The term, Torture Porn, is one that is mostly used by those that are not fans of the genre. Or at least they aren't fans of the kind of up-close violence that movies like the Saw films, Hostel, Wolf Creek, Captivity and certain others are infamous for. Savvy fans of the genre decry the title, saying that it isn't descriptive of the the attraction at all. Because no one is actually sexually aroused by these movies. Are they?
I don't know. I would be surprised, in this day and age, if there weren't a few unfortunate individuals that do get erotic kicks out of scenes of torture in movies.
It makes me wonder how far it will all go.
Don't worry, I'm not going to go all Roger Ebert or Harlan Ellison on you and claim that these movies signify the end of human culture. Not quite.
The last film I sat down and watched was called Eden Lake. It's one of the Dimension Extreme titles and the movie has graphic depictions of violence and sadism that could turn almost anyone's stomach. Yet Eden Lake is a very well made movie. I think it made some pretty valid statements about the effect certain parents and society have on children. It's mean-spirited, ugly and deeply unsettling. For those that care for this sort of thing, I recommend it.
Where did it all start? Audiences were shocked at the brutality in the torture scene in Reservoir Dogs, but most of them hadn't seen Bloodsucking Freaks. Or even Last House on the Left. Not to mention harrowing Italian films like House on the Edge of the Park or those cannibal movies that seem so real.
Horror fiction fans had read The Girl Next Door long before this current trend surfaced.
When I was a young man, the older generation derided us for watching trash like the Friday the 13th and Halloween movies. Them and all of their offspring. That was a big part of the fun. These movies pissed off the older generation. I laughed my head off at Siskel and Ebert's show denouncing slasher movies. While I still liked the guys, I felt that they were out of touch. Same with Ellison, in one of his An Edge in My Voice essays, where he accused those that liked slasher films of being insane. Hell, that was no news. We knew we were crazy.
But as generations passed, it was no longer shocking or satisfying to see a throat slit or garroted. A simple decapitation wasn't enough. It had to be slow and as agonizing as possible for the victim. The ironic thing is, for the most part, these so-called Torture Porn films are better made than the average slasher movie of the early 80's. Few can touch a masterpiece like John Carpenter's Halloween, but most of them are technically sound productions.
And I like some of them. People hate me for it, but I love the Hostel movies. I like Alexandre Aja a lot, despite the mediocre Mirrors. Wolf Creek was decent and Eden Lake is damned good. The Saw series leaves me flat and cold. I quit watching them after the third one.
It's one thing for underground sickos to watch atrocities like the Guinea Pig movies, but this stuff is coming to the multiplexes. Where will it end? Dremel Tools slowly going into genitals? Babies fed into meatgrinders and made into sausage?
