The only colours that are visible are the red which connotes blood and violence and this will suggest to the audience that the film will be of the slasher genre. The lighting is focused on the wolf mask which gives the idea that its concealing something behind it. In the film we know masks are used to conceal their identity so this is is teasing the audience and giving them the impression that the film is about the fear of the unknown.

‘His pack versus yours’ gives the audience the impression that there will be some sort of fight for survival between the people in masks and the people that will attack. From this we are unaware of the sub genre as it gives the impression that it could be slasher, but also could be house invasion or a genre along those lines. The word ‘pack’ is also giving the impression that the fight is going to be animal like, and will be significantly violent so is going to appeal to audiences who have an interest in gore/violence horror films. The audience will also get this impression from the blood on the mask.

It’s evident that the person is wearing a mask as we can see that the mask is made of plastic, and we can see the eyes through the eye holes. It looks like a mass produced mask that you could buy at Halloween time. Masks are a key aspect to slasher films and some examples would be Scream, Friday the 13th and Halloween. They all use masks to hide their identity and to conceal themselves from the victims.

The words ‘You’re Next’ is addressing the audience and therefore giving the audience more involvement in the film. The words also link into the slasher genre as it gives the impression that the film is going to include a body count of who dies next, and that it will include lots of violence and gore.

We can clearly identify a hand that is a yellow/pale shade which conveys to the audience that the hand is of a dead body and therefore gives the impression that this film will be of the slasher genre. The hand is holding a phone which from this we can tell the film is going to based on that, and will include some sort of house invasion or invasion of privacy. Within the phone screen we can see a woman who looks like she is in pain which gives connotations that this film will include violence.

The background of the poster is a solid black which is concealing and not giving away much to the audience. This gives the impression that in the film we are going to be shocked with lots of surprises and will include a mystery element of the fear of the unknown. It suggests that the film will happen at night time. This is a typical convention of horror films as the darkness conceals things and can hide away anything that doesn’t want to be seen.

The colour of the title of the film is red which connotes blood and violence and since we have already recognised the hand as being attached to a dead body, this fits in nicely and represents the slasher genre. The red also emphasises the danger and links in with the word ‘stranger’ as you’re taught to stay away from strangers as they are dangerous. So having the text in red just emphasises the danger of the situation.

We can clearly identify that the man is wearing a mask as we can see his eyes behind the eye holes and that it is artificially made (we can see it’s made of plastic). Masks are key to slasher horror films as they often are used to hide their identify and induce more fear out of their victims. The mask used in The Purge has a wide smile which could be seen as quite creepy, especially when violence is being committed. It’s quite effective how the head is positioned so only a small section of the eye is showing and is also staring directly into the camera and this will therefore influence more fear in the audience.

‘One night a year, all crime is legal’. This will influence fright and panic in the audience and the victims in the film as we are socialised into trusting the government to take care of us as a society through emergency services like the police and ambulance. So to have a film based on something we put our faith into completely crumble could be seen as terrifying to some people.

The background of this poster is hard to make out and therefore concealing what is behind him, putting direct focus on to the man in the mask. Concealing the background is a key element in horror film posters as 1) it draws more attention and focus to the villain figure who we’re supposed to fear and 2) it gives us an idea of the film genre and we can identify this as slasher. Having the background concealed makes the film seem like we’re going to fear the unknown and we’re not going to know what is going to happen. This in effect will make us feel like we’re feeling the victims panic and fear along with them.