Film Poster Analysis - The Purge

The Purge Film Poster

The poster I will be analysing is a poster from the 2013 film “The Purge”. The film is a horror film and is about how in a fictional place in America, all crime is legal for one night every year.

When you first see the poster you will be drawn immediately to the mask and the writing “The Purge”. They are the main parts of the poster because they provide anchor which draws people’s eyes to the poster. The white text stands out from the dark background and allows the audience to immediately tell what film the poster is showing. Having an easy to standout text allows the audience to get key information from the poster, even if they have just scanned the poster quickly. This allows posters to be put on the sides of buses and other mediums where viewers have a small time to view the poster. The typography of the title is: Bold, non-italics, san serif and is spaced out. All of these features of the text make it easier to read at short and especially at longer distances. Also the meaning of “Purge” is often defined as “To rid of sin, guilt or defilement”. So by having a carefully selected name and including it in the poster in such an easy to read way – the poster can inject information into the viewer’s mind without them really knowing.

The denotation of dark scenes in films (even more so in horror films) is that there is a sense of not knowing what could be in the places where you cannot see. This then leads to more tension being built into scenes. This poster follows the generic convention of a dark background image. This immediately denotes that the film is a horror film.

The picture in the background of a man in mask is displayed. The mask features facial features which are un-natural and this gives the mask the scariness which is shown on the poster. There is also an intertextual link with a popular game “Payday 2” which was released around the same time as “The Purge”. The game features crimes being committed but with a main focus of people using masks. Much like the antagonists in “The Purge”. 

The film poster also includes names of the institutions that have helped produced the film. This acts as advertising towards these institutions. There is also an age rating on the poster which refers to the film. Because this is an american poster it says 17+ viewers. Because of this age rating viewers know the film will contain scenes of: Swearing, Violence and probably gore.