1. Popular Horror films theatrical posters and how
they fit in with conventions
By Luke Thomas

2. Freaks (1932)
The film makers name is included on
the film poster, and this is one of the
first uses of this on Horror film posters.
Tod Browning was famed the year
previously for directing the classic
Dracula. Using names on horror posters
are often used in Wes Cravens and
John Carpenters horror films
A tagline for the film, which
will draw the audiences of the
time in with its freak show
elements and obscure nature
Short name, catches the
eye and contrasts with
the background
MGM logo, shows which
company made the film,
more recognition for the
company
Obscure image of a midget
kissing a lady, fits the
weird freak show elements
of the film
Cast List in middle of poster, if
they were popular names from
vaudeville or the theatre it will
further attract attention for the
film, considering it was made
before film trailers and other
means of advertising
Unusual Colour scheme
of Yellow and Red,
perhaps to make it look
more like a circus or
freak show which fits the
setting of the film
One of the earliest sound horror
films and also one of the first to
gain notoriety. It was banned for
around 70 years and is still rated a
15, compared to similar films like
Frankenstein and Dracula which
are rated PG

3. Psycho (1960)
Cast list on the side,
unconventional to a modern
audience
Inclusion of the directors (Alfred
Hitchcock's) name above the films title, this
attracts audiences of his previous films
(Vertigo, North by Northwest, Rear Window
etc.) who will want to watch this, expecting
similar thrills as to what was experienced in
the other films
Woman is wearing a bra and skirt, very
sexualised imagery and particularly
scandalous for the time. She is the tragic
woman in he film but despite this has the
largest image on the poster, perhaps to
attract the audience through curiosity.
She is pictured yellow, which is often the
colour of playfulness and innocence, but
also of mischief, perhaps expressing her
want for sexuality. This also lessens the
reality of her semi nudity, which probably
helped it get past censors
Poster made up of Primary colours (Red,
yellow and blue) and monochrome. Made
to look even childlike which mirrors
Norman Bate’s psychotic yet child like
mentality
Norman Bates (The Antagonist) is all in
red, the colour of anger and rage. Despite
being the lead actor, his image is not the
largest, giving more of a mystery to the
films plot and to emphasise the sexuality
of Janet Leigh
The Psycho typography is torn up, perhaps to represent Bate’s torn up
mentality. The yellow contrasts with the black background, helping it
to stand out more. Unconventional and iconic
The tagline makes out that the film is one
of a kind, which contextually it really
was. The 3 exclamation marks really
raise the excitement for the release of the
film, in a time before other ways of
advertising

4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Got a low budget, B- Movie or
exploitive horror film aesthetic
Tagline is the largest piece of
text on the poster, a rhetorical
question to fill the potential
audience with curiosity
Image from the film of a torture
scene, one of the only slasher
films that doesn’t keep the main
villain a mystery, further
showing the exploitive nature
of the film
Title is in red, perhaps like the
blood in the tortures and a cliché
colour for the horror genre on a
whole. The quotation marks
further give the idea that the events
are “real”, like a quote from the
news/ a newspaper. The chainsaw
is going through the text
America’s most bizarre and
brutal crimes!- links it to
reality, scares the audience to
think this could happen in real
life
The footer tagline again creates a
sense of verisimilitude, of being
based on a true story
Footer text, which contains the
cast and production
information, and the films
official rating (R)

5. Jaws (1975)
This is perhaps one of the most iconic
film posters of all time. It does this
maybe for perfectly capturing the
mood and atmosphere of the film
The events captured in the image are
happening in the day time and it is
light. This is horrific as the monster the
shark does not stick to conventions like
other horror monsters by coming out at
night, and sums up the feeling that it
can strike at any time
The title Jaws is perfectly contrasts
with the image so stands out o the
audience knows and remembers the
title of the film. The title is short and
snappy, so is easier for the audience
to remember
Woman on poster seems content and
happy, doesn’t know what’s coming
Header links the film to the book,
“Terrifying”- a buzz word in most
horror what ever the medium
Footer with all the information,
including the rating system
Main actors involved with the
film, well known names to attract
potential audiences to the film

6. The Omen (1976)
Silhouette, unnerving and full of
mystery. The fact it is a child's
silhouette is also mysterious, the
audience will question why this child is
given evil connotations. His shadow is
a wolf, representative of power,
wildness and evil. It seems to be
burrowing down, as if running to hell.
Drawn like a cave drawing, ancient evil
that juxtaposes with the innocence of
youth
Monochrome colour scheme,
conventional of the Horror genre
The only colour on the poster is
with The Omen typography,
which helps it stand out on the
poster . It is also the colour of
blood and evil, which helps
connote the horror aspect of the
film
Gregory Peck, the major actor
involved in the film, is the one who is
the major face of this poster. If he and
the lady are where the light is coming
from on the poster (Symbolic of good
and religion) Damien (the child) is
turning away from it, facing the wolf
and the evil nature, and the blackness
of the poster
Unusual tagline, goes all the
way down the page to link to
the title, adding the oddity of
the child and the mystery of the
film
Footer- Gives extra film
information

7. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
George A. Romero’s classic Dawn of the Dead
is perhaps the most iconic zombie film of all
time. It also follows on from low budget cult
classic Night of the Living Dead, also by
Romero
Pink sky, typical of early morning, which
usually ahs connotations of peace and has
here been warped
Tagline to advertise the film,
explicitly linking the zombie theme
of dead rising, and that they’ve been
turned away from Hell shows that
they will be evil
Inclusion of the Directors name and
previous film, hoping to garner
audiences from his other films
Zombies head replaces the sun in the
“Dawn”. Half of the face is pink, to show
the humanity, then the other half is red to
show the evil. The duality in the characters
over whether they are still people or not is
one of the questions set by this films poster
Stylistically and iconically written
title, which has been copied and
mimicked many times from similar
films. Is now synonymous with the
genre. The red is conventional with
the genre and contrasts with the
black background
Footer information

8. Halloween (1978) One of the most well known and
most critically and publically
acclaimed slasher horrors, it’s
theatrical poster is possibly one of
the most instantly recognizable
Conventional tagline for a
horror film. Sets up the mystery
over who He is. Home has
conventions of warmth and
togetherness of family, but here
it is used negatively as the set
up for the murders. The white
lettering contrasts with the
black background
Black, Orange and Red
colour scheme, typical
colours for the Halloween
holiday, links with the title
Pumpkin and knife mix the
iconic Halloween image and
the murders that will take place
in the film, which actually
makes this particularly iconic
Large header of the name
Halloween. Halloween is one of
the most iconic horror holiday’s
and the names simplicity has
garnered it a lot of public
acclaim
Got all the cast on the bottom,
so it doesn’t clutter up the
minimalistic poster

9. Alien (1979)
This is one of the first crossovers
of Horror and Sci-Fi. This poster
mixes elements from both of these
genres
Black colour scheme, common in the
Horror Genre, which mixes with the
green colour scheme, the conventional
and most commonly used colour for the
sci-fi genre
The Alien title is a very minimalistic
header, being spelt out like an old
computers text, further expressing
the sci-fi aspects of the film. Just
calling the film Alien creates a
mystery as to what type of aliens
would appear in the film, that it all
unfolds as a mystery for the
characters and the audience as much
as it does to someone who views the
poster
Conventional Horror tagline “In
Space no one can hear you
scream” which also has science
fiction elements of space
Conventional of almost all film posters
since the 60’s, all the relevant cast and
company information is in the footer
The main image is that of a
mysterious egg. This creates a
mystery within the poster as to
what the contents of the egg are,
and also fits in with the sci-fi
mystery. The fact it is an egg also
further argue the feminist
argument of the film, that it is a
wholly female dominated and an
egg is a representation of women
and birth. It doesn’t have any
images of the cast, which further
creates the mystery

10. Friday the13th (1980)
Outline of the murderer frames
the poster, everyone is dwarfed
by this image
Blood drops from the knife on to
the 13, links the title to the
murders and gore that will be in
the film
Through the silhouette of the
murderer you see the setting; a
wood cabin in the middle of a
forest. This is a standard setting
in most Horror films and is very
cliché. In this image you also see
some of the main characters, who
aren’t in focus as they are placed
in the film as pawns to be killed.
The fact they are in the
murderers silhouette shows that
they will be the focus of the
murders
Friday the 13th is one of the most
well known horror franchises,
but at first no one knew who the
murderer would be, so it is set up
as a mystery
Tagline, links into the films title,
which is synonymous with bad
luck
Footer for all the information
Stylised title, conventional for a
horror film with quite a generic
name
Black, red and white colour
scheme, stereotypical horror
colours

11. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Black and red poster, matches Freddy
Krueger's iconic outfit and also links
to the horror genre as a whole
One of the most Iconic Horror
films of all time, and as such the
poster for the first in the franchise
is well recognised, despite not
having the main character
(Krueger) on it
The headers text is simple and
contrasts with the background
Main image of the poster denotes a
naked woman asleep in bed, but
being consciously aware of the
presence of Krueger. This is
extremely sexualised, perhaps to
get audiences wanting
exploitation. Feminist reading of
this is that the man is the monster
and has power over the young
woman
Freddy’s iconic glove is shown, but
he is shown as quite skeletal and
dead, shrouded in mystery
Usually safe environment (Bed)
being turned terrifying by
Krueger's presence
Inclusion of Wes Cravens name
above the title, attracts audiences
from his other films who will
expect the same level of shocks
Footer- Gives film
information
Stylised writing of the title,
Nightmare is written like blood.
Contrast between the two styles of
writing, how the peaceful Elm Street
gets a bloody nightmare. Contrasts
with the background

12. Scream (1996)
Like most horror films, there is
a tagline for the film at the
time. This film acts as a sort of
parody of the slasher horror
genre, so the tagline explicitly
links it to the scary movie genre
Contrasting image, very bold
and stylized
Image of woman, typical
conventions which this film is
mocking is the stock character
in Horror films of the “Virgin”
Ensemble cast, so cast list
is put on the poster to
attract potential audiences
to the film
Details the name of the director Wes Craven, famed for the cult
masterpiece Nightmare on Elm Street, and noted as one of the
most iconic Horror directors
Blue eyes, connotes purity
Mouth covers up the
woman's mouth, perhaps to
stop her screaming, links to
the title
The Scream title, written
stylistically so it would be
noticeable. Is a short and
memorable name
Footer contains all the
important information for the
film

13. Saw (2004)
Saw is a very disturbing series of
films about self discovery through
horrible circumstances. Despite it
seeming very exploitive from the start
due to the graphic depictions of
violence, it does have a very clever
message about appreciating life
This is most likely a teaser poster for
the film, as it doesn’t give much
information on the film, and doesn’t
hold some of the conventional film
poster feature, such as cast list,
tagline etc.
A rotting arm is the main image
featured on the poster, a symbolic
trademark of Saw and also a hint as
to what its major themes will be
(self mutilation)Hospital or bathroom tiles on the
floor, conventional setting for a film
about torture. The white floor is odd
for a dark horror film, but you can see
the dirt within the cracks, perhaps a
message that Jigsaw can see the dirt
within humanity, that we don’t
appreciate the cleanness of our lives
and don’t appreciate it, which is the
major message behind the film
The Saw text is written stylistically,
meaning that the audience will
quickly be able to recognize the
films brand. It contrasts with the
white background. The name Saw is
also short and memorable
Monochrome colour scheme,
back to basics
Conventional Footer Information
Blood and hole through the wrist,
perhaps a representation of Jesus
with stigmata, that these people die
for their sins

14. Paranormal Activity (2007)
Paranormal Activity is one of the
first major viral horror films, in the
way that its popularity spread over
the internet and from mouth to
mouth rather than a solid
advertising campaign, Before this
Blair Witch Project managed to be
spread through word of the mouth,
but this is one of the first that the
internet viral campaign worked so
well for the films popularity
Header is mostly made up of
critical and acclaim, guaranteeing
its shock value for the audience
Very poor quality image, taken
from security footage, constructed
because of its “Real life” aspects
and most of the film is made up of
security footage. Doesn’t actually
show anything supernatural but it
is an example of a normally safe
environment becoming haunted
The Paranormal Activity
typography seems to flicker and is
distorted, links to the ghost genre
Stereotypical tagline, conventional
for the genre and to question a
seemingly innocent time, when
you are at your most vulnerable.
Rhetorical question helps add
mystery to the film and directs and
involves the audience
Unusual Footer, helping to
promote the film virally and
spread its popularity. Gives us link
to the website to demand it.

15. Sinister (2012)
With its masthead it names popular
recent horror films in the hope it will
attract similar audiences from these
films. Even though only a few
members of the crew from these two
films woken on Sinister, the inclusion
of these big brand names helps garner
fans of these films, who will expect
the same level of shocks
Little blonde girl, connotes innocence.
She is wearing pyjamas which further
gives the image of her being innocent
and childlike, but this juxtapositions
with the blood on the wall, constructed
to unnerve the audience. The them of
innocence (Particularly children)
becoming corrupted by evil is a
common feature of the Horror Genre, a
classic example being the little girl in
the classic horror The Exorcist
Monochrome colour scheme,
conventional for the Horror Genre
As we now live in a more media literate age, in he footer there is the inclusion
of the Twitter and Facebook widget, helping potential audiences to access
more information on the film multimedia on the major social networking sites.
The coming soon sign adds anticipation to the films wide release
Sinister is one of the more recent
popular horror films, that was
released in 2012
Stylised title, constructed to keep
in fitting with the sinister themes
of the film
Tagline under the title, a declarative
and unnerving statement which is
conventional for the genre
Picture on the wall, made from
blood which denotes there will be
gore in the film. This also shows
the face of the main antagonist of
the film. The face seems to be
staring at you, helping you to feel
like your part of the horror
unfolding and to unnerve and
shock the audience