Wrong Turn Poster Analysis

The title of the poster is positioned at the bottom left of the page, in order to not take the viewers attention away from the main image. The text itself is seemingly eerie, since the letters are not equally spaced from one another, and are positioned at various levels. These effects, however, are only minimal, but make the audience aware that not all is right. Since the title is written in red, in a horror aspect, this could represent blood, death and warnings, rather than love or lust, which may be used for a romantic film. Under the title, we see the tag line ‘It’s the last one you’ll ever take!’ which immediately addresses the reader, and therefore engages them. The works as a hook to make audience curious of what the wrong turn may behold. Thought this tag line is only small, it is noticeable due to the lack of text on the entire poster.

The colour on the poster includes warm tones such as orange, yellow and red, with the addition of black too. The orange and red connote a sense of warning and panic, referring back to the title, whereas the black could relate back to the mystery of the poster, since the audience is unaware as to what the wrong turn beholds. The black also contributes to the fear of the unknown, since the heavy shadow around the female figures makes the audience wary of her surroundings. In addition to this, black is stereotypically associated with death and evil.

The poster displays two characters, the first of which being the vulnerable female, who is obviously the victim within the film. By dressing her in a simple vest, she is displayed as a ‘normal’ day to day woman, though we are subconsciously aware that she is the protagonist by the choice of a white vest, which symbolizes the hero. It could also be argued that the choice of a vest is seemingly a stereotypical masculine item of clothing, and therefore can be related back to Clover’s final girl theory, since she is looking ‘rough and ready’ for the wrong turn. Behind her we see the second character, who is blurred, which suggests that the antagonists of the film are hiding, and that the protagonist is unaware of his whereabouts. Although his image is not focuses, details such as burns, his muddy face, pointed teeth and black gums, prove that he is some kind of abnormal human. His expression supports this since he is pleased with the girls lack of knowledge of her own whereabouts, proving that he is thriving off oh her fear.

The background gives the audience knowledge that the film is set in a forest, which is a typical horror setting, due to its repetitive imagery. This suggests that it is easy to get lost, especially within the dark. We are also aware of this environment due to the subtle shadow of the leaves on the woman’s body, which once again suggests that she is hiding.