Kiss of the vampire

Kiss of the vampire film poster (1963): The image is portraying a very dark, evil and scary vision to the audience. The picture has a black, cloudy and wasteland background which could refer to a vampires habitat and scary convention. The blood dripping from the letter V could also signify the sharp tooth of a vampire that viciously attacks humans for blood. The caption having wooden styled font could be a direct reference to what is needed to kill a vampire (a wooden stake). The vampire, supernatural (monster movie) theme was also popular in the 1960s period as the audience had seen other early successful monster movies such as Dracula, The Mummy, and Frankenstein. Also in 1960 most posters had the traditional 'female victim' as it was still a partially patriachal period of time. The title also contrasts the vampire theme as vampires don't kiss they violently bite and kill all humans that come in to contact with them. The females clothing being dresses and heels could also represent the traditional feminine, glamourous image that is expected and described for women as it revels their skin, curves and attractive features. Films often reflect societal concerns, this film reflects the males concerns that the role of women was changing significantly and could be a threat to the male dominated world and leaders. Futhermore binary opposities such as the colour red, black and white contrast each other as red is associated with blood, death and pain but also love and romance because they use lustful imagery to capture their victims. Black is associated with the dark of night and a doomed setting as oppose to white which is associated with purity and innocence. Referring to the helpless innocent female and dark, evil predator (the vampire). Another binary opposite could be the light weighted and brighter (white) coloured clothes that the females wear and the dark heavy clothing the vampire (male) wears. Which could link to the vampires clothing being smartly dressed which was an attraction that helped him lure his victims in, seeming like that perfect gentleman. Furthermore, gesture codes that were seen present in this poster was the female vampire holding up one hand representing a defensive fight and power which could suggest she is on a superior level, which is seen as a masculine thing. Could it be the reason for the bat attacking her?. The female victim having tradional attributes such as blonde hair linking to the 'dumb blonde' refers to her being helpless and perhaps silly for being lured into the vampires trap. In contrast to the other female that is conforming to the feminine clothing and glamour, she has dark hair alongside the male vampire which shows dominance.