28 Days later (poster)

The poster for 28 days later consists of two simple colours red and black, this gives an instantly menacing effect to the viewer. This is caused by the associations made by the viewer from the colours, as red is the colour of blood and black is instantly associated with darkness, both of which are somewhat malevolent themes. This effect gives the viewer an accurate opinion of the film which is a horror, but at the same time not the same as some other types of films, as the shade of red is very light, it suggests that the film will not so much be creepy but rather violent and perhaps surprising, with sudden moments of intense violence and adrenaline. This immediately sets it apart from certain other horror movies which try to accentuate the subtle, eerie aspects of their film. The title of the film and the tagline are both in white adorned above the red and black, this highlights these certain aspects above the other qualities of the film poster and automatically sets them into the viewer's mind. This is useful because if they remember the title it means they are able to look for it in cinemas and spread the hype of the film through word of mouth. The tagline is important because it is a snappy, catchy representation of the film which is useful thing for a viewer to remember.

The unique selling point is instantly recognisable as the large biohazard sign in the middle of the poster and the desolate cityscape underneath. This associates the movie with the post apocalyptic subgenre, as well as the piece of writing above the title, the count down of the world going into anarchy over an apparent epidemic of some disease. The biohazard sign alone attracts any fans of that specific subgenre as it has been used on many other films (e.g The Crazies, Carriers) therefore the film automatically has a fan base simply from the sign on the poster. The setting of the film becomes recognisable within a few minutes looking at the poster, as the city scape reveals famous indications of London (Big Ben ect) this makes anyone who is interested in English films (or films situated in England) instantly interested in this film.

The simplicity of the poster is well done, as the viewer isn't overloaded with unneeded information, meaning they can focus on the more important aspects of the poster, therefore they are not given any false impressions about the content of the film. The lack of content also continues the idea of a desolate, post apocalyptic landscape with the lone figure walking down the empty streets of an abandoned city and nothing else throughout the entire poster.

Personally I like this poster a lot, the simple aspects of the entire thing makes the viewer want to see more, while at the same time gives them enough detail to have half an idea of what the film is about. However I believe one thing the creators of this poster overlooked was the zombies in this film. The film is primarily a post apocalyptic zombie film however there is not a single reference to zombies, I understand that it might give away too much by showing them, however there is a large fan base for zombie films and I believe that if a subtle hint of the undead were added it would appeal to a much larger audience. Nevertheless I believe this poster is an effective one.