This poster follows horror movie conventions with its use of red, black and white colors. It features a young blonde girl dressed in white, representing innocence, with blood trailing behind her and a face made of blood in the background. The title "Sinister" stands out in bold black writing against a white background. The names of popular horror movies produced by the same company are included to attract audiences. The tagline "once you see him, nothing can save you" creates a threatening and personal tone. Snakes below the blood face further indicate this is a supernatural horror film. The poster stylizes and positions elements to draw in viewers through mystery, fear and promises of danger.

1. I chose to make an
analysis of the teaser
poster for the film
“Sinister” (released
October 2012), which
follows the stereotypical
conventions of a horror
with the colours
red, black and white. The
poster also conventionally
portrays a female
character as the victim.

2. The title for this poster
stands out as it is very
bold and clear. It has been
written in black which
could interlink with the
The names of two other films the producers have made
name of the title as black
are placed at the top of the poster. This will make the
also connotes an eerie
audience know that “sinister” is also a horror movie, and
atmosphere. The fact that
get an idea of the horror movie genre it may fit under as
this black writing has been
Paranormal Activity and Insidious are both based on
put on a white
supernatural and psychological elements. The fact that
background shows a big
these two films are both extremely popular may attract
contrast which stands out
a bigger target audience to watch “sinister” as well.
to the audience and will
make them pick up on and
notice the title. The
smudging of the writing
could be connoting blood
even though it is in black.

3. The threatening tag line underneath the title “once you see
him, nothing can save you” is very direct to the audience and
makes it more personal to each person reading the poster. This
could have a big impact on the audience and immediately make
them feel as though they are involved. It could also make them
feel intimidated. This will in turn attract more viewers.
The background colours have been kept quite
simple, possibly to focus the attention on the image
on the poster and the main title. The white of the
background could be symbolizing purity and
innocence, interlinking with the young girl on the
poster. The corners turning grey in colour and the
use of cracks could be symbolic of the girl possibly
becoming possessed by the predator, in turn
breaking and destroying her innocence.

4. The girl in the poster is presented as very young.
The fact that she is dressed in white with blonde
hair demonstrates innocence and purity which
contrasts with the blood behind her, possibly
coming from her hand. It could be demonstrating
that she was once innocent; however has been
possessed by this devil drawn in blood. The
audience can’t see her face which makes it more
mysterious as the audience will want to find out
more about her hidden character. This girl
stereotypically presents, like in many other horror
movies, female weakness which is overpowered by
the male gender.
This image is the main part of the poster as it presents the
supernatural through the face made in blood. The blood which
the young girl leaves trailing behind her presents an image of
the antagonist. The use of blood and the colour red to show his
face presents his dangerous, unsafe character. The audience can
see his eyes looking directly forward to them. This, linked in with
the tagline “once you see him nothing can save you”, can create
a very terrifying atmosphere for the audience as it makes the
film appear a lot more realistic.

5. The use of snakes
further highlight that
this is a horror movie as
they generally connote
something unattractive
and they are often
feared. the snakes may
have been used in this
poster to present to the
audience a further
terrifying aspect of the
film. The fact that the
snakes are just under the
blood could be
demonstrating that
blood is their feed. It
could also be implying
that they have
something to do with
This poster follows all other conventions with the credits and
the face in the
advertisements to boost media production at the bottom of
blood, emphasising
the page. The writing “coming soon” shows that this is a teaser
more on the
poster as it hasn’t given us an exact date. It will interest the
supernatural aspects of
audience to find out the date.
the poster.