POSTER analysis #6- horror- sinister

the cracked wallpaper that creates a decaying and dull setting for the movie, conveys a sense of horror by paralleling a homely wallpapered house interior with this moldy blood stained paper and a young girl in the foreground of this with her pink childish pajamas and innocent blonde hair creating the archetype of a girly girl with a sinister sense of horror. the way the wallpaper takes up the entirety of the poster, it gives out a message that something is perhaps beyond or lurking behind this barrier, creating an enigma as audiences will want to find out what is hiding in the shadows. the blood strains on the wall are a very dark red, almost as if the blood has congealed, giving a more eerie and 'sinister' tone to the poster...ironic as sinister is the films title is this is evidently the emotion it is trying to convey. the title, using the same color scheme as the blood, is bold on the white background, making it stand out and be even more striking to audiences who will hence remember its title- which is very important as other than the title, there is no date of release or anything else to remember or recognize this movie by. The title also looks as if it is on the wall, due to the shadowing and water marks below it, even though it has been edited and imposed and this effect makes the poster seem almost surreal and realistic as none of the imagery looks unrealistic or imposed.

By boldly noting that the directors of this film have created horrors and psychological thrillers of the likes of paranormal activity and insidious, this film poster directly appeals to a specific field of audience members who enjoy and appreciate horror movies. By not even mentioning the directors name, this indicated the director is presumed to be recognized just by his cinematic achievements, and implied to be very famous- hence giving this film a sense of credibility and attraction. the contrast of this white writing along with the girls white pajamas and the white wall with the blood red title and wall stains makes the poster starkly stand out, and also convey a parallel of heaven and hell through color connotations with the white being heaven and the red that permeates the screen being hell- suggestive to audiences that the darkness, or hell, is most prevalent. this hellish idea is reinforced by the wall picture featuring a pair of demonic eyes which appear to be staring straight at the audience. this will create a audience attraction and entice more viewers. The direct stare from the demonic eyes also links in with the direct mode of address in the quote 'will scare the hell out of you' from a magazine review on the right third of the poster. using this first person pronoun, direct contact is made with audiences making them feel almost targeted or victimized by the antagonist of the horror.

the young girl used in the poster is a feature we would aim to use in our own movie and movie poster as conventionally in horror movies children and the female gender are weaker and seen as more vulnerable and typically targeted by a exterior darkness. With the young girl here we dont get to see her face, so this acts as an enigma to the film that audiences will want to uncover. The young girl also appears to be sleepwalking connoted by the mise en scene aspect of her pjyma wear, which suggests that the films plot is based on nightmares, a typical collocation of horror movies- which is what some of the best horror movie plots revolve around.