Once we run out of superlatives, box-office projections and brilliant Raimi vs. von Trier quips, there's apparently nothing left to discuss about Drag Me to Hell except whether or not Alison Lohman is having an orgasm on the poster. Thankfully, on this sleepy Friday afternoon, someone got to the bottom of it.
That someone would be Patrick Goldstein, who acknowledges reading a little too much -- as in "1,095 words" too much -- into the Hell one-sheets plastered on a construction site near his home. But, he writes, the longer you stare and closer you study, the more apparent it is that Lohman's gaping mouth and bedhead of blond hair (not to mention her "clubbing" attire) imply something a little more ecstatic than you might see on a woman being clawed to an eternity in hell.
Let's just get this out of the way -- is Lohman's expression "orgasmic"? Thus provoked, Goldstein raises the issue with Universal's marketing boss, who seems amused. And only slightly defensive:
"We didn't set out to do that, to put a sexual look on her face," [Adam] Fogelson says. "But we did set out to find a look that wasn't simply one of a terrorized and tortured woman. So the look you responded to -- that orgasmic quality -- probably came from our wanting to suggest that even if this woman is being grabbed by a demon from the underworld, you could still have a good time watching the movie."
There you have it. Next thing you know IFC will be telling us that the Antichrist poster is supposed to be about a good time as well. Wait and see.
ยท Drag Me to Hell's poster: Is it really scary ... or really sexy? [The Big Picture]