Thuy - Textual Analysis of Fangoria Magazine Cover

This is one of the front cover’s of Fangoria magazine, which is a U.S based horror movie magazine. On the front cover is the image of a man who is part of the cast of 28 weeks later. Those who are familiar with the film would know that he has been infected with the ‘rage’ virus hence the pun in the bottom right corner of the page – ‘it’s all the rage again!’
The man in the photo has been ‘bitten’ by another person who had the rage virus and has therefore transformed into one of the living dead. He is covered in blood, and is wearing red eye contacts to make it look like his eyes have been filled with blood, also his veins have been made to look like they are bulging from his face as you can see dark lines running through his cheeks. The NVC used here is effective because the man has his mouth open, connoting the fact that he is screaming even though we as the audience can’t hear him. However throughout the years a certain ‘zombie stereotype’ has been formed and therefore most people can instantly tell that this man on the front cover is now a zombie of some type.

The angle in which this photograph was taken has the man with his head facing the right. This is to enable the readers to see his side profile clearly without fully blocking out his entire face. The blood on his ear for example may want to be seen by those taking the picture to get the image of the film across in detail. It is also a medium close up of his face and shoulders. This level of proximity shows us the reader small details in his face which have purposely been put there.

The tone of this magazine is quite amusing in that it plays with words, and is quite colourful for a horror movie magazine. However this is effective because it makes the film seem less scary and more like something people can enjoy rather then something in the real world. It is also playful in the fact that on the left hand side, the cover stories have been placed on a film reel, and if you read each line under the cover stories they are genuinely jokes. Such as ‘Wind chill – death served cold’. The name of the film – 28 weeks later, is a sequel to 28 days later, and the symbolic hazordous symbol with the name of the film in it is quite big and made to stand out. The symbol has been outlined with white that looks like its glowing almost, to make it stand out. Also the entire symbol has been made to look like it has been worn down or scratched almost.