Horror Poster Analyses Daniel Lewsley
Unborn The Unborn is a 2009 mystery, thriller horror which originated in the USA.
The poster shows the victim from behind – you can barely see her face. From the point of view shown the poster reiterates the typical horror film victim, an attractive, vulnerable female represented in a sexual manner.
In terms of text on the poster there is very little and where there is some it tends to be very small. The illustrator is trying to draw the reader’s attention and blocks of text isn’t going to do this – rather the attractive female with a lot of flesh showing who takes up most of the righthand side of the poster is likely to do this more effectively.
The tag line of this particular film is located in the top right-hand corner of the poster and reads ‘evil will do anything to live’ in block capitals. This specific choice of words may tell us that the victim is in a fight with evil, a spirit or something similar throughout the film. This could be the main storyline in the film and it makes us want to watch it to find out.
It is rarer for the killer to be seen on a film poster, however in this case the killer/spirit is shown faintly in the background, standing behind his victim. The killer is male – as a typical horror movie killer would be. His face is hidden which again is a normal in the advertisement of a horror film, the makers do not want to give too much away in terms of his identity.
The dominant colours in the posters, although not the traditional black and red, are still dark to represent horror. We associate horror and threat with darker themes. The lack of red in the film may go with the idea that the horror is based on mystery and soul rather than straight up blood and gore. The tint of blue in the poster may represent the idea of a hospital; it may be linked with the title ‘The Unborn’ which could create connections with these types of concepts.
The fonts are white, which colour co-ordinate with the rest of the poster, namely the clothes of the victim in the poster. The fonts used are somewhat simple – the text is merely key information about the film that can be set aside and is not used to catch the reader’s attention. From the title we can conclude that the film may be related to a spirit, soul or something inside the body of a victim that is yet to get out (be born).
Considering each and every concept of this poster I can conclude that the target audience is a male of a younger age, preferably working class. I say this because of the attraction of young males to the victim on the poster that represents the whole concept of the film. I say working class males rather than middle class because the middle class are more associated with the theatre and media production produced specifically for them rather than Hollywood cinema which have a much wider target audience.
Frankenstein There have been many remakes of the original Frankenstein film over the past century; however this poster is for the 1931 original. Frankenstein originates from USA and is considered a sci-fi horror.
The cartoon effect design, as well as the use of the colour green, could suggest a sci-fi horror. The poster doesn’t give much away about setting or locations however. Blacks and dark greys are very consistent throughout the poster. The use of these colours suggests a horror as they do in most other horror posters. Red is also a colour associated with horror and fear, and more specifically blood and gore. This may suggest that the advertised film may include plenty of it. Frankenstein is certainly aimed at sci-fi horror fans, and maybe fans that are into blood and gore. These colours give the film a very specific target audience.
The tag line doesn’t give much away about the type of film or likewise the storyline, however the word ‘chilling’ may emphasise the effect Frankenstein has on his victims.
The fonts that are featured in the poster also add to the cartoon effect of the poster. This creates a fictional feeling about the film, hence it being a sci-fi horror.
Unlike most (modern day) film posters, the main image isn’t of the victim but in fact the killer. In this case Frankenstein dominates the poster with 3 separate pictures of him. I believe this gives him more power and forces threat upon the reader of the poster. It creates more of a threatening horror feeling rather than a chilling, mysterious one. In this Frankenstein’s power is portrayed to a large extent, it is not hidden and doesn’t try and make you think, unlike most modern day horror posters. The images on the poster also give us an insight into the type of horror.
Putting all of this together I believe the target audience for this Frankenstein film poster would have been a typical sci-fi horror fan. Frankenstein was one of the greatest horrors of all time however, this may suggest a wider audience, people who aren’t always into the sci-fi horror genre or even the horror genre altogether. Nowadays Frankenstein is a classic and this poster will attract people who are into classic horror films.
One Missed Call One Missed Call is a mystery horror film that hit UK screens in 2008. Its country of origin however is USA.
This particular poster is very typical of a horror film in terms of colours and lighting; the two key colours used are red and black. These colours are related to darkness, blood and mysteriousness – all things with a link to horror. The poster background is black and this helps draw the audience’s attention to the close up of an abnormal facial figure in the centre of the poster.
The abnormality of this face and the fact that the figure has a mobile phone held to their ear provides a connection with the title of the film ‘One Missed Call’. I can defer from these features that the villain is the film is likely to call his victims and the figure on the poster is in fact the villain.
The lighting of this poster creates a vocal point on the killer. I believe this is expressive of a mysterious mood as not much is given away about the type of character the figure in the poster is.
Another relationship between two elements in the poster I can defer from are the way in which the eyes of the central figure are presented, along with the caption line at the top of the poster ‘What will it sound like when you die?’ The eyes of the figure are in fact replaced with a symmetrical image of a woman who appears to be screaming – this ties in with the caption line which talks about the sound you make when you die.
Horror is closely linked with the unknown (not knowing what is going to happen/what is going on) and the preferred reading of this poster is more about what the audience don’t know rather than what they do.