Do some horror movies take torture and gore too far?

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Do some horror films go too far with the torture/gore?

  • Yes - they need to take it down a notch.

    Votes: 4 66.7%
  • No - they're fine the way they are.

    Votes: 2 33.3%

  • Total voters
    6

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Here's the link to the discussion:

https://www.girlsaskguys.com/social-relationships/q674830-am-only-one-who-feels-horror-movies-are

I'm wondering what you guys think about films that involve horror and torture.  Personally, I'm a big fan of horror movies.  And there has to be a certain level of gore in order to add realism.

However I do agree that some horror movies - such as 'Saw' and 'Hostel' do go a bit far.  It's not so much the presence of torture and gore - more the fact that the characters aren't that interesting, and that their only purpose in these films is to be tortured and murdered in horrible ways.

I do NOT however agree with this person's suggestion of 'banning' these movies.  Each to their own is what I say.  In a way these films serve as an outlet - it's better than actually going out and doing the torturing and the killing.  This person is effectively judging those who enjoy these films.

A penny for your thoughts?
 
I do like the Alien serious of films which didn't need buckets of blood to be entertaining/scary -there was the chest bursting scene of course but it wasn't gratuitous -just part of the lifecycle of yer average body invading xenomorph! I didn't go much on alien resurrection as that had gross parts which didn't do anything for the film ie the alien/human hybrid getting sucked out of the ship. When it comes to slasher type movies the gore is over the top but that's the genre and as its expected its not really scary- not my cuppa tea.
 
Last one I saw was this horror about people sewn together faces to backside like a centerpede  when I was half cut that's it no horror for me again🤭.

Oh god just googled it feel sick again🤢
 
Joturbo said:
Last one I saw was this horror about people sewn together faces to backside like a centerpede  when I was half cut that's it no horror for me again🤭.

Oh god just googled it feel sick again🤢

That was called Human Centipede.  OMG  soooooo grossss!!!!!!!!



I am huge horror movie fan,  but that one took it toooooo far!
 
Danielle said:
Joturbo said:
Last one I saw was this horror about people sewn together faces to backside like a centerpede  when I was half cut that's it no horror for me again🤭.

Oh god just googled it feel sick again🤢

That was called Human Centipede.  OMG  soooooo grossss!!!!!!!!



I am huge horror movie fan,  but that one took it toooooo far!

That one used to show up when I was browsing Netflix - hated the cover. Horrid. I am not a horror movie fan, why put that gory honeysuckle in my head? The world is already horrific enough, I don’t need to see it. I think the horror genre has definitely gotten much more visceral and disturbing over the years. 

That said, I do enjoy horror books - to a certain extent. I find with books I can tone down the disturbing stuff, it’s different than visually seeing it.
 
There was a time when I was a teenager and in my early 20s where I liked underground gore films. I'll always have a special place where my heart should be for old school Grindhouse stuff. But honestly, I don't find them scary. I find them to be typical. On occasion, possibly suspenseful at the most, depending on the plot of the movie and how it's delivered. Classics are classics for a reason, after all. That being said, I'm way more into Psychological Horror. I've been through the gore stuff, enough to appreciate it, but the Psychological Horror stuff is my niche. That seems to be the only stuff that actually makes me think for a bit after I'm done watching the movie. The slang term for it in the underground is "gore porn" that is, not to be confused with actual Gore Porn, the subcategory of pornography films, which is something totally different. Psychological Horror is much more impacting, I think. Such as I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House. It contains suggestive gore, but not much actual gore. It takes elements from older horror literature and puts it into modern film quite well.
 
I once looked up the plot synopsis of a movie called 'Salo' cos I wanted to know how bad it was because it was on a list of 'ten sickest films of all times' - suffice to say, i have absolutely no desire whatsoever to watch it. Ugh!
 
hewhowalksalone said:
I once looked up the plot synopsis of a movie called 'Salo' cos I wanted to know how bad it was because it was on a list of 'ten sickest films of all times' - suffice to say, i have absolutely no desire whatsoever to watch it. Ugh!

120 Days Of Sodom is a pretty messed up book to begin with. I just read that it's reset in WWII? *******...why?? That trump almost never works out in films anyways.
 
I don't really call those movies horrors, they're torture porn. It's not scary, it's repulsive. I feel unsettled, but only because as a human being I can imagine what kind of pain those people are suffering in those movies.
And I've no problem with gore in itself. Hell, my absolute favourite movie (and not just in horror genre, but in general) is John Carpenter's "The Thing" and that movie had plenty of gore, but it didn't feel out of place, it wasn't blood and guts for the sake of gross out, like in "Alien" it served to show how much of a threat the creature is and what the stakes are. And it made it scary, not just disgusting.

Also, modern horror tends to have "*********" characters getting killed over and over. As horrible as this sounds, I don't feel bad when those people die. I don't care about a vengeful ghost killing people who bullied someone into suicide, they ******* deserve it. So when your characters suck and your story is lame, what do you do? You go for shock value and cheap jumpscares.

I'm not even remotely interested in watching things like "Saw", "Human Centipede" or "Guinea Pig", but I'd never call for the ban of such movies.
 
The point of horror movies is to scare. That's always what it's been about. Over the years they've degenerated into torture porn and gore fests because Hollywood doesn't care about racking it's brains much anymore. Even though horror movies are just about the least complicated movies to write. A good example, although it's considered more sci-fi that horror, is John Carpenter's The Thing. Gore there is indeed, but it's made in a way not to gross out, but to scare. Because you're watching a fantastic alien who can mimic you. The scariest parts of the movie have almost nothing going on in the scenes, because its when a few people are in the room wondering if one of THEM is the thing. The implications are the scary parts. Another great example is the earlier Halloween movies. How long is Michael Myers actually on screen? Almost never. It's the best use of it too, because the more you see him, the less effective he becomes.

I always enjoyed the Joss Whedon love/hate letter to the genre, The Cabin in the Woods, because it mirrors my feelings exactly. We've kind of degenerated the genre and definetely went too far with the gore and torture porn. Which is why I barely watch a horror movie anymore, save the older classic the respected the conventions. Nothing like watching a George A Romero and his social commentary of humanity over SAW 59, we decapitate half a girl's face just 'cause...

Edit: wrote this not noticing X1 also mention The Thing lol! Ha! Nice to know people still have good taste! :)
 
Haha, nice. Guess we agree on this one, then :D

Such a good movie! It will be forever baffling to me as to how it was even remotely possible for "The Thing" to be so poorly recieved upon release. I guess those people finally got the movies they deserve - crap modern horrors. Good job.
But yes, it's very telling as to how good the atmosphere and immersion is, when the most suspensful parts of the movie don't even involve the monster. And the monster is horrifying.

Richard_39 said:
Even though horror movies are just about the least complicated movies to write.
That's partially why we get so many cheap, bad horror movies. They're quick and easy to make and even if they're really bad, as long as they have some jumpscares in them, there'll be a bunch of teenagers going "omg that's the scariest honeysuckle I ever saw". So even with middling reviews and half-empty cinemas, they ALWAYS turn a profit or at the very least recuperate the costs, so they're like the safest movie investment one could make.

Filmmaking is definitely one of the dying arts. As with most things - it's all about the money now.
 
There is literally nothing more boring than gore simply for the sake of it. Just for shock value.

I have no qualms with graphic violence; hell I read Berserk, but it has to be in service of a tone, characters, setting, story, etc....


Most horror films are all about boring excess and nothing puts me to sleep faster.

I can't answer this poll though. To answer yes makes it seem like I'm against violence, which isn't the case, and to say no means I'm an edgy teenager who only wants excessive gore.

I think you can tell a good story with or without graphic, or any, violence. It really just depends on the type of story you're looking to tell. It depends based on intent.
 
I like gore since it's fake I don't see a problem. I have problems though with animals getting killed even though I know it's fake. Kill people not animals. :D
 
My mum can watch people on Walking Dead dying, but there have been animals on TWD, (A horse. A tiger) that get ripped apart - and she has to look away when it happens.

Yet not a flinch when a character puts a crossbow bolt in a squirrel...
 
hewhowalksalone said:
My mum can watch people on Walking Dead dying, but there have been animals on TWD, (A horse.  A tiger) that get ripped apart - and she has to look away when it happens.

Yet not a flinch when a character puts a crossbow bolt in a squirrel...

My aunt was like that. She let us kids watch the most deplorable garbage and even laughed at it, but like, even something tame from Disney (like Homeward Bound) even just implying or showing an animal in danger or hurt (let alone actual violence against them) she wouldn't even want to watch them at all.

Disney films, even.
 
I don't want those kind of movies banned either, but I would like them to fail. Which they won't as long as they reach a certain stylistic level. It takes a lot for a movie to fail, considering that the ones that really focus on the gore don't even have an excessive budget. There's always an audience these days. I've seen four of the Saw movies, but also things like Martyrs and Irreversible (not "horror", just...raw).

I simply don't watch them, same with the jump-scare heavy movies. You can make people squirm, shreak and flinch, but I think it takes more effort to truly scare. Gore can also be fun though, cue Braindead or Re-Animator.
 

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