Horror film magazine covers

 This is a slightly older empire cover for 'Hannibal', the cover is dark and mysterious as we can only see half of the characters face he looks evil and he is looking directly at us giving the cover image a striking scary edge. Red is a very bold and noticeable colour on the cover, this matches the red in the characters eye - it is very un natural and surreal and represents the characters evil nature and thirst for blood.
Also the quote 'What's cooking' relates to the film and has a very sinister sound to it. It is written in bold white font so it contrasts with the black background making it stand out more.
The content of the magazine, in this issue, focuses on horror and relates to the film that it is promoting. The article presented at the very top of the page is in bold yellow separating it from the rest of the page - however the article still links with the nature of the film being promoted.
The masthead links in with the colour scheme as it is in bold red and at the top of the page so it still remains the focus, so that the readers know what they are buying. Overall I think that the magazine promotes the film very well as even the content of the magazine relates to the film, the main focus is on the film and this is reflected through the strong, striking, sinister image and the colour scheme.

This is a cover for entertainment weekly promoting Sweeney Tod: the demon barber, a remake of the classic musical. Although this film isn't necessarily classed as a horror it does have a strong element in the film as I personally find the storyline quite scary. The colours on the cover blend well with each other the grey background is dull but relates to the colourless time in which the movie was set. The masthead is in a bold blue font at the top of the page making it stand out and catch the readers eye. I particularly like the image on the cover, it is sinister and scary - the make up shows the character with an extremely pale face making him look drained and ghost like also there is red under the eyes which makes him look more human, but tired looking. The expression on his face is menacing and angry, making the character seem like a villain - his dark hair is messy but full of volume making him seem slightly eccentric. His costume is very old looking reflecting the time where the film is set. He wears black showing darkness and sorrow, which is the general nature of the film. The actor name is also written in bold letters - as it is a popular actor it may encourage people to buy the magazine or see the film in which their favourite actor is starring in. Overall I think that this poster promotes the film quite well as even the background and colour scheme relates to the film, for example the use of red could signify blood hinting the gory nature of the film.

This is the cover for Scream 4, for the magazine entertainment weekly the cover is kept very simple - there is not much text, putting an increasing emphasis on the striking image. On the cover we see the mask worn by the killer in the 'Scream' movies, as the movies are very popular, people will know what the film the magazine is promoting as a person wearing the trademark mask.

The colour scheme is black, white and red, the character on the front has a ghostly white mask, and a black hooded cape - the black is symbolic of darkness and evil, white usually portray innocence but in this case it shows an eerie ghost like vibe that the character carries.

The deep red background has a sinister feel as the red could represent blood - hinting the gory nature of the scream films and the famous bloodthirsty killer that is present in all of the scream films. The masthead is in bold white font across the top of the page also remaining a main focus as the magazine name is of great importance also the word weekly is engraved into the letters of the masthead in black contrasting with the bold white font of the masthead making it stand out even more. The poster focuses mainly on the film as on the right side 'Scream returns' is in large bold font and and underneath is a list of the magazines content that relates to the movie being promoted, this includes interviews with the cast.

I have analysed these covers to help me with ideas when creating my final magazine cover. I think it is important to look at existing media products to look at typical conventions that are used to promote the genre of horror. I particularly like the symbolic colour schemes used on the magazines - I like how they are gloomy and mysterious and promote the genre through colours like red and black which symbolise danger and mystery, which portrays the nature of the film to viewers.