Palen defends his work in two ways: in terms of context and execution. The poster of a naked Phillips holding her severed head in her hands, he says, "is completely inappropriate to be on a billboard on the street or even in the lobby of our offices." But he says it is suitable for theaters in foreign markets — where people are far less concerned about sexual images — and for hard-core horror fans.

"It's for the boys in the backpacks at these comic conventions, waiting in line for hours to get the posters signed," says Palen.

Palen insists his images are considerably different from the ones that appeared on billboards for "Captivity," whose graphic portrayal of the kidnapping and torture of a woman caused such a furor that they were quickly taken down earlier this year. (The movie, made by After Dark Films, is distributed by Lionsgate, but the company claims it never saw or approved the advertising materials.) Palen says those images were "vulgar" because of the way they were designed and photographed.

But what about his severed-head poster? Why isn't it vulgar too? "There's a way for Bijou to hold her head in her hand and do it elegantly instead of gratuitously," he says. "It's the flourish and technique brought to it that makes all the difference."

We find it hard to disagree; Palen's haunting images are so aesthetically superior to the heavy-handed Captivity snuff work that if he decided to silkscreen one of his creations onto a promotional condom rolled over the biggest building on the Sunset Strip, there would be no outrage about a crass stunt, only profound appreciation of the flourish and technique that went into his loving rendering of Eli Roth's bloated, veiny junk.

• 'Hostel' ads test the squirm factor [LAT]
• Previously: The Uncut Eli Roth [Defamer]

• NSFW: Eli Roth Has His Dirk Diggler Moment [Vulture]