Sorority Row Poster Deconstruction

The top three quarters of the poster for Sorority Row is built is triangle. The background depicts a large house on fire, the dark point roof of it creating the top point of the triangle. It is almost as if the building is being held up by the pile of figures dominating the centre of the poster; this inkling is confirmed with the title of ‘Sorority Row’, it is the girls that make the Sorority, not the house.

The figures are shrouded in a bright light that makes them all appear quite similar. There is little clothing; the light leaves the girls looking very alike, taking away defining features such as hair and skin colour, even their makeup appears to be the same. Despite this, each is clearly conventionally attractive and feminine. The use of makeup, the apt amount of skin on display and presence of long hair on all of the girls mean that they are going to most likely conform to general stereotypes of young women in sororities. Interestingly, two of the characters appear to be wearing the same bracelet, one is holding the others arm; this could suggest a more complex relationship or bond between them than the others.

The expressions on the faces of the characters are very alike. There is a united sense of worry and anxiety, their positioning suggests something along the line of comforting one another and sisterhood. Their closeness implies a shared connection gain through some horrific event as suggested by the background.

The bottom quarter of the poster features the tag line title and credits. It does not however feature the names of actors in the film, this is common among horror movie trailers as famous star are rarely used. Well known people distract from the storyline and make the actual horror less credible. This also does not isolate one main character among the girls, suggesting that they all play a similar sized part.

‘Sisters for life... and death’, gives new meaning to the classic phrase. The audience knows from this tag line that some, if not all of these women are going to be killed in the subverted theme of the Sorority. Before the disruption they lived as close friends, as sisters, and now they will die in the same away, they will die together.

The typography used to create the title includes a Latin character to enforce the word Sorority, making reference to the lettering and names of actual sororities. The text has been distressed and a similar red line has been drawn underneath it. The same red is used on the makeshift weapon within the title; this gives the audience an idea into the slasher genre of the film and of the murder weapon.

-Meg