Film Magazine Analysis

Sinister Film Review

After researching Sinister, I decided to go and watch it to help me have a better understand of the theme ‘horror’

The title of the film suggests something subtle and creepy. But nothing could be further from the case. Explicit shocks, with crashing musical stabs create a new kind of sinister. But definitely not a film that haunts you when you sleep.

I thought the film was original and was interesting, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through, the cheap scares worked well and made the whole cinema jump out of there skin – I think the shock factor works well in films and it created a lot of controversy . It has been credited as "the sort of tale that would paralyze kids' psyches". And deeply frightening horror film that takes its obligation to alarm very seriously.

It has given me a new outlook on the horror genre, but has made me come to the conclusion I won’t be using graphic images in my trailer as although they will work well, the portrayal and filming would be beyond my ability

Sinister - Poster Analysis

I think this is a unique poster, it definitively represents its title effectively. The dictionary definition for Sinister is “Giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen”  and if a child painting a disturbing picture in blood isn’t harmful then I don’t know what is.

The cracked grey wall background connotes danger and danger, also that nothing it clear. The main photo of the girl contrasts with the title, a naive innocent girl surely cant be ‘sinister’? The irony works well and portrays clearly. I like the contrast and it is something I will consider when doing my poster.  

The blood painting itself is a menacing and haunting image and one that you cant get out your head. Also underneath it is some remains of a video tape which links well with the trailer. It makes the audience inquisitive about what there used for. The black title with the slight shadow works well for the poster, it is definitely a creepy font. The tag line which is also featured in the trailer leaves the audience with quite an ambiguous feel, who would they see? Overall I think this poster is effective and very eye catching.

Sinister - Trailer Analysis

The trailer begins with the image of a dark house on a dark night (typical convention) then we get a brief shot of some kind of symbol which must have some significance, We then hear a police woman giving a report on a ‘grizzly’ murder and the report of a missing girl … we are shown a child’s drawing of a family being hung. This disturbing image, 10 seconds into the trailer should straight away frighten the audience.

It is then day light and onto another shot of the same house, and a new family moving into the house where the family were hung (another typical horror convention) we are then given some background information on the characters. I think this is a good technique to use as it is the start of a relationship with the audience and characters. All the time this is being shot there is a low monotonous sound which increases in pitch. It then stops when the dad enters the attic. This signifies an important scene. There is a box left in the middle of the attic floor – this should build tension as we as the audience want to know what’s in the box. There is an old film projector with films to watch… The family that lived in the house before are shown having fun then BAM there is a quick snapshot of the bottom of there legs as they are hung. My initial reaction to this was *gasping* in disgust. It defiantly has the shock factor.

As the trailer progresses there are more images of different families on the different tapes, all the tapes are of the families murders. We are shown a car being lit on fire and a child going underwater, these images just give the audience a taste to expect absolute disgust and repulsion. Screams and high pitch noises are used during this, it is used to keep the audiences pulse racing and makes them more ‘on edge’ We are then shown a same symbol and an explanation and we now know that this symbol represents a child murderer. To an audience who have a child or younger brother or sister this would be uncomfortable for them to take in as they would apply it to there own life. We are then given a reflection of this ‘boggol’

“Once you see him” “Nothing can save you” the fact this is shown indicate the family are doomed. This should make the audience emphasise with the family . The heartbeat in the background represents the families life line, it is a good way of building tension. We then are shown a clip of a child bending back out of a cardboard box – this horrifying image is intended to show the audience this family is in trouble and there family is being possessed. The family then leave and we are left with the image of the film projector ran out of tape which signifies the family has maybe ran out of time? We are then shown flashes of axes and knifes all connote death and lots of images of possessed children whispering – it is very disgusting then we are left with a flash of boggol. This trailer takes typical conventions and makes them 100 times scarier. It scared me and that’s an achievement.

When A Stranger Calls - Poster Analysis

I think this poster is very plain but it does actually represent then film in a good way. The standard colours of reds, blacks and whites have been incorporated – these conventions are something I will consider when doing my film poster

This poster doesn’t give much away about the film, its is quite an ambiguous picture, leaving the audience to let there imagination wonder what it is about. But this minimalistic approach doesn’t leave the audience with an impression, there are no dominant features which allow the audience to remember it.   

The scariest thing about this poster is definitely the picture on the phone, mobile phones are used in todays society very frequently so using it in a menacing way is a good ironic way of portraying horror. The hand in this photo has been edited – it has been made more grim and dirty, this could be to represent the uncleanliness of the film.  

When A Stranger Calls - Trailer Analysis

The first thing I noticed about this trailer straight away was the chilling music, this music sets the tone for the trailer. The zoom to the image of the phone evidently informs the audience this phone is important. We are then shown brief flashes of a screaming girl in black and white – I don’t think this surrealism works as you don’t quite catch the full image when you are watching the trailer, this happens twice. The second flash is more effective as you can make out the shadowy figure of a man. This creates a ambiguity which intends to frightens the audience. The phone starts to ring which then starts the tension, a naïve girl answers the phone and asks “Is anyone there” all we can hear are the breaths at the receiving end. This is a typical technique used in horror trailers to create suspense. I found it almost comical as it is such a typical way of scaring people. We are then given some dialogue which literally informs the audience that this girl is going to be all alone in the forest.  Letting us know she is vulnerable and out of helps reach. A house is then shown, a big scary house by a lake… I think this trailer so far is extremely uncharismatic and has no attention grabbing aspects. There is then a gap filled with twilight noises, and more images of the empty rooms in the house. I think this was supposed to create tension for the audience. IT seems quite unrealistic at this point as she is sat with no television on in the living room. The phone then rings again and a ‘menacing’ voice asks “have you checked the children” now this would scare parents as it would be there worst nightmare for there children to be abducted and it would definitely make us teens feel uneasy as it our job to keep children safe when babysitting. I think this makes the trailer appealing as it scares different ages. After checking the children and seeing there safe this allows the audience to breath and feel a bit at ease – I think this is a good technique to set the audience up for something scary. But the shaking of the door is not a ‘jump out of my skin’ moment it was actually quite anti climatic. 

 There is then the continuing ringing sound with a heavy bass – this slowly builds in volume and the flash’s of images increase in speed , this is intended to build tension - but what doesn’t make this very scary is the actresses plead for the caller to stop ringing, she doesn’t sound that scared. This will transfer to the audience and not make us less scared.

When the police ring and inform that the call is from inside the house, this is the point where the trailer starts for me. The lights turn off which means darkness had flooded the house, horrifying screams are being played as the children are missing, but the girls reaction isn’t that scared, we see the figure of a normal man, we don’t see his face which leaves it ambiguous for the audience. There is then a moments pause when the girl is in some water – I think this was used to frighten the audience… It didn’t scare me as there was just no real emotion portrayed. It’s the screams that had been edited over the top which added fear to the trailer. Then the phone beeping and flashes of images this created a manic sentiment which worked well with the trailer, in these flashes of images we see that the children are safe – I think that this spoils the trailer as the audience now know that they end up alright! I want to make sure this does not happen in my trailer!