Film Poster Analysis

Sinister is one of the more popular horror films of its time. There are many suggestions about why this is. One of which being the trailer and the film poster. The poster follows most conventions of a horror generic poster, for example, the red blood, the grey, the archaic tones, the innocent child and the gothic font. There is also a tag line that gives a very slight insight into the synopsis.

One main reason this film is so popular and soared financially when it came out in cinemas is because of what is written at the top. ‘From the producer of Paranormal Activity and Insidious’. These are already well known, popular and well-liked films, this gives the audience the impression that if this film is created by the same person as the other horror films they have enjoyed, that they are likely to enjoy this one too. This is the main selling point of a film, as one can only give out so much information when promoting a film without ruining it, information like this and critics reviews are very important to a film poster.

This poster’s visual is very creative and actually combines conventional aspects of a horror film poster into one. There is the innocent child that appears to be leaving a trail of blood behind her, creating an enigma and drawing the audience in. Within the blood is a face, more often than not a horror film poster will include a face that is no normal face. Its abnormality is usually expressed through expression or other abnormalities like the supernatural or ‘creative’ facial features.

A possible accident but just as effective technique is the screening information at the bottom. Among the very small, narrow writing that is barely readable, are the words ‘COMING SOON’. This furthers the enigma that is created, and may entice audience members to keep an eye out for the film’s release date and more information about it. A lack of information is sometimes a worthy technique too.

This poster still follows conventions, however is a little different in its style to a typical horror film poster.

The main colour used is grey, which has connotations of mystery and enigma. The visual image used is that of a popular facial expression and stereotypical character for horror films like ‘Scream’. The stereotypical character being an attractive female that is a victim throughout. This is displaying horror film generic conventions on the poster itself, which makes it identifiable. This poster is unique in its style as it actually displays an attractive face and not something gruesome and scary which is usually the case, this poster is alternative but still conforms.

The inclusion of a tag line which gives a very small idea about the plot is at the top, another convention of film posters in general, not specifically horror.

There is also a list of names at the bottom, these are the stars and popular well known names of the film. This automatically secures an audience of specific actor/actresses fans and those who have seen films with these actors in that they enjoyed.

Carrie’s film poster is another example of a modern and alternative poster that still follows generic conventions.

They have included two star names from the cast, in terms of audience appeal, this would encourage its popularity as it has well known names with good reputations. It also leads the audience to believe that the film is high budget and therefore highly entertaining.

The colour scheme is very conventional, the use of the blood and red font invites ideas about danger, death and violence.

This film poster does follow certain generic conventions, it has a focal face that takes up the entirety of the poster, this face is pale and quite frightening with the addition of blood. Furthermore, this image creates an enigma, it invites questions from an audience about why this female is covered in blood and whether she is a perpetrator or a victim. This portrayal is interesting as in the film itself, this question remains unanswered due to the characters daily struggles in contrast with her ‘necessary’ evil.