Film Poster Analysis of the Strangers (2008)

The poster above is from the film ‘The Strangers’, the film is was 2008 Psychological Horror film and set in 2005. 

The main colour which is featured in the poster is a gold and brown colour; this is because a lot of wood such as the flooring and the kitchen are of this colour. This colour is often associated with traditional style houses called ranch houses from the 1970’s, by setting up a house in this style which is often connected with the American family lifestyle, it creates a unease and a feeling of not being safe and secure in place which is usually related to safety and security. The image used for the poster is photographical and probably a scene from the actual film which presents a snapshot of what the film is about. 

In the foreground of the image is a woman who is looking alert and slightly frightened as she is staring at something out of the shot. In the background of the image is what looks like a figure with a white Halloween type mask, it is also possible to just make out that they are gripping something. The way in which the woman is looking in the other direction looks as if she is too scared to turn her head around and that she knows there is something there; this is because she is holding her neck in a tense position. The background is very dark suggesting that it is during the night, the only light source being the lamp post behind the woman, the contrast between the dark background where the imposter is standing and the foreground of the poster where the woman is standing in the light suggests her as being good, and the other figure as being evil, and that there is a battle between the two. The woman appears to be holding an object possibly a knife or just clasping her hands although it cannot be known for certain, this shows that she is fearful of something and very aware.

The intended audience for the theatre poster are probably students and young adults up to the age of 30, the audience is likely to be intelligent and enjoy a good horror film particularly of this genre.   The poster may also relate to people who have had moments of fear of the unknown and therefore the film is very realistic.

The poster uses a number of persuasive techniques to grab the audience’s attention and to tempt them to see the film, for example, showing the fear on the women’s face shows how this is a film which will involve elements of fear and most likely a horror film. Also the way in which the masked man is standing in the background instantly gets people’s attention because the mask is white and the background is black therefore it stands out.

The main and only two stars which feature in the poster are liv Tyler who is perhaps best known for her role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the other star is called Scott Speedman, who is a British actor best known probably for staring in the Underworld films, having the actors names on the poster will often make the film seem a more attractive prospect to consider. 

The film title is featured at the bottom of the poster like most film posters, this is because it gives the audience time to view the poster image before looking towards the writing, and therefore the picture is what draws the audience in. The expression of the actor Liv Tyler in the poster would suggest that she is alert but also terrified of something, visible objects such as the lamp, the kitchen worktop, and mat would imply that this is a home. The poster is very effective in proposing what the film is about, this is because it clearly promotes the idea of someone disturbing and terrorising the woman. 

The top and bottom of the poster are dark which appears to be fading in on the image this insinuates that something is closing in on the woman which is obviously her intruders; this is further backed up by the intruder in the background of the image who is visibly inside the house therefore closer to the woman. 

The phrase ‘Inspired by True Events’ further adds to the horror aspect of the overall film, this is because often when films are based on true events it makes the whole ordeal or the more possible therefore the scare factor of the film is increased.