Fangoria Magazine Cover Analysis

Fangoria

Fangoria is a film magazine that focuses on the horror genre. It originated in the US, but is also distributed internationally. When looking at the magazine and comparing it with others it looks like it would appeal to males around the age of 16-19. This film magazine looks quite immature; the images do not contain any seriousness within them. The title is in bold, red letters; red is usually associated with blood, therefore it is the perfect colour for this magazine as it focuses on films within the horror genre.

The image displays a half eaten woman; the image doesn’t suggest whether she is the victim or the protagonist. The images seem to be the main selling point upon this magazine cover, this also demonstrates that this magazine is aimed at males that would prefer to look at images rather than read big lumps of text.

One of the selling lines says that the magazine features monsters, aliens and other bizarre creatures, this selling line does not use full sentences, and instead it uses individual words as this is what would appeal to their target audience.

The font used for the title of the magazine and the other titles and selling lines is not basic, it involves capital letters and also some of the letters in the title are displayed differently, this suggests that this is not your normal film magazine.

The magazine cover also is not over crowded with words or images, the space is used well and the images are not obstructed by writing. Also, the majority of the images look like they have been taken in isolated locations; this is a trait within the horror genre.

The colours focus around yellow, red and black; these colours work well to set the scene for a magazine that focuses on the horror genre.

The title of the magazine is just the words ‘fan’ and ‘gore’ together, the title, as well as the images, also tell the viewer that the magazine contains images are for fans of gory horrors overloaded with latex effects.

The magazine was published in the 80’s, therefore it would feature films such as Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead and Basket Case; these are films that were popular in the 80s, but now we would look at them and think that they are unrealistic and cheesy.

One of the selling lines sells Dick Smith, an Oscar-winning Special FX master; the magazines also feature Rick Baker, another special FX master that worked on the special FX in American Werewolf. Using well-known masters in these trades will entice gory horror fans to purchase the magazine.