Slasher Horror

Katie Lawrence

From the first glance you can tell that this poster is advertising a slasher horror and targeting audience that have an interest in the genre.The poster contains certain conventions of slasher horror such as: •The Weapon – Knifes are a very popular and common killing utensils in slasher horror films. Knives are seen to be used in films such as Scream sand Friday the Thirteenth.•The feature of gore and blood on the poster relates to the stereotypical killer in slasher films hinting that the killer has had a traumatic past or experience that sets him on the rampage. The damaged face also links to the first in the series of the film in which the killer has his face melted by acid, creating the link between the films attracting those who were fans of the first film ‘Laid to Rest’.The colour scheme of black and red connote danger, terror and isolation.

This poster carries a few conventions of a slasher horror. The blood conveys to the audience that this poster is advertising a horror film. Also the way the blood splatter is in the shape of a bear with its mouth framing a skull shows ferocity and danger giving the audience an idea of what to expect from the film. It hints that the film will contain mass amounts of gore and graphic content in terms of violence.The images surrounding the ‘blood splatter’ and the title of the film suggest that the film will be set in a high school, with the images of pencils, doodle drawings and a polaroid picture of a group of people with a scribbled title all connote and link to education and schools. The fact that the audience will know it is set in a high school may influence them to watch the film as it will relate to a certain aspect of their life.The slogan ‘Cancel Your Future’ is significant because it implies death and murder. This is because it implies the end of a life like someone else is ‘cancelling’ the future of the one he kills.

The way that the characters mouth is wide open suggests fear and pain. It also involves the audience as it will make them use their imagination as to what is happening to the character to make her scream in fear or pain.The way that the title is in red connotes danger and blood which isn’t something that is usually associated with prom.The name of the film ‘Prom Night’ relates to an event in which their audiences will either be looking forward to or just experiencing. This attracts their audience as they will be able to relate to certain aspects of the film.The image of the of girls head is a close up emphasising her features showing a sense of claustrophobia and making the audience focus on her face.