gives an indication that it may not just be a ghost or supernatural figure and rather a monster/killer.

I think the main target for this film would be men and it does have some disturbing situations and topics in the film where a female audience may be perceived as ‘too sensitive’ for. One of the main female characters, Rachel Taylor who plays Jane Shaw also fits in with the sexual connotations for a female character which further appeals to the male audience.

‘The House of Wax’ made in the USA in 2005 is a horror film and is a remake of the original film which was made in 1953. The poster uses a woman covered in wax as the main feature with wax dripping to attract your eyes down to the tagline and title. The victim has a few sexual connotations through being young and pretty, long hair which hangs to the side of the page and bare shoulders to give the illusion that she is naked or not wearing many clothes. Although there aren’t any emotions or facial expressions, you can clearly see that she’s in danger by being covered in wax and has her eyes shut to show that she is either dead or unconscious.

With the poster being dominated by the picture of the victim, the killer is left a mystery but the use of wax as a weapon gives a clue into the killer’s character and gives hints to the killer’s motives.

This poster does differ slightly from many other horror film posters by using green and yellow instead of white but still in keeping with the genre by using black. The black background adds a sense of mystery and eeriness to it as the audience can’t see what or who is in the background. The colour green is often used to represent extra-terrestrials and the rotting/decaying objects which connects to the story by ‘preserving’ the victims in wax to use in which the killers used to make wax sculptures. The dark tones and shades of the colours will automatically attract a more male audience as they are more masculine compared to light, softer feminine colours for a female audience.

The font used for the main title of the film is quite ordinary and doesn’t have any elements which make it stand out, however with the yellow glow; it does look very similar to a sign for attractions, such as a waxwork museum and being positioned in the middle, directly under the picture accentuates this. The other text for the actor’s names and the tagline has a more traditional look and doesn’t distract from the main photo of the woman covered in wax. With the text being in a brown/beige colour, it surprisingly contrasts well with the black background and balances the poster well with the text at the bottom of the page.

The tagline of “Prey. Slay. Display” connects to the killer and gives the audience a hint of what they do to the victims and what the film will revolve around. It shows that the victims could be watched or stalked and the killers are planning to ‘prey’ on them like an animal and then killing them through the use of “slay”. By using the work “display” already gives the audience an indication that these are not ‘normal’ killers and have alternative motives for the deaths which involves wax from the picture, which is shown to be correct in the plot of the film.

This film would be attracted to a majority male audience through the use of deformed killers and many sexual connotations through the actresses. The main picture which is also female is also more likely to attract a male audience as she fits into the main stereotype of women in horror films of being attractive, vulnerable and needing someone to save her.