Esteban Hernandez

Writing 2

T and R 3-4:50

10/16/2019

When Looking Into The Eyes Of Fear, What Do You See? Deleted: See ?

A group of friends is standing outside of a movie theater, bickering about the movie Deleted: movie theaters

they want to see. All they can agree on is that they would like to see a slasher movie, but

since it is October, there are quite a few slashers to choose from; their options being

Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Scream. They decide to pick the film with

the best poster. A third of them argue that they want to see Halloween because the poster

just makes them feel unsettled. The second third says that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

has the best poster because they feel as though they are next on his murder list. The last

third argues for Scream because they say that Drew Barrymore’s face captures their

interest because it leaves so many unanswered questions. However, for the friends to come

to a decision they must agree to a set of requirements that each poster must employ and do

so efficiently. This begs the question: What constitutes an effective slasher movie poster? Deleted: The only question is how would they even
consider which is the best?

In order to answer this question, we must first understand the slasher movie poster Deleted: question

as a genre. Before doing that, it is important to understand the definition of genre that is Deleted: Naturally, people are inclined to believe that
genre refers to a type of fiction.

being used in this essay. In this essay, genre means a type of rhetorical device that answers Deleted: However, the definition of genre that I’m
referring to is the category in which an art piece or piece
of literature can be placed. However in order to be
a repeating question/problem, targets a specific audience and adheres to a predetermined considered a…
Deleted: ,
set of rules. It is important to keep this definition in mind when analyzing a slasher movie
Deleted: the piece must
Deleted: be
poster when trying to determine if it’s effective in accomplishing its goal to attract viewers
Deleted: ed
and capture their attention. Deleted: to
Deleted: audience, and
 To the casual movie goer, the best slasher poster would be the one that captures

their attention and scares them. In order to do that an effective slasher movie poster often Deleted: would

includes a sharp object, an obscured face, and it would use as much negative space as

possible. By doing these three things, slasher movie posters can garner intense reactions

from the audience and collect interest for its respective film.

Slasher movie posters need to be able to portray that the characters in the film are

in immediate and imminent danger. A simple way to be able to do that is by plopping a

knife somewhere in the poster. Take the poster for John Carpenter’s 1978 classic

“Halloween”. In the dead center we see a lit jack-o-lantern hold a large kitchen knife, the

cold steal glistening in the light of the jack-o-lantern’s fire. Due to the knife being so large

and being the focal point of the piece, the viewer’s eyes are immediately drawn to it

creating a sense of dread as knives are correlated with cutting. However, the sharp doesn't

always have to be on display in order to make the audience feel unsettled.

The sharp object could also be obscured or slightly out of focus and still be effective

in presenting the danger the cast is in. For example, Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chainsaw

Massacre” has a poster where the sharp object is Leatherface’s chainsaw. Unlike the poster Deleted: “Halloween”’s

for “Halloween”, the chainsaw is not the focal point, but, rather, it is used to disrupt it,

enhancing the danger the weapon poses.

Some posters, however, go a different route and don’t include a weapon. Wes

Craven’s 1996 film “Scream” has a poster that lacks a weapon and instead uses the “M” in

the poster’s title as the sharp object. Doing this makes the threat of danger more subtle and

hidden, much like how Ghostface operates in the film. The restrictive part of using sharp

objects in the slasher posters to present danger is that other slasher films will be mistaken
for different kinds of horror films if their poster does not feature something sharp. For

example, the poster for “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” does not incorporate any sharp

objects or lettering. Instead, the only two conventions that it incorporates that are touched

upon in this essay are the use of negative space and an obscure face (which is elaborated

upon later in this essay). The exclusion of the sharp object makes this poster seem as

though the film is a mystery thriller instead of a slasher horror. That is because the threat

of death is not solidified due to missing sharp object and lettering.

While sharp objects are an effective way to be able to make onlookers feel uneasy,

an obscured face can enhance that uneasiness and shift it towards fear. According to Deleted: also have the same effect

Benjamin Radford’s article “Why Hollywood Serial Slashers Wear Masks” Radford states

that what makes serial slashers so terrifying is that their faces are obscured by their mask

(5). By not being able to see their faces, the audience becomes terrified because they are Deleted: s

not able to identify who the killer is or what their facial expressions are. By applying this

logic to posters, a very terrifying one can be created. For example, in the poster for “The

Texas Chainsaw Massacre” we see Leatherface wearing his human skin mask standing

menacingly in front of one of his victims. Aside from the fact that victim is screaming, what

makes this image so terrifying is that we cannot see what he has intended for her. He’s just

standing there, cold and unfeeling, completely devoid of any human emotions. The

subtleness of obscurity combined with the in your face sharp object intermingle and create

an unsettling atmosphere because when a person cannot read somebody else’s emotions

and they see a sharp object next to them, it’s only rational for them to feel unsafe.

Obscured faces don’t have to be completely hidden behind a mask to make a poster

effective however. Sometimes showing off the emotions running through someone’s mind
can make for an effective slasher poster. In the “Scream” poster we see Drew Barrymore’s Deleted: Berrymore’s

character staring out beyond the 4th wall with her hand partly covering her mouth as she

gasps in horror. What is she looking at? What is she scared of? What is going through her

mind? The inability to read her facial expression leaves the audience worried about what

she is witnessing, with the only way to being able to find the answer is by watching the film.

Human faces aren't the only type of face that can be obstructed to unsettle the audience. In

the poster for “Halloween” we see the face of a Jack-O-Lantern hidden behind a knife and

the darkness. Those two things work together to hide the Jack-O-Lantern and give it a

sinister look scaring the audience by making it seem like the Jack-O-Lantern is going to

attack them. Andromorphic objects share resemblances with obscured villains as they both

provided the kind of dread in a person that makes them believe that they are in danger.

When viewing one of the three slasher posters, something that can make a person’s Deleted: one
Deleted: s
skin crawl is the unsettling tightness. Being confined in a small area is never a pleasant Deleted: their

experience as it can leave people uncomfortable and struggling for breath. A good example

of this would be the poster for “Halloween” in which the Jack-O-Lantern and the knife are Deleted: Halloween” the

the centerpiece and they take up a large amount of space. This leaves no room for the

viewer to look at anything else other than the knife or lock eyes with that of the Jack-O-

Lantern. There is nowhere else to look thanks to the use of the negative space. This leaves Deleted: no where

the viewer with no other option other than to stare at the two objects, the feeling of

uneasiness and dread filling them as the claustrophobia subtly sets in.

Using negative space doesn't just have to leave enough space to comfortably fit the

title or credits. Take a gander at the poster for “Scream”. When creating this poster, the

designer decided to blow up Drew Barrymore’s face to take up the entire poster, forcing Deleted: Berrymore’s
them to cram the credits, a hook, and the title into the poster. This may look messy at first,

but really this gives the audience the opportunity to look deep into Barrymore’s eyes and Deleted: Berrymore’s

see that there is only fear and shock in her eyes. Even if the poster is crowded, it unsettles

the audience as it gives them no breathing room and superficially traps them with

Barrymore. One may also choose to approach a poster in the same direction that “The Deleted: Berrymore
Deleted: can also go the
Texas Chainsaw Massacre” took and use only a small amount of space, leaving the rest Deleted: directio
Deleted: n
occupied by words. This emphasizes how alone and stranded victims are. However, it is not
Deleted: and
Deleted: e
as effective as the other posters due to this. The overuse of negative space in posters leaves

people associating it with a slasher so when a person sees the poster for “The Texas

Chainsaw Massacre” they are expecting a different kind of horror, most likely a gore horror

due to the title.

Slasher movie posters are meant to terrify and intrigue anyone who is looking at the

poster. When a person looks at that kind of poster, they should feel uneasy and scared. As

simple as that sounds, it is not an easy process; you can’t just clumsily piece a poster Deleted: ,
Deleted: but
together like it is Frankenstein’s monster and expect it to work in your favor. Designing a Deleted: peice
Deleted: one
slasher poster is a very precise job and, due to the restrictions that were previously
Deleted: ’

expanded upon, can be easily done wrong. This would leave the audience not afraid, rather

rolling their eyes. But when sharp objects, obscure faces, and the usage of negative spaces Deleted: When done correctly, however,

are combined together efficiently, it can entrance thousands of viewers and practically

guarantee ticket purchases.

Works Cited
• Radford, Benjamin. “Why Hollywood Serial Slashers Wear Masks.” LiveScience, Purch,

13 Feb. 2009, https://www.livescience.com/3323-hollywood-serial-slashers-wear-

masks.html.

• Tarhan Creative. “Scream (1996) Poster.” 2019,

http://www.impawards.com/1996/scream.html

• Gleason, Bob. “Halloween (1978) Poster.” B.D. Fox Independent, 1978,

http://www.impawards.com/1978/halloween.html

• “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Poster.” 1974,

http://www.impawards.com/1974/texas_chainsaw_massacre.html

Images For Reference