The main focus of this issue of the magazine is the horror film, Jennifer’s Body which is clearly obvious from the main image on the front cover of Megan Fox. It is the biggest and the boldest image on the front cover so that it is the first thing people will see when they walk past it in the shops. The white background makes the image stand out even more, emphasising the importance of the main image.

Megan Fox stands in the center in an electric blue and yellow cheerleading outfit which suggests to the audience that the film is based on high school students as the main characters and this creates a feeling of connection within the target audience who are also around the same age as high school students.

She stands with one foot against the wall which suggests that she could be the villain in the film as she is calmly standing there and there is a blood footprint where she had stepped before, and also on her right hand (which is usually the hand used by killers to stab the victim). The blood is connotation for danger therefore further emphasising the horror genre of the film.

The fact that she’s leaned back on the wall with her right foot and both her hands placed on the wall creates a fear in the audience’s mind as it looks like she if about to pounce and attack them. The stereotypical serious and villainous look on her face is very effective in creating fear in the audience’s mind because you can tell she isn’t one of the protagonists in the film because if she was, she would have an innocent look or a scared look on her face. So the serious look further emphasises the horror genre of the film.There is a quote from the actress at the bottom left hand corner of the front cover and also with it, is a reference to the article and page number on which the article can be found. This gives huge importance to the film as the editors have made it easy for the readers to find the article about the main film on the front cover.On the right of the main image is a list of articles featured inside the magazine. The article about Megan Fox is printed in bright red to make it stand out and make sure it’s the first article the audiences read the title of and this also emphasises the importance of the main feature on the front cover of this magazine which is the film Jennifer’s Body.

The main feature film of this issue is Shutter Island. The editors of this magazine have effectively portrayed the film as a part of the horror genre without actually mentioning it.The biggest image is of Leonardo, who is the main character of the film. He is stood right in the middle of the front cover and this has been done to use him as the main attention grabber, as he is the first thing the audiences see when they glance at the magazine in the shops. He’s dressed in a suit and has, what seems to be, a police badge and this suggests that he is going to be the equivalent of the hero in the film as his costume suggests that he is a detective who’s job is the solve and stop the murders which take place in the film.Leaonardo has a huge reputation as a sex symbol amongst the female audience so by including him on the front cover, the editors are effectively increasing their readership, and also, the fact that Leonardo is holding a gun will attract male audiences as well because a gun is stereotypically associated with violence, blood, and a sense of man-hood.

The camera is slightly tilted upwards giving a sense of a worm’s eye view, making us feel inferior to the actor on the front cover. This is very effective because it feels like we are looking up to him, which suggests that he has the power over us.

He has a rugged facial expression which clearly shows he is a serious character who has no time for any kind of non-sense, he just wants to solve/stop a murder from happening and he will do anything and everything he can to do his job.

Other films are featured along the bottom of the front cover, which entices a much larger audience for this magazine.

Rhetorical questions are used on the front cover and this creates enigma in the readers’ mind and therefore they would want read the whole article so they will buy the magazine.

Buzz words such as “greatest” and “plus”, as well as the title, “Shutter Island” are really bold and the fact that they’re in bright red makes them more attention grabbing and reaches out to the audience. The colour red can also have the connotations of blood and death.

The main image on the cover of this Fangoria magazine is a full body shot of the slasher horror film, Friday the 13th, Jason Voorhes. We are able to easily identify him from the iconic hockey mask he is wearing. He is also grasping hold of a machete which has been his choice of weapon to kill his victims with throughout the series of the film.

His unwashed clothing automatically make him look unwelcoming, even if he wasn’t wearing a mask or holding a machete. The ripped t-shirt covered in blood suggests to the audience that this villain is has killed many innocent victims in the past and is very capeable of doing so in this film as well.

The fact that the main image is paced in front of a blue background suggests that this image has been cut out from an original shot. I think the front cover would have been a lot of more effective if the original shot was used, or a shot that suggested a more conventional slasher setting such as in a forest or in front of a big isolated house.

The colour red is a convention featured in many slasher sub-genre within the horror genre and this is because the colour red is a connotation of blood, violence and danger, all of which are included in the film itself.

The masthead itself, “Fangoria”, is a very clever title for a horror magazine. The first half, “Fang”, reminds you of vampire fangs which are used to bite people on their necks and suck out blood. And the second half of the title, “Goria”, sounds similar to the word gory, relating to blood and flesh. So straight away, just by reading the masthead of the magazine, the audience can tell that it is a horror film magazine and will include bloody and gory images