How Horror Posters have Developed through the Ages?By Izabella Tulip-Parkin

The main focus of the image

is the monster the

combination of the tittle

looming over the monster

head casting a shadow

creating sinister and eerie

image. The tagline is simple and

to the point states a vary

basic summary of the

story.

The title is bold and

vibrant using red and

yellow creating this

feeling as if the letters

are on fire maybe

relating a key scene in

the film or hinting at the

storyline.

The illustrations at the

bottom left and right of the

image bring to light the

other main characters of

the film and try to further

convey to the audience

hints at the storyline and

prompt some form of

horror in them and

anticipation when going to

see the film.

The page itself isn’t very

cluttered , the layout is

simple, but the variety

of colours and the bold

images is what brings

the poster to life.

Also features a list of

actors/actresses and the

director for the film.

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1959The images are key to the

poster the concept of a

women hanging her self and

this large looming skeleton

standing over her and the

house , would have

effectively shocked and

horrified the audience of the

time. Also the horror is

amplified by this delicate

figure of a women she looks

like the damsel in distress

and quite angelic, which is

convey through the way in

which the delicate yellow

dress hangs off her.

The titles font perfectly

forms into the hill and the

man stood behind the

lettering, it looks as if is has

naturally grown their. It

follows along with the wind

swept look that the top part

of the image conveys.

The angle at which the

house has been drawn

creates this feel as the

viewer that it is looming

over you and trying to lure

you in. The ay in which the

skeleton stands looking

over the hole image creates

this feel that death plays a

large part in this horror film.

The images at either corner

hint at key character and

aspects of the plot. The

mysterious and ghostly lit

figure holding the eyeless

head creates a sense of

horror for the audience along

side the small image of the

man drowning as a

fisherman watches sets the

mood for the film . Convey it

will be filled with mysteries,

secrets and the men can not

be trusted.

This poster in comparison to

the last is a lot more daring

for the time as the imagery is

a lot more daring and

horrifying. The key women on

this poster is a lot more

seductively dressed. The

poster itself is a lot more

detailed and includes more

imagery give the audience a

better idea of what the film

1980The rotates around the

most famous scene

from the film. The

movement within the

image effectively

brings the image to life.

The juxtaposition

created by the horrified

look on the woman's

face compared to the

satisfaction and crazed

look of joy on Jack’s

face effectively

enhance the shock and

horror of the audience.

The font used for the title

is bold and simple,

seems that the designer

have created their own

style of font for the film,

which meant it became

quite an iconic font type.

The actor/actress and

directors name are bold

and simple. The layout is

simple , but effectively

gives the viewer an

insite into what the film is

about. What works

extremely effectively is

the designer has let the

film speak for itself and

left the viewer to make

their on decision on what

the storyline entails.

When comparing the last

poster to this one although

their was a massive leap in

date, concept are still the

same, yet designer have

refined the poster it isn’t as

cluttered and they have

given audience the chance

to use their

imagination, instead of

giving a basic outline of the

movie. They have also

reverted to images instead

of illustration which works

1992The tagline is simple

and gives the audience

a hint into what the

concept for the storyline

is, although I feel the

tagline maybe be a bit

overly simplified.

The eye seamlessly

fades into the white

background creating

a perfect canvas for

the lettering.

The extreme close up of the

eyes work perfectly in

encapsulating the audience

as you can see all the hair

follicles and the finer details

on the eye. The reflection

on the eye is simple, but

effective way of showing a

key character yet keeping

them a mystery as they are

a silhouette . The fear is

create by the wasp touching

her eye as the concept for

most people of getting

something trapped in your

eye or someone touching it

sets horror in

people, makes them feel

squeamish. A perfect

example of that is ‘Un Chien

Andalou’ directed by Dali

which consists of a vary

famous where by someone

cuts another persons

eyeball. The concept is

The font for the title

angular shapes

look as if they are

supposed to

represented some

form of bee/wasp

hive. Its quite an

iconic font, as its

looks to have been

designed

specifically for the

film.

In comparison to the last

poster the designer have

seemed to revert back to

using a lot more words, but

the layout is still simple. The

image itself is a lot more

cryptic as it makes the

audience work harder to

understand what the film is

about. The difference with

this poster is that you would

have to watch the film to

understand the references.

However overall the finer

details in the poster

2013

The image is

haunting with the

large country house

in the background

smother with fog , to

sprawling tree which

has a noose hung

from its branch, it’s a

classic set up for a

horror film. The image

almost looks like the

front cover of a novel.

The finer details are

key to this image

specifically the

silhouette of what looks

like a child in a night

gown being hung on

the ground, giving hints

to the audience about

the storyline.

The novel like poster

is further emphasized

through the simple

font used for the title.

The tagline hints at

the fact the director

may shoot the film in

a documentary style

or could be trying to

miss lead the

audience into

believing the horror of

the film which

enhance the fear of

the audience as the

film may use a

realistic story line. Finally through the out the

imagery has slowly developed

and become more technical in

this final poster we can see

how technology and editing

has become key to posters. As

the finer details seem key to

creating the horror. The

imagery itself is a lot more life

like. Follow on from the 80’s

one thing that seems to be a

constant is the simple layout of

the poster with on the

necessary words and imagery

on. They key thing which they

have developed and become

more effective with doing is

not going away to much of the