Analysis of horror poster

Chelsea Hartley

Insidious

The character on the poster is not an a list actor, neither a celebrity. They have chosen to not use someone who is famous to endorse their product as it makes the film more believable. If, the main actor was an a list star it would take away the ‘real aspect’ of the film – this therefore would make the film not believable for the audience.

The characters facial expression is serious. The character has writing in his eye ‘insidious’ which connotes something is inside him. This subverts from the hegemonic stereotype that children are pure and innocent. The low-key lightening is used to create dark bags under the child’s eyes – this suggests the child is tired and/or evil.

Insidious

The character is giving a form of eye-contact to the audience by looking straight into the camera. This makes the poster look more sinister along with the low-key lightening around the eyes and in the background. The right eye of the character differentiates from colour this suggests the boy is being controlled by something. This can invoke fear into the audience. This helps identity the genre of the film (horror).

The colours of the poster have been saturated, leaving a dark, shadowy effect on the image. The use of grey invokes discomfort in the consumers which helps identify the genre of the film. The colour of the boys clothes being red and blue fades into black, suggesting something dark lurking in the character.

Insidious

The image of the boy is a medium-close up shot of which appears to be the main character. As this character is consuming most of the frame it emphasises his importance in the film. In the background we see an establishing shot of the characters family home. As the home is located behind the boy, its allows the audience to believe the home is the location of the upcoming events in the film.

The costume of the character looks like pyjama's. This amongst the other elements of the poster suggest the boy is a normal boy and lives a normal life. However as the colour changes of the outfit – it suggests the boy now has a dark side.

Insidious

Throughout the whole poster the same text throughout. The font is a lighter in comparison to the background and lightening – this is used so the text can be seen from a far distance, as it stands out.

By including makers of other successful Hollywood movies, this intrigues the audience. This is due to the success of the other films, automatically create a standard of quality to the film.

The final line at the bottom of the poster is arguably the most important line as it states the release date of the film.