This poster features many conventions of the horror genre including an isolated setting, dark color scheme, frightening imagery, and taglines that reference danger, death or fear. It establishes expectations that the film will include typical horror elements through references to other horror directors and genres like possession films. The use of a young female protagonist also fits a common theme aimed at making the film more chilling for adult audiences.

2. This poster for the 2012 film “The Possession” features many genre
conventions and it is clear it belongs to the horror genre.
The poster is an extreme long shot, the character
is alone and almost drowning in the seemingly
isolated setting, this is typical of horror films.
The colour scheme of the
poster is dark and bleak,
typical of horror films.
“Based on a true story” is usually featured on horror film posters, it is intended to scare the
audience. The tagline, “Pray for Her”, and the ghostly light coming from the streetlamp indicates a
godly presence. This is typical of possession films which is a subgenre of horror films.
The girl’s body is thrown forward as if
she is about to contort herself, this is
typical behaviour of people who are
possessed indicating the genre.
The character is seemingly a young girl, this is a recurring
theme in horror films as adult audiences are proven to find
films more chilling if they feature children.

3. This poster for the 2012 film “Sinister” features many genre conventions and it is
clear it belongs to the horror genre.
The colour scheme is dark and bleak apart from the
blood the girl is smearing on the wall which is red,
this indicates danger and is a frequent colour on
posters for horror films.
The image behind the girl is
frightening and indicates the
films genre. The setting of the
poster does not give much
away, but like previous
posters of horror movies the
girl seems isolated.
The tagline “Once you see
him nothing can save you”
directly addresses the
audience and indicates death,
this is typical of many horror
movie taglines found on
posters.
The character is seemingly a
young girl, this is a recurring
theme in horror films as adult
audiences are proven to find
films more chilling if they
feature children.
The reference to the directors is
a convention of a horror movie
poster in this case as it
references other horror films
creating expectations amongst
the audience.
The font of the title looks as if
blood is seeping out of it, this
makes it obvious it is from the
horror genre.

4. This poster for the 2012 film “House at the end of the Street” features many
genre conventions and it is clear it belongs to the horror genre.
The central character is hiding,
indicating something or someone is
after her. It is ambiguous, typical of
horror movie posters
The font looks scratched and
ghostly, typical of horror movies.
The colour scheme is completely dark except for
a yellow glow coming from behind the door, this
could indicate sinister events but also positivity.
This is typical of horror movies with a central
protagonist.
The tagline “Fear reaches out…to the girl next door”
gives us the sense that this could happen to anyone,
making us feel scared. Frightening the audience is a
convention of horror movie posters.
The setting seems isolated, but the girl is alone
and it seems she is not being rescued.

5. This poster for the 2007 film “Dead Silence” features many genre conventions and it
is clear it belongs to the horror genre.
The dominant central image on this poster is a
ventriloquist puppet. However its hand is sinister looking
with extreme wounds. Manipulated children’s toys is
frequent in horror movies like “Childs play” and “Dolly
Dearest”
The colour scheme is again dark with accents of red and
white, red indicating blood and danger, while white seems
demonic and ghostly. This is a typical convention of horror
movie posters.
The reference to the directors is a convention of a horror
movie poster in this case as it references other horror
films creating expectations amongst the audience.
The tagline “You scream, You die” directly references death and
addresses this audience. When doing poster research I have
frequently noticed this when spotting horror movie posters.

6. This poster for the 2011 film “The Cabin in the Woods” features many genre
conventions and it is clear it belongs to the horror genre.
Despite their not being any
characters in this poster, the
cabin is still in an isolated
setting, indicating the
characters will be too. This is
one of the most
conventional features of
horror movie posters.
The colour scheme is again
dark and bleak and there
appears to be a real absence
of colour on this poster.
The poster appears to be scratched, giving it a chilling look. This is similar to the
“Sinister” poster where it looks as if the walls have been cracked. From those things
you can clearly tell they are both horror movies.
The tag line ‘you think you
know the story’ allows the
audience to change their
perception of what this
movie will include. It is
setting the film up to be
different from the typical
horror films or from
people thinking that this is
film is going to be about
people getting killed in a
cabin. It ensures that
audiences will be seeing
something unique, twists
and turns that they
wouldn't expect.