Film Poster Analysis - Sinister

This is the main poster for the film Sinister. This is because in the small print it contains information about the production personnel, the stars and the distributors. This could also be classed as a character poster as it features the main character dragging blood across the wall.

The title of the film is written in capital letters and in a dark font. This could tell us that this film if a very dark and scary. We can also see that the font is being dragged out below, like it is a shadow but not as obvious. The key image of the poster is the face that has been drawn out of blood. We can see that the little girl has drawn this image herself as she is the one dragging the blood across the wall. This could tell us that the film is quite gory and could involve people being murdered. However the face that has been drawn out of blood could be the main character. This is because his image is so bold and obviously has a major involvement in the film. These two images may have been chosen for this poster because it creates a lot of questions and suspicions that would only be answered if you watched the film. The main colours used in this poster are red, white and black. The colour used the most was white. The background was white and the little girls clothes. Having the background white really makes the title and the image drawn out of blood stick out. This is because they are darker than whites so will be more significant. It helps draw attention to the main parts of the poster. These colours are relevant to the genre of the film. This is because horror films are generally associated with murders etc which means blood and blood is red. Plus horror films are always dark and mysterious so this fits in well with the black that is used in the poster.

Judging by the look of the poster and getting a general feel of the film, i think it will be about a demon trying to posses a little girl or a certain family. The demon will then get that person to do things for them which may include killing their family members or something like that. I think the target audience for this film would be teenagers through to young adults. This is because these age groups tend to like horror films more than others as they like the fright they get out of it, its almost as though its enjoyable.

I can definitely tell that it is a horror film as here is blood shown on the poster and because of the title of the film. I know that sinisters are bad things and that can be scary. Although you cannot see the little girls face you can tell that she is not acting like a little girl. For people who watch a lot of horror movies they will be able to tell that something has taken over her. The little girl is in very plain clothes, they look like pajamas. This could suggest that the scary things happen at night when she is meant to be sleeping. This could suggest again that she does not have any control over what is happening to her.

The main focus of the poster is the images at the bottom. These are clearly laid out and can be seen very clearly. However the images on the poster do not take away the focus on the title and the catch line that is displayed. Th catch line reads 'Once you see him, nothing can save you'. This tells us that person who is trying to posses the little girl is a man and it also suggests that you cannot be saved from him and that once you are with him, your with him forever.

The unique selling point of this poster is the catch line which is just underneath the title. This makes it different because not every single film poster has this. It gives away just that little bit more of information about the film and draws more people in to watch it.