1. The poster has many things to grab the attention of
the target audience and gain people interest. First of
all the text at the top (“From the makers of SAW
and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY”) helps to gain
interest as both the saw and paranormal activity
franchises are very well known and were/are still
watched by an extremely large audience therefore
creating an interest in this as it is the same director
as the other two franchises therefore giving high
expectations.
The next thing that helps to create interest is the
rating and quote from “News of the world”. They
gave a rating of five stars which is the highest
therefore instantly giving a buzz around the film
and generating interest. The quote then also creates
interest “So scary I was whimpering in sheer terror”
this gains the target audience attention as if they are
interested in horror/scary films then they would
instantly gain interest in this and want to view it or
find out more about it.
The dominant image is of a young boy, with the
background as what we assume to be his house/home. The image of the boy creates
interest as his eyes look like cracked windows or like they have been scratched off.
This creates a mystery as to why they have set the image like this, the story behind it.
Another part of the image that creates an interest to the audience is how the house
looks quite bright in the background but then the further you move to the top the
darker it gets. Mixing the black sky with the eyes and look of the child gives an
eery/dark feel to the posteraswell as the way they use dark colours this would gain the
attention of people interested in this type of horror.
The first thing you notice on the poster is the effect,
they have used an effect on the whole poster which
makes it look like an old poster, which has worn
over time. It has a very dark and murky colour tint
over it which helps to give it this effect.
The writing helps to add to the dark effect as they
have made the text look like it has been scratched
into the poster, this gives the impression that it
shouldn’t be there as well as the creepy effect you
get from the tinted effect.
Another item is what the writing actually says “did
you remember to lock your door?” this helps to add
to the mystery of the film as it makes you wonder
why it’s there or why it might be getting said. This
would lead the audience/viewer into a slight
mystery and makes them want to find out more.
There is only one image therefore being the
dominant image, this is off someone in an animal
mask covered in blood. This helps to add to the eery
effect, not just because of the blood but also because

2. of the mask. It leads you into the mystery of why someone would wear this type of
mask. What has actually happened, are there others involved with it. Also the fact that
the image is extremely dark and the eyes are blacked out adds to the mystery and eery
effect as you wonder why the eyes are blacked out and why it’s so dark. It adds a dark
effect to the poster as well as generating a lot of mystery into who it is and what the
film is about. Finally the most mystery is generated around the film as there are no
actors, actresses or directors names on the poster. Usually they would include big
names in order to help attract people to watching the film therefore the fact that there
isn’t any helps to add to the mystery around the film.