1st Poster Analysis- Insidious

This horror movie poster is very chilling and really illuminates the meaning behind the film. This movie is called ‘Insidious’ and the title is shown quite clearly in the centre of the poster. The title has been rotated and is positioned vertically. This could suggest that the events in the film will not be as expected, and there will be numerous twists and turns. The word ‘Insidious’ means proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with very harmful effects which could be suggested to be a description of the child on the poster as he is growing slowly, but his growth in the film leads to have disastrous and terrifying consequences.

On the first look at this poster, you are drawn to the eyes of the young child standing and dominating the poster. His eyes are bright white compared to the general dull tones used on the rest of the poster. This connotes to horror fans that this child is possessed by some kind of demon in the film's narrative. If you look closely at his eyes, you will see that in his left eye it says ‘INSIDIOUS’ and in his right eye it says ‘IS’ which suggests that this boy is insidious, creating a chilling mood because it leaves the audience wondering what has happened to this seemingly innocent child who turns out to be a dangerous demon.

The child is standing upright with his arms positioned downwards beside his body.   His expressionless face also foreshadows the events of the film itself in that it shows you that he is not a human and doesn’t really have emotions. The fact that this young boy is in pyjamas enhances his apparent innocence and makes him seem like an ordinary boy when in fact, he is possessed by a demon.

The colour red is used quite a bit on this poster as this colour has connotations of danger and death, which are some of the main conventions expected in a horror film. The red is used on his pyjamas, which links the boy to danger and death. It is also used in the title which again is a link back to the main character, the child. In the background of this poster is a house with all the blinds and curtains closed. The mise-en-scene suggests that whoever occupies this house is trying to keep something out... perhaps the boy himself.