I see a lot of hate for "tortue porn" in horror movies these days. I don't have a problem with it, except that the movies those types of scenes are in tend to stink to high Heaven. (Hmm ... just like real porno movies. All you want to do is fast forward to the "money" scenes.)
Let's take everyone's current whipping boy, I Know Who Killed Me. The movie sucks (but it's funny as hell if you're in the right mood). However, the tortue scenes really are horrifying. Having your hand frozen between blocks of dry ice, then having it - and your leg - hacked off with instruments made of freaking glass would really suck. That's what horror scenes are supposed to do, imho, make you squirm in your seat as you imagine it happening to you.
Anyway, what are your thoughts on "torture porn"?
Wanna see torture porn? Find a copy of HARDGORE.(197?)..an old renamed porno about Devil worshipping in a funny farm-with satanic orgyies,lotsa blood...and some of the most peter shrinking hardcore sex ever commited to film. I hadda copy once...bought it through Alpha Blue by way of an ad in Psychotronic magazine...ugh. I gave it away. UGH!!!
As for junk like HOSTEL and it's ilk....bleh. Not my cup 'o' tea. If I want torture....I'd still be with my first wife.
Like anything else, "torture porn" is a movie-making fad that will eventually fade away (just like the teen slasher flicks of the late 1970s and 1980s). I have no problem with gore of any type or magnitude, up to, and including torture porn. You'll never see me protesting it or saying certain movies should be banned. Hell, no! In fact, like many other people, I have sort of a sick curiosity about it (I'm so ashamed . . . ) A few months ago, I posted a message about SAW III (unrated version) in which I stated I thought it had really pushed the limits of the genre. Several contributors to this forum replied that they didn't think it was worse than any of the other torture porn movies. So, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood or frame of mind when I watched it. Perhaps I over-reacted. In any event, I'm getting tired of these movies anyway and I hope they start to fade away. I wonder what the next trend in gore will be? Necrophilia, maybe? Along those lines, I think NEKROMANTIK is one of the most unsettling movies I have ever seen. If some of the gore effects had been better, it would have been nearly unwatchable.
I actually hadn't heard these movies described with that term until I found this board. Some of the genre is truly awful, others are quite good. I liked the first couple of SAW movies, although it is now suffering from Friday the 13th Syndrome (over-sequelization). I enjoyed HOSTEL well enough, haven't seen the sequel though. Haven't watched many others of these.
Quote from: RCMerchant on March 16, 2008, 08:00:57 AMIf I want torture....I'd still be with my first wife.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :bouncegiggle:
Give me good ole Vincent Price as Dr. Phibes or in THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM anyday over all of this modern day stuff.
Quote from: JaseSF on March 17, 2008, 01:19:44 PM
Give me good ole Vincent Price as Dr. Phibes or in THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM anyday over all of this modern day stuff.
I agree! Vinnie was...eh...PRICELESS! :thumbup:
...or Bela in the RAVEN (1934) "YES! I LIKE to tor-ture! HAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!"
I don't have a 'problem' with it per se, as long as there's a story behind it, to a degree. For example, Cabin Fever, I felt was well done and had a decent enough story behind it, with a good cast.
Saw had a somewhat interesting concept behind it, and with Tobin Bell, a charismatic actor to carry the films.
Hostel I have zero interest in.
I liked "Cabin Fever" too, especially that cop. "You know any chicks, that like to party?" "Huh? Party?"
For torture Porn, check out "Slap Happy 3"...
I find the majority of this whole torture porn type stuff to be laughable and not scary in the least.
Some of the movies that have really unnerved and/or scared me over the years have actually not been all that graphic.
Guys, it's a trend :lookingup: , like most "horror phases". People say it's a juvenile excuse for horror, but one day torture porn will have a fanbase similar to the giant monster fanbase or old-school slasher fanbases here. :tongueout:
Like slasher movies there are the good examples and the bad ones, and the original is usually considered the best. The Saw series started strong but is getting convoluted now, similar to how the Halloween series got over the years :lookingup: . One day Saw will have a remake pathetically trying to mirror the original, making it "retro" and "hardcore".
I personally can't stand them, I have never seen one that has frightened me or even made me want to finish.
Recently I attended an awesome horror movie convintion in indy, I am the kinda guy that is completely desencetized, so I really look forward to the movie boothes. Everyone I attend I ask around for the most gorrey disturbing movie they have, and I always walk out with a terrible "torture porn" movie. Like recently MURDER-SET-PEICES, omg its terrible, I mean the woman are beautiful but the movie just plane bad.
So really Im sick of this retarded genre, and Anyone have any suggestions of crazy gore,(I love cheesy gore like toxic avengers, redneck zombies, class of 1999). Let me know
Quote from: WesFresh14 on March 23, 2008, 09:58:39 PM
I personally can't stand them, I have never seen one that has frightened me or even made me want to finish.
Recently I attended an awesome horror movie convintion in indy, I am the kinda guy that is completely desencetized, so I really look forward to the movie boothes. Everyone I attend I ask around for the most gorrey disturbing movie they have, and I always walk out with a terrible "torture porn" movie. Like recently MURDER-SET-PEICES, omg its terrible, I mean the woman are beautiful but the movie just plane bad.
So really Im sick of this retarded genre, and Anyone have any suggestions of crazy gore,(I love cheesy gore like toxic avengers, redneck zombies, class of 1999). Let me know
Here's an idea, what if someone combined the two; torture porn with really cheesy effects? Take for example if the reverse bear-trap in Saw actually worked, snapped the head clean off and flung it ricocheting around the room! :bouncegiggle:
That wouldnt be to bad, If it was competely off the wall bloody like Ichi the killer, actually I would consider Ichi the killer already combining the 2 genres
I really don't care for it, especially s**t like Hostel, House of a Thousand Corpses, Funny Games, and the newer two Texas Chainsaw Massacre films and whatnot, cause to me, the ONLY real reason to watch is the hope that somehow the victims will get free, turn the tables, and the villains will get their comeuppance. and to me. that's not really enough of a reason.
By contrast, you get a film like Hills Have Eyes (never one, been too long since I've seen the older one, so I can't recall most of it) you have bads guys who do bad stuff to innocent, but the family has the chance and ability to fight back, using both brains and justified brutality. It's not just, "Oh, let's sit around and watch someone get beaten on for awhile..."
First off, I think the term "torture porn" is retarded. Its a trendy press catchword dreamed up by a bunch of media critics that have little to no actual understanding or appreciation for the genre.
Am I tired of torture films right now? Yes, because they're overexposed and overdone at the moment. I have nothing against the subgenre in and off its self. I basically see it as a ramped up modern verison of the slasher genre, especially the Saw films, though that franchise needs to be retired for a few years. I thought "Hostel" was lame but enjoyed "Cabin Fever," "Wolf Creek," and all of Rob Zombie and Alexandre Aja's films thus far. (though they have more in common with old school exploitation and eighties slashers then the current trend.) The Chainsaw Massacre remake was terrible but for reasons that had nothing to due with their level or intensity of gore.
And I liked "I Know Who Killed Me." It was defnately a homage to Italian horror films more then anything else. Stylish direction and squirmy gore scenes took precedence over story or acting. I think the negative response has more to due with Lohan's overexposure then anything.
Probably a bad idea to bring it up, but I quite liked the TCM remake.
I should start ducking the huge boulders that will inevitably be chucked at my head now.
Quote from: Bonehead-XL on March 25, 2008, 08:57:47 PM
First off, I think the term "torture porn" is retarded. Its a trendy press catchword dreamed up by a bunch of media critics that have little to no actual understanding or appreciation for the genre.
Karma! I agree.
Anyways, I'm not drawn to any of these films in particular. I've seen parts of the
Hostel films (they didn't seem terrible, but they weren't that interesting either), and I hated
Saw and could care less about its sequels.
BTM mentioned
Funny Games but that movie doesn't really qualify as it breaks a lot of rules of these sorts of films, plus it isn't very graphic. It's uncomfortable as hell, though. I'd recommend watching it if one is curious, but I don't think it's as insightful as it's intended.
Those sort of films don't interest me at all. However, I really liked the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. It had a believable story, excellent acting and the character arc that the main girl went through was awesome. I've never heard it lumped into the "torture porn" category though. About the only movie I've seen that I would put in that category is Touristas, and the only redeeming quality that had was that it was vaguely amusing watching these idiots get what's coming to them after their multiple acts of wanton stupidity. Like, you're not in Fort Lauderdale any more you morons. :teddy:
Quote from: HappyGilmore on March 25, 2008, 09:20:39 PM
Probably a bad idea to bring it up, but I quite liked the TCM remake.
I should start ducking the huge boulders that will inevitably be chucked at my head now.
I liked it, too. Better than the original, which I think kind of sucks. The original's all right until the other kids get kacked and they catch the girl, then it's just some people sitting at a dinner table yelling and screaming for an intolerably long time.
I think the term's only retarded when it's used for anything with gore, rather than to differentiate a movie with torture in it from a movie with nothing but torture in it (with just the same minimal plot and characterization that one might expect in porn). I love terms that differentiate things from other things, LOVE THEM!
I think I had a guy who posts here and has a blog half convinced to make his own movie called "Torture Porn". If he does it, he has to give me credit for the idea.