2. These five posters have been successfully designed to promote films within the sub genre of slasher.
Through personally examining the posters and comparing them to one another, I have successfully
identified shared features and repeated patterns.
Each of the five posters have a typical poster look about them with the conventions that you would
expect to see on a film poster such as a title, this is always the largest and most significant text on
the poster. Each has a main image that dominates the frame and signals something important and
gives away a small part of the films narrative. The posters contain a tagline that anchors the image.
We also see other repeated patterns. Interestingly enough, four out of the five posters contain an
unusual character or imagery we might associate with a dangerous villain. The use of mise en scene
has made it clear to us that these characters are the antagonist. For example, in the ‘Friday The 13Th’
poster, the mask that the audience expects the protagonist to wear has features of red on it
highlighting blood, especially around the teeth; the audience are made aware that this character is
bad. These images suggest that the slasher sub genre is focused around the antagonist and someone
that the audience should fear.
Weapons are often shown with in the film posters. In the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ film poster we
see a chainsaw. In ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ film poster we see the antagonist holding some type
of blade. Although the weapon is not the most obvious focal point in the image we can still see it.
The weapon on the film poster gives the audience an idea on what the narrative will hold and this
will help audiences work out whether will enjoy the narrative. On the poster for ‘Texas Chainsaw
Massacre’ the weapons and the costume on the posters shows a dehumanised antagonist. On the
poster for ‘Friday The 13TH’ we are shown a mask as the only image on the poster. This makes the
antagonist seem unknown and creepy and shows the antagonist is yet to be revealed, unlike the
‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ poster where the antagonist is the main image and it is made obvious to
the audience who the killer is and this is not to be revealed. In the ‘Hatchet’ and ‘Wrong Turn’ film
posters, weapons are also visible. In the ‘Hatchet’ poster, the weapon and the film title are the only
images in the frame; this tells the audience that the film will be based around the weapon and the
gruesome murders of the victims. The poster that stands out the most is the ‘Hallo ween’ poster. This
is because the clenched fist holding the knife is merged in with a pumpkin to link with the films
theme of Halloween. The pumpkin stands out in the poster because the colour is bright, and is an
orange merged in with red that links to the idea of blood and gore. Three of the film posters are set
against a black backdrop which makes the image powerful enough to make the audience have
expectations that the film will be scary. The ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ film poster is set in front of a
dark foggy setting. Although you cannot see any of the background clearly, it is evident that leather
face is outside at night time. The fog in the image gives him a terrifying effect as well as the low
angle that the image is taken at. The ‘Wrong turn’ film poster is set in a forest. This is a conventional
setting for a horror film and audiences will have expectations of the horror that is to come. ‘My
bloody Valentine’ shows the antagonist in what appears to be a minors costume, so we can link this
setting as to being underground or in a mine, this will give the audience the idea that the victims will
be trapped for much of the film. The masks that are used in the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and
‘Friday the 13th’ show none of the antagonist’s face, making the audience unaware of who is
underneath. These masks are also iconic of not only the slasher genre but also of horror in general,

3. the hockey mask and the leather face mask worn in the two films are two of the most famous pieces
of costume linked to slasher. In contrast, the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ poster shows Freddy Kruger
with his back to the camera, in a dark shadow, without a mask but a big hat to shield his identity. In
the ‘My Bloody Valentine’ poster, the masks that are worn is not iconic or strikes fear, but is linked
to an every day job where in which the wearer is used to being alone and having to work in darkness
and silence away from the outside world. All seven posters share the same colour scheme, dark
colours with reds to indicate fire and blood are used. This is conventional of a horror film poster and
the majority of the films are set at night in darkness to maximise fear. All posters except ‘Halloween’
and ‘Hatches’ show the antagonist in some form. This is because these characters are the most
iconic of this genre and audiences expect to see them.
The typography in the posters are similar. ‘Halloween’, ‘Texas Chainsaw massacre’, ‘wrong turn’, and
‘hatchet’ are all white. The white text is bold on the plain black background and stands out the
audience. In ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ the text has a different effect. The text is red and does not
stand out as much as the image does. By having the text less bold makes the poster look more like a
photograph, than a film poster, giving the audience added fear that Freddy Kruger is a real person
and not a character in a film. The colour red reminds the audience of the iconic antagonist’s red
jumper and the burns across his face, the colour red also reminds the audience of blood and that
this film will be gory.
The typography on the film posters are all similar in their effect. The colours red and white are used
often relating to the connotations and expectations of horror such as blood and death. The white
text looks bold on the black background and makes the text noticeable. The colour red works well to
relate to the slasher genre and how we expect the victims to die. The typography also links to the
narrative of all of the films giving us clues as to what will happen and what we should expect. Fore
example, my bloody valentine is in bold and bright red drawing links between not only the gruesome
murders of the victim but also the theme of Valentine’s Day that runs through the film. The wrong
turn poster provides a tag line that adds effect to the film title as it suggests turning left is the wrong
way to go. This is also enforced by the three slashes next to the title. Again linking to the idea of it
being a slasher film. The ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ text looks as though it could be in metal,
relating the film and the use of a chainsaw. This makes the text stand out and draws a symbiosis
between weapon and film title. In the ‘Friday the 13th’ poster, ‘Friday the’ is in the same colour as
the mask that is shown on the poster, and the ‘13th’ is written in a dripping red colour that relates
and reminds the audience of blood.
Across six of the seven posters, taglines are used effectively to emphasize the narrative of the film.
The taglines used are ‘Halloween’ and ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ specifically draw focus onto the
antagonist. “The night he came home!” suggests that this film is about a returning killer expected
across Halloween. “Evil wears many faces” directly links to the masks worn by leather face the killer
in the film ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. The taglines used on three of the other posters use direct
address where in which they speak directly to the audience. “You are do omed” “Welcome to your
new nightmare” “Get your heart broken”, warn the audience that they should be scared of what will
happen in the films. This language device is successful in building a relationship between the
antagonist and the audience. Keeping their attention and provoking excitement.

4. The typography design of either ghostly white to resemble death or gory blood to remind the
audience of the painful death are both pieces of iconography we expect to see on a horror film
poster. All seven of the film posters are showing pieces of iconography. This comes in the form of
colour and lighting, reflecting darkness and fear hidden identities with the use of props such at
marks and hats and sharp utensils used as weapons to inflict maximum pain. Within the posters
‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘Wrong Turn’ a low angle is used, this
gives the effect of the antagonist being bigger and extremely powerful. The other camera angle that
is used often is a close up used of ‘Hatchet’ ‘Friday The 13th’ and ‘Halloween’. The purpose of this
camera angle is to show the antagonist or weapon at close range reminding the audience of what
they should be fearful of. The ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’ film poster stands out as being different
because we just see the silhouette of Freddy Kruger. This is done to emphasize the iconic antagonist
and contrast with the original posters which show his burns and costume at close range. The
audience now know his character well and it is more effective to conceal the characters identity on
the film poster. The lighting used on the majority of the poster sis low key. As to make sure that the
film posters are dark provoking fear in the audience, we also see spotlights being used on ‘Friday The
13th’ ‘Hatchet’ and ‘Wrong Turn’ to emphasize the weapon or antagonist. For ‘My Bloody Valentine’
and ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ a backlight is used to create a silhouette on the antagonist.