Analysing Taglines for Horror Films

I have noticed that posters and trailers usually feature taglines, which indicate some aspect of the film's plot but also instantly indicate the genre the film belongs to. In this post I will be looking at many different taglines from different sub-genres of films from the horror genre. Once I have determined any consistent patterns I will list some of the frequently used techniques and will then apply them to create my own tagline for my poster and other promotional materials. 

Below is a list of taglines from horror film posters that I am going to look at so that I can gain a sense of anything specific within the taglines to show that they belong to the horror genre.

'The Haunted'

'Smile'

'Fright Night'

'The Forest'

'House'

'Rings'

'The Offering'

'A Nightmare on Elm Street'

'Hush'

'The Return'

'Final Destination'

'House Of Wax'

'Let Me In'

'Scream 4'

'The Ruins'

'From Beyond'

'The Lift'

'Red Riding Hood'

'Smiley'

'Candyman'

'Get Out'

'Orphan'

'Hereditary'

'Drag Me to Hell'

There are some common features that crop up in taglines for horror films, including:

• directly addressing the audience with 'you', 'your' or 'you're'
• the use of commands or imperatives
• the use of language associated with horror, such as 'evil', 'death', 'hell'
• warnings
• the concept of being trapped
• irony in words such as 'welcome'

I want to create a tagline that I can use across my marketing campaign, and which can be broken into two or three parts to use in my TV spot and teaser trailer.