Comments on: On “Torture Porn”

By: Moorhead

Moorhead — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 12:54:02 +0000

I work in post production and we frequently throw together short clip shows that have ‘porn’ affixed to the end. For instance, if we need a clip show of incredible weather footage of stuff getting ripped apart, we call it ‘weather porn’.

‘Pornography’ can be defined as ‘lurid or sensational material’, which this ‘weather porn’ most definitely is. There’s no editorial and no point of view, just ‘Whoa, look at that house getting ripped apart!’ Sure, it’s slang to a certain extent, but it works.

And I think it works here, too. Hostel, Captivity, etc. IS torture porn. The whole point of these movies is to push the envelope, to see how far they can take things on screen. The stories these scenes of torture are built on are way too flimsy to suggest that any of this was put together for any reason OTHER than to gross out and be intense. It’s lurid and sensational.

It’s torture porn.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:27:41 +0000

Hey, Craig. Thanks for popping by.

My viewing habits are almost entirely centred around “lurid and sensational material”, so I can get behind that. However, I’d argue that at least one of the movies you’ve mentioned above, Hostel, isn’t simply trying to push the envelope and does has a much stronger story than you suggest. So strong in fact that it was my favourite horror film of 2006. So, that being the case, is it no longer considered “torture porn”?

By: Cinebeats

Cinebeats — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 21:27:42 +0000

I’m so damn tired of that idiotic term. I wish it would go away forever. It’s more than useless and and was clearly invented by a critic who knowns nothing about horror films.

It was first used as a derogatory term but horror fans now use it and I do find it insulting to some degree.

There is nothing new in any of the so-called “torture porn” films that we haven’t seen in horror movies for the past 30-35 years so why the new label?

Gorno is a bit better but I still think it’s pretty pointless as well.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 21:30:32 +0000

Gorno is pointless but it makes me laugh. I think it’s because it reminds me of Gonzo.

By: Louis Fowler

Louis Fowler — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:51:24 +0000

Well, to be fair, I do use the HOSTEL films as masturbatory fodder.

By: Logan

Logan — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:38:31 +0000

I think Torture Porn is as gratuitous a term as the genre it was coined to vilify.
It exists to get uptight people concerned about nothing (as usual). I found this blog b/c I have been searching for a movie that was released I believe in 2004 or 2005, and was only theatrically released for like a day. roger Ebert panned it as the “most gratuitous waste of film ever made…” or some such crap. It was about 2 girls who go to an outdoor rave and descends into what the director claimed is the “goriest American horror film ever.” I like gore, I want to see it. I can’t remember the name for the life of me. Do you know it? Have you seen it?

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:50:41 +0000

I have not seen it, but I think the movie you’re looking for may be “Chaos”. I did watch the DVD extra where the director visits the morgue. It was fantastic.

By: Movie Clerks » Eli Roth is No Fan of (Some) Film Critics

Movie Clerks » Eli Roth is No Fan of (Some) Film Critics — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:38:17 +0000

[…] it just me, or is arguing about ‘torture porn’ sooo 2006? But, it’s not like horror director Eli Roth has ever been one to back away from a […]

By: Hoopla - Entertainment Blog » Blog Archive » Eli Roth is No Fan of (Some) Film Critics

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:17:26 +0000

[…] it just me, or is arguing about ‘torture porn’ sooo 2006? But, it’s not like horror director Eli Roth has ever been one to back away from a […]

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