The drag me to hell film poster has used low key lighting to create an eerie sense. The darkness of the background connotes evil and the clouds around the woman’s face may indicate there is an evil spirit upon her and it creates an idea that she is trapped and there is no escape and the clouds are closing in on her. The houses in the background also look very old and spooky and there is one little glimpse of light shining through which shows that there is not much hope of being rescued. It also looks to be a secluded area so she is in trouble and danger. This image has been edited so the woman looks far away from the houses so connotes that she is alone and far from any help. The woman’s face looking up and her facial expression looks as if she is screaming and in pain so as the audience we assume that she is the victim. However the poster does contain some generic features of horror as the women is blonde and normally the blonde girl within films is seen as ‘dumb ‘so normally dies of first. With her being in her face and her head looking up we can see that everything that is going on is out of her hands and she has no control over what is happening. She may be looking up for help as she knows that down is hell. The arms wrapped around her look as if they are taking over her and pulling her down in the ground to “hell” which relates back to the title of the film. They are also around all of her body which shows that she is trapped and the only way out is death. They do not look like hands of humans, they have animal qualities to them and they look as if they are burnt which contrasts with the flames of fire.It shows that the film contains some sort of creatures, whom may be from hell.
The poster has been edited so the fire flaming up from the bottom indicates that she is burning in hell, and the hands of evil spirits are dragging her down. The hands look as if they are covered in burns and scars and look sort of creature like so this victim looks as if she’s in for a shock when she realises what is happening to her. The film poster is slightly ironic as the woman looks like a normal young lady, dressed smart and pretty so there must be a story behind why such a normal woman will be going to hell. This is revealing her status so we assume she has a decent job in maybe an office so it comes as even more of a surprise that someone like this would be going to hell. So this creates anticipation for us as an audience as the poster gives some information which makes us interested to watch the film to find out what happens to her. This also links back to the title. The bright red flames connotates blood and death so we can assume that in the film there is death and evil.
The colours also stand out on the dark background and they have a 3D effect with the use of orange alongside red to make it look like real burning flames. The fact that title is in capitals makes it stand out more on the page and makes it more visible to the audience. The white also makes clearer and eye catching on the page as it is the brightest colour that could have possibly been used. The yellow text underneath the title blend in with the flames as the use of oranges alongside yellows create imagery burning and fire which can be associated with the “devil” linking back to the title.
The small section of writing beneath the image of the woman reads “Chrissie Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend and a bright future, but in three days she’s going to hell” So this gives us an indication into what will take place in the film and that it also confirms that the image is showing “Chrissie” being dragged into hell. The film poster has a semantic field of hell and evil with the words used and the colours and images shown. The title is in first person as it uses the noun “me” so maybe the film is seen from her point of view and she is the main character. It does follow the typical conventions of a horror poster as it is dark and looks grim with the creatures’ hands, so it gives a little clue in to what will take place in the film. The shot is a medium shot as we can only see the top half of her body which has been used very effectively as it makes it look like her bottom half is in the fire “hell” already, and she soon will be there completely.
The title is in capitals to make it easier to read and to get across this idea of importance, as warning signs and important messages tend to be in capitals. The poster does not feature any actor’s names which may have been done deliberately they want people to watch the film because of what it is not because who is in it, it also leaves the audience in suspense about who will appear in the film. The colours on the page looks as if they have a grey cast over them, and the woman looks as if she is in darkness. It is evident that this is meant to be seen as night time, because night time has connotations of spookiness.
I believe that this poster is effective and the uses of colours have worked really well. Although I think the editing of the fire and hands looks a bit false, but the oranges stand out on the page and stand out on the low key lighting which I do like. The low key lighting is a main feature in horror and I think that it has been used appropriately on the poster. I like the positioning of the image and text and the way the main focus is on the woman, which was probably done as an effect to make sure it catches the audiences attention. I also think the title is alerting and gives a slight indication to what may occur in the film.
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