Nekromania 2018

Curator: Here we have Robert Sammelin's 2018 poster design entitled, "Nekromania". It’s a visually arresting piece, drawing on the aesthetics of pulp horror film posters. What’s your immediate take? Editor: It screams exploitation! The lurid colors, the overt sexuality juxtaposed with death…it’s all incredibly visceral, and, frankly, designed to provoke. There’s an unease that seeps right through. Curator: Indeed. This work directly references exploitation cinema, particularly horror of the 1970s. Consider the films it’s imitating; they often skirted the edges of censorship and societal taboos, reflecting a broader cultural anxiety. Editor: And they were marketed just as brazenly! This poster pulls no punches in its use of suggestive imagery, hinting at themes of necrophilia, domination, and forbidden desire. The film's tagline itself frames "death" as a drug, blurring pleasure and pain. What do you make of that positioning? Curator: The positioning is consistent with a specific marketing approach, yes. I see it in relation to wider cinematic trends, too. There’s a historical precedent: drive-in theaters, for example, fostered the growth of a subculture keen on these transgressive representations. But one thing is evident; posters were paramount. Editor: Absolutely. But aren't they still, in today’s streaming dominated visual world? Even now, the " Nekromania" poster’s shocking aesthetic forces us to confront uncomfortable realities about desire, exploitation, and the lengths to which capitalism will go to sell us, ultimately, a fantasy of rebellion. Curator: Perhaps, though I also consider how those themes function within particular historical moments and communities of reception. The shock value has diminished across cultural currents, certainly. Editor: True, we’re perhaps desensitized now, but still. The poster acts as a relic of that cultural history and I’m really reminded how provocative and potentially damaging the visuals were and continue to be. Curator: I appreciate your contextual lens, it’s incredibly beneficial for interpreting pieces like this! Editor: Thanks, it's fascinating to think about how an image can hold so many loaded messages about ourselves as an audience.