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What’s up with all these “TORTURE” films? - Page 3

post #31 of 45
11/3/08 at 10:46am
As a fan of horror, and thusly a fan of some of the movies mentioned here, I don't think it's too complicated.

People watch horror movies for the emotional stimulation- to feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It's fun. But, you get used to it when you see the same thing over and over, hence the constant envelope pushing.

The psychological aspect of it doesn't bother me at all, though I am the exception to that rule.

I've never had a strong stomach when it comes to real life gore- even something as pedestrian as seeing someone get a shot with a big needle can make me queasy. I think I started watching horror when I was a kid with the thought that if I could up my tolerance for gore-ish stuff that way, I could handle it in real life better. That hasn't happened though- still hate most anything medically related.
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post #32 of 45
11/3/08 at 11:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian SD View Post
Might as well just extend that to American football, boxing and hockey. Contact sports ≠ torture.

I believe the accepted terms for these films is "carnography"

Well correct me if I am wrong, but the object of those sports is not to beat one's human opponent into unconsciousness or so badly that they "submit" to the alpha dog.
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post #33 of 45
11/3/08 at 11:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by milosz View Post
Part of me wants to ask how different these films are from slasher flicks of the '80s or drive-in fare of the '60s... (seems we get alternating decades, roughly, of decent horror - the Carpenter/Craven/Exorcist/Fog/Omen heyday of the '70s, the meta-horror of Scream in the '90s, with decades of godforsaken misery).

Another part of me watched the first Saw and the first Hostel and won't be doing it again. As noted, however, Americans ain't got shit on the rest of the world. I give you Ichii The Killer - I lasted 20 minutes.

The King comment works for 'normal' horror - the Poe/Lovecraft fear-dread-and-weirdness school. But when it comes to torture porn, I think people just like watching horrible, fucked-up things happen to others.


I think a key difference is that The Saw series imagines itself as a morality tale, which is laughable. These people "deserved" to be tortured for various reasons and poor dying Jigsaw is just teaching them a lesson about what's really valuable in life.

That's what I find so sick about it. I watched about twenty minutes of the first one and turned it off. I can see how these films appeal to sexually/financially frustrated young males, but that's about it. They're crap with little artistic value.
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post #34 of 45
11/3/08 at 12:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gnatty8 View Post
Well correct me if I am wrong, but the object of those sports is not to beat one's human opponent into unconsciousness or so badly that they "submit" to the alpha dog.

i am not usre on the hockey or american foot ball but porfrssional boxing definitely cold fit not he same category as the popular mma, if they honesly only went for points head gear would still be used as is by non professionals, but people like to see blood. plus the craze mma thing develops in large part form the vale tudo culture so it has been popular for longer than it seems.
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post #35 of 45
11/3/08 at 3:10pm
People have told me Borat is a hilarious film. I found a couple of things mildly amusing, but in general, and in particular the naked fight scene w/ his 'producer', it was quite torturous....
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post #36 of 45
11/3/08 at 4:00pm
Haneke's Funny Games (especially the USA remake) is still the only worthwhile film in the whole "let's pay money to see people getting tortured" genre (one can't really call it torture porn, as almost no violence is shown onscreen). 'Twas fun to watch with an audience who were expecting the next SAW or something like that. The whole film is basically an indictment towards the audience. "You want to see people getting debased and tortured, you deserve to feel like shit" seemed to be what Haneke is saying.

No wonder it was ignored by audiences everywhere.
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post #37 of 45
11/3/08 at 4:15pm
Boxing is complicated. There are two primary classes of 'great fight' - those that went the distance because of skill and defense and quick KOs. Ali/Foreman and Tyson in his prime.

You've got your Gatti/Ward slugfests, but by and large bloodshed is not what boxing fans (even casual ones) are looking for.
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post #38 of 45
11/3/08 at 4:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by King Francis View Post
I think the growing prevalence of these films is driven partly by the disconnection from basic physical reality felt by today's youth (and Generation X).

Lumping Generation X with today's youth? Seeing how gen-x was in their teens and early 20's back in the early 1990's when reality bites, singles, slacker, and the like came out... gen-x should be nearing middle-age now. I don't really think torture porn is aiming at this demographic.

btw.. what is the media given, blanket designation for today's youth anyway? I lost track after generation Y and don't ever recall a "Z".
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post #39 of 45
11/3/08 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenaimarr View Post
Lumping Generation X with today's youth? Seeing how gen-x was in their teens and early 20's back in the early 1990's when reality bites, singles, slacker, and the like came out... gen-x should be nearing middle-age now. I don't really think torture porn is aiming at this demographic.

btw.. what is the media given, blanket designation for today's youth anyway? I lost track after generation Y and don't ever recall a "Z".

I think it's "millenials"
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post #40 of 45
11/4/08 at 2:08pm
The willingness of just about every generation to convince itself that some aspects of the human condition it doesn't like are novel still hasn't ceased to amaze me...
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post #41 of 45
11/4/08 at 2:24pm
One of the only other films that pulls off the "torture" aspect besides the original Saw was Seven (or Se7en, I suppose).
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post #42 of 45
11/17/08 at 9:41pm
Yes, the Hostel movies definetely took the cake.
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post #43 of 45
11/19/08 at 5:46am
I throw these "torture" films into the psychological thriller genre. It's just that people can't write plots and shoot scenes that do the work, so they rely on simple visual stimuli instead. The problem with that crutch, is that you can really only fool us once, before having to up the anti to get the same effect. And it doesn't take long before you reach the absurdity limit. And then you have to start coming up with new angles to present the same gore crutch.

Same problem as the "plot twist" movies.

Flash over substance is always doomed to burn itself out. Meanwhile, the well written, acted and shot script will always be able to get to us without the crutches....even the old classics, sans gore.
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post #44 of 45
11/19/08 at 2:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sydneycentric View Post
Yes, the Hostel movies definetely took the cake.

If you're comparing to other well know, bigger budget movies, yes. If you're talking all encompassing, they are very mild.
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post #45 of 45
11/19/08 at 6:16pm
Saw and the other movies are really nothing new. They just upped it up a notch. The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre came out in the early 70s. For those that didn't see it in the theaters years ago, the chainsaw scene in Scarface was one of the most controversial scenes in film at the time. Both Texas Chainsaw and Scarface pale when compared to the Saws & Hostels. I recently saw Touristas a Hostel ripoff. It'll settle in a couple of years then 10 years later, torture films will be back.
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