Analysis of the film poster for 'Alien' (1979)

‘Alien’ is a 1979 horror/science fiction film about a crew member of a space merchant vessel who is attacked by a mysterious life form which emerges later on to hunt down the rest of the crew one by one.

The target audience for this film would be an older demographic due to the scary nature of the film which makes it unsuitable for children. Therefore this poster has to make it clear what genre this film is and has to attract the target audience of teenagers and adults who enjoy a good scare. In my opinion, the film poster for ‘Alien’ does this very well.

Firstly, the poster for this film includes the iconic tagline, ‘in space no one can hear you scream.’ This chilling sentence automatically establishes the terrifying tone and genre of the film -  full of fear and death -  and creates a lot of suspense, making the audience eager to watch the film.

The predominant colours in the poster are green and black which are very effective.

Green lighting and mist is coming out of the huge egg and since green has connotations of the supernatural and the sickening, this makes the audience wonder what is inside the egg, as well as clearly portraying this as a horror film.

The rest of the poster is black which signifies evil, death, mystery, etc.

Thus the colour scheme emphasises the fact that this is a horror film, therefore ensuring that the poster captures the attention of the desired audience.

The font for the film’s title on the poster is effective as the extremely spread out letters give a sense of isolation which will add to the scariness of the film. It makes one feel very uneasy. Furthermore, the very large font places the main focus on the title, which sums up the film in one word - Alien.

The giant, floating egg is a perfect image as it has connotations of the supernatural and mystery, setting the tone of the film.

Underneath the egg seems to be a net. This could symbolise a trap, out of which there is no escape.  

The main focus of the poster is on the title and the tagline, with the names of the directors, producers etc in smaller letters to show that this information is not as important or exciting. If this was any larger then it would distract from the rest of the poster, making it less scary.

Overall this poster is very simplistic and does not give much away. In my opinion this is what makes it so brilliant as it only hints at the horror which will unfold in this film, leaving the audience guessing and wanting to know more - by watching the film!

Often film posters are too elaborate and in your face, but the minimalistic style of this one sets it apart, making it all the more memorable and iconic. The audience are encouraged to focus more on the terrifying image of the green egg, and the chilling connotations of the tagline.