Hostel and "torture porn"

[constintina]

So I finally watched Hostel and I liked it pretty well. Actually watching the thing felt kind of redundant, I already knew what little plot there was, the basic perimeters of Eli Roth’s anti-US imperialist exploration (or “message”, perhaps), even the best jokes. Still, there was creative gore. I loled, it was funny. I’m not sure the tone switch

Comments

The New Torture Porn...

[hunterxtc]

I've really enjoyed the new era of torture porn films... I guess I would consider stuff like House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects to be on an even higher level than Hostel. I liked Hostel, probably more for the theme of dumbasses going to a remote European place thinking they are going to get laid because they are such losers they can't get in in their native land... and then they get killed... Hostel is more in the tradition of the Saw films (do you like them?) to me, with perhaps a little less plot.

I would not enjoy gory film violence in the context of a real-world torture situations--the “torture” on display in Hostel has little to do with Torture as inflicted IRL by our own government and others, equating the two beyond allegory and deliberate political provocation is bizarre.Great point. A while ago, there was a film called Salvador with James Woods in it... and that film was almost impossible for me to watch because of the real world violence associated with it... same with the film The Killing Fields. But films

Re: The New Torture Porn...

[constintina]

I find them to be escapist, too. I think they work less well as escapism for some people, perhaps if they identify more with the "protagonists" or are unsettled by the criticism of US assholism...

I haven't seen the Rob Zombie movies (I'm so behind!) but keep hearing good things from fans of gore, so they're definitely on my list...in fact, I should netflix 'em right now!

I've only seen the first Saw movie and I enjoyed it, but I thought it was kind of...stupid. I think Hostel is a smarter, (intentionally) funnier, more spirited film. I don't get all the hype about how "no, for real, Saw is so intelligent." WTF? I want to see the sequals, though. I heard they're gorier. In all honesty, I though the first one was a real let down in the gore dept.

I will watch "real world" violent movies, if I'm given reason to believe that they're worth it as art...but I often put them off for a looonnnggg time, sometimes indefinitely. For instance, I've never seen Salvador,/i> OR The Killing Fields

I kind of liked Cabin Fever!

Re: The New Torture Porn...

[hunterxtc]

I want to see the sequals, though. I heard they're gorier.

Saw 2 was a real let down to me... but Saw 3 is great, especially for gore!!! And the best part is the people who deserve a gory demise get it (in very creative ways!)...

Re: The New Torture Porn...

[constintina]

you liked the first one I take it?

[mistersmearcase]

I'm reading this and wondering if my brief violence rant of a few days ago was a defensive reaction, i.e. I get pissed off and dismiss it all because secretly it makes me feel like a big pansy that I'm just too scared to watch it.

[constintina]

Dude, different strokes...and if that is the case, at least you're man enough to admit it!

I'm scared to pick up the phone when it's a number I don't recognize. We're all wusses in our own ways.

I don't really feel very tough because I can "take" watching a piece of rubber explode with ketchup, you know? Unfortunately, I think some gorehounds do! Which is a. pathetic and b. a longer discussion...

[sabotabby]

I often wonder if I should feel guilty for enjoying super-violent movies. I'm not sure what is considered torture-porn and what isn't, but Passion of the Christ, for example, struck me as much more gratuitously violent-much more *aroused* by its own violence, than Hostel. And it's often a thin line between violence I find cathartic and violence I find abhorrent.

[constintina]

I know people interact with fake violence in all different ways, so there's limited utility to using myself as a test case. BUT...I don't feel at all guilty for enjoying some super-violent movies. I don't really see it as having anything to do with an enjoyment of real-world violence, so I don't see what the problem is.

I might feel guilty for paying to see a gory movie that politically offends me, but that's another matter.

Real violence upsets and traumatizes me. I'm a fucking a vegan for christ's sake, and not the kind who loves animals but hates people. Gory footage on the internet...if it's real, I don't ever want to see it.

A big componant in my enjoment of Hostel et al is less the violence than the gore. My interest in gore comes from a kind of curiosity that I don't really see as being rooted in any desire to see pain or death. For example, I used to watch this show on The Learning Channel called "The Operation". It was hard to watch, but fascinating! That was real, but it wasn't violence or destruction, it was

[alsoname]

You can probably get TPOTC from the library. That is how I was able to see it without feeling bad about giving money to ol' Mel. I recommend it; it is the first gory movie I saw that actually did strike me as pornographic. (Then again, I haven't seen a lot of gory movies, though I do like zombie movies so there's some overlap.)

[constintina]

Is it boring, though?