Horror Magazine Front Cover Analysis

The horror magazine front cover I am analysing is taken from the magazine "Empire" a british film magazine also the top selling film magazine in britain, outselling its competitors such as "Total Film" or "Film" as on their magazine cover. Empire is a monthly subscription magazine which is mostly consumed by its subscribers.

In terms of the magazine's main image a close up of the model taken from the movie "Hannible" is used, in a sepia effect to show its like an old fashioned photo from this we get that the film itself has a history in the horror film industry, also we see photo enhancements done to make the models eye red which is a very emotionally intense color, is usually associated with rage, anger, will power and wrath. The colour connotation of red is also a universal sign of danger and warning. The eye in the photo is also made to be looking directly at the the reader, with also a facial expression of a slight smile making the reader feel unerved. Also the models face is only half shown as the other half is covered by shadow giving the apperance that he is lurking behind something watching someone.

The colour red is used for the masthead to keep in with the magazine's current color scheme along with the taglines and bullet points on the cover to keep the cover simple and together as to not confuse the readers eye. The main tagline on the cover reads "What's Cooking?" as if to say the model on the cover is asking the reader that very question but is placed on the left hand side of the cover as to not interfere with the image. those who are familiar with the films past will understand the question and find it intresting for it to be used in the magazine therefore raising intrest in the aricle inside the magazine. the qoute is written in a Serrif font to allow it to stand out from the rest of the taglines on the cover as they are written in a Sans Serrif font which tels me it is meant to reflect the voice of the character which is serious and itellectual as the character is also around the age of 50.

the bullet points put at he bottom left side of the cover is placed there in order to entice the buyer more in to purchasing the magazine as the pun on top of them reads "Gore blimey" in order to show the huomer that will be included and the bullets points read "the most shocking scenes ever", "Are you a Pscho?" these are placed there to have the buyer intrigues as to what will be included in the article, the rhetorical question used is to have the reader wanting to know the answer to the question creating a "buzz" on the contents of the magazine. Also the use of the informal language such as the "heads up Empire's Bloody vaentine speacial" this informa the reader that this particular magazine issue is focused on horror movies.