MEDIA STUDIES A2

1. Horror Film Poster Analysis
#3
Suspiria(1977)
Thisspecificposterpromotes“Suspiria”,a1977 Italian
supernatural horrorfilmthatwasdirectedbyDario
Argento, one of the greatestknownhorrorfilmdirectors
of all time ashe hashad a huge influence andimpact
uponthe filmmakersof todaywhodirectandproduce this
genre of film.The plotinvolvesa newcomertoa fancy
balletacademygraduallycoming torealize thatthe school
isa frontfor somethingfarmore sinisterandsupernatural
amidsta seriesof grislymurders. Ihave wantedto
performan analysisonanoldhorror filmcoverinorder to
have a bit of varietywithinmyanalyses,showcasingon
how the postersof filmhorrorshave changedoverthe
decades.Ihave selected“Suspiria”asitis a horror film
that fitsthiscategoryof beingold,havingbeenproduced
longbefore the likesof The ConjuringandParanormal
Activitywere eventhoughtup.“Suspiria”hasbecome one
of Argento'smostsuccessful feature films,receiving
critical acclaimfor itsvisual andstylistic skillof workbeing
used,vibrantcolours,andits unsettlingsoundtrack.
Discussingthe content,standardposterconventionsare mostly metwiththe mainimage takingupa
significantamountof space of whatis withinthe frame of the poster,croppedoff bybottomand
blendingintothe backgroundcolouratthe top. The mainimage itself hasbeengivenabluishfilterin
orderto give off a coldand chillinglooktothe focusof the image,whichcomprisesof asole model
screamingintothe dark.The lightingusedhasbeenmade availablefrombeingplacedunderneath
the model inorderto give herface plentyof shadows,andto alsohelpblend herinmore withinthe
darknessthatsurroundsher.Thisis to signifythatthisscene istakingplace eitheratnightorin a
verygloomyenvironment.Everythingelseapartfromthiswoman’sface has beenshroudedin
complete darknessinorderforthe audience tofocusuponthe horrifyingexpressionshe isgivingoff,
alongwithhermouthto showthat she is cryingout,most probablyinpainor inneedof desperate
help.Horrorfilmswill generallyhave awomanwhoisbeingattacked,screamingforhelpas she is
slowlybeingkilledoff.Thisisevermore evidentfromthe highangle shotthathas beenusedto
make the audience seemdominantoverher,andthatthisis possiblythe eyesof herattackerwe are
seeingthrough.

2. Her hair,onlyvisible throughthe small lightthatpenetratesthroughtoitseemstobe long andcurly,
as it coversupher eyes.Manywomeninthe 1970s had a trendas havingtheirhairlongand curled
up,showingthatthiswomanbeingattackedisordinaryand justlike anyothernormal womaninthis
era.Female audienceswhoare lookingatthisposterwill thenrelate tothisandmayfeel thatthis
couldhappento them,thuscreatinganevenmore scary effectthatthe postergivesoff.Havingthe
mainimage of a womanshoutingoutinfearwouldalsostimulate male audiencestoshow an
interestinthe filmasmalesgetoff onthe thoughtof womanbeingintrouble.
The title of thisfilmis“Suspiria”,whichisLatinfor‘Sighs’,asingle exhilarationof airfromthe mouth
or nose that oftenarisesfroma negative emotion,suchasdismay,dissatisfaction,boredom, or
futility.The titlefitswiththe gloomyaspectof the film’spremise beingthatof a negative one.The
textitself isthe biggestonthe posterandpositionedmore towardsthe topof the frame,keepingin
withstandardposterconventions.The font visualsgive afleshyfeeltothe title withthe
enlargementof veinsbeingclearlyvisible andthateachletterlooksasif it hasbeencut out of
humanflesh.This possibly signifies thatthisfilmisgoing tohave a lotof focus ongore,something
that DarioArgentoisknownfor incorporatingwithinhismasterpiecesof horror. Otherpiecesof text
include taglinesandsome institutional information.The taglinethatissituatedatthe top of the
posterpresentstothe audience that“the onlythingmore terrifyingthanthe last12 minutesof this
filmare the first92”. This givesanimpressionthateveryminute of thisfilmisgoingtobe scaryand
terrifyingforthe audience towatch andwill promptmore horrorfans to view the film.The other
tagline thatispositionedbelow the mainimage indicatesthat“once you’ve seenit,youwill never
againfeel safe inthe dark”.This maysuggestthat the filmleavesanegative impactuponthe
audience afterwatching“Suspiria”,leavingmemorableimagesof the filmthattake place atnight
ingrainedwithintheirmemory.There isinstitutional informationatthe bottom, showingthe rating
of the filmandalsowhatdistributioncompanyitisgoingtobe releasedby.All of the textotherthan
the title hasbeendisplayedinwhite inordertostandout fromthe black backgroundandbecome
more visible tothe audience.
In conclusion,Ithinkthisposterhasa verygoodmethodof attracting itstarget audience,withits
eye-openingtaglinesandsimplisticyetchillingmainimage thatisbeingpresentedhere.The poster
“Suspiria”seemstobe somewhatof aninfluential one of the sortandI will be mostprobably
incorporatingthe invigoratingaspectsandcharactersposterintothe filmposterthatI will be
producingformy promotional package.