The Last Exorcism Poster Analysis

This poster analysis is generally the poster I feel relates more to my promotional package as the sub-genre of the film is

possession and my promotional package is also a possession. I felt it was necessary to do an analysis on at least one

possession horror poster as it would give me an insight on what I need to include to create a professional looking

possession horror poster.

The Last Exorcism Part llThe main image of the woman is the first thing that hits the target audience’s eye as she appears to be in an uncomfortable distorted position that looks unnatural and inhuman to us. This clearly suggests that something other than her own spirit is possessed within her, and it allows us as an audience to identify that this a possession horror film.

The woman’s body is not only presented in an inhuman way, her body Is also shaped into a curved position and the shadow opposite her knees causes her to appear as is she is making the shape of the number 2. This is extremely relevant as this films poster is promoting the second sequel to ‘The Last Exorcism’. This is very creative and an attractive sight for the audiences who have seen part 1 as they will be intrigued to see what happens in part 2.

Continuing on the topic of the woman’s body position, she also appears as if something has just forced its way into her which caused her body to flip back in such as distorted way and left her mouth open screaming in agonizing pain. You are also able to see that she has a dark spirit within her because her skin appears as grey moldy color as if death itself has forced its way into her. Her skin looks bruised and once again inhuman, not the way a young living woman’s skin should appear to look like.

The background of the poster is grey and old with cracks seeping its way into the middle of the poster. This links with the sub-genre of the film as it’s a possession and the wallpaper portrays as if something is trying to make its way in and apparently it made its way into the woman.

The tagline is placed at the top of the image and it reads ; The second coming. This is simple however it gives the audience the opportunity to give this tagline their own meaning. For instance they may just think it means a second part for the first or they may go deeper and feel It means a second arising of a possessive spirit.

The color scheme is kept to minimum of dark and dull colors, that represent the film very well. The dusty and dull colors presented are useful in giving a spooky feel which relates to the horror genre . There is also slight shadow effects in the corners of the frame to depict the genre of the film. Both the title and tagline is presented in a black font however the release date is presented in a red font and this is effective as the red connotes with horror and blood.

The woman presented to us is on her own as the main image and this will allow the audience to automatically feel she Is the main character. However we must remember she is not exactly alone as there appears to be a spirit within her. Her white dress that she is wearing appears to be white which connotes innocence but it has turned dark and dirty and unclean. This suggests that her purity and innocence has been taken away from her as the dress is no longer pure white and neither is she pure.

The film title appears to be the largest text on the frame and the words ‘Last Exorcism’ has the biggest font which forces It to stand out. The font type is quite simple however there are faint scratches between the words which cause a haunting effect. This too effective as it is relative to the genre of the poster.

While the audience are analyzing the woman’s agonizing facial expression, it gives us the opportunity to identify that the woman is wearing rosary beads around her neck, this suggests that she is religious woman but yet an evil spirit still managed to find its way into her. This will cause an arousing of the inner fear within the audience as they will feel even the holiest and innocent are not safe so neither are they.

The released date is placed at the very bottom of the frame as it will be the last thing the audience will look at. It stands out alongside the information it is placed next to, not only because it is in large font but also because it is the only text on the frame that is red so this aids in helping the audience remember the release date. This will definitely be attractive to the audience if they found the poster appealing as they will be eager to go watch the movie.