Analysis of insidious

1. Analysis of horror poster
Chelsea Hartley

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.