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At the beach with Horror Baby.
Wow, three weeks in a row we’ve had a big theatrical horror release, and early word on this week’s release of The Crazies has been very positive from what I’ve read thus far. It’s wonderful to see all of these horror films coming out, but it would be nice if they were spread out a little. Always fest or famine with the theatrical horror genre it seems. In any event, what’s your take on The Crazies? If and when you see and review the film on your blog, shoot us an email with the link to horrorbloggeralliance@hotmail.com or leave it in the comments section below, and we will be sure to post it for all to check out!
Our forth installment of Horror Debates sure is a scorcher! Torture Porn swept the nation a few years back and here to debate whether or not the term “Torture Porn” is derogatory or not, is Zach S. from Z for Zombies and Awkward Creations, going head to head against Mattsuzaka of Chuck Norris Ate My Baby and Paracinema…The Blog fame. Aaaand, we’re off!
Is “Torture Porn” a Derogatory Term?
“No” Zach:
Torture Porn. Say it out loud. Even if you’ve never seen a selection of this genre you immediately know what it is about, and you desperately want to find out more. Cinematically Torture Porn punches you in the gut and never apologizes for it. These two buzz words now replace the tired moniker of “slasher” as the quintessential means of describing the most gruesome horror films nowadays. And for a genre that rarely sees major studio backing, its word of mouth that separates the pop favorites from the cult classics. Horror is meant to be unsettling, unnerving and it’s really only these films that push the envelope that can jolt the most jaded of viewers. This is the direct result of graphic content being graphically depicted. Many argue that Torture Porn comes at the price of sacrificing storyline and character development for unflinching ultra-violence and gratuitous nudity, but you get exactly what you pay for; the last true incarnation of truth in advertising. This phrase, meant to embattle movie goers, has spurned the general populace into thinking the term Torture Porn is a slap in the face to their proclivities to witness such acts. I say Torture Porn is the last battle cry for what can be cinematically tolerated in a free society.
The need to shock and horrify with Torture Porn is a shot across the helm to modern cinema to not only exceed the craftsmanship of their predecessors, but to also sicken and titillate the expectations of today’s apathetic audiences. With Torture Porn the artistry of special effects is fully embraced to create the most realistic depictions of inexcusable acts. Not showing the moral consequences of these illicit actions and visually censoring them is the most detestable act of all, leaving the entire process sterilized and void of any artistic merit or redemption. The entire purpose of Torture Porn is to stimulate a reaction of repulsion and arousal. This results from a direct conflict of our inhibitions perpetuated by social norms against our animal instincts of survival. This genre serves as a counter balance to the fantasized silver screened notions of life, death and the pain depicted within more commercial films. What shocks and terrifies with Torture Porn is then extrapolated and imitated by film producers as the new standard of compliance in the world of Horror. Torture Porn has officially cemented a once softly spoken sub-genre of horror as a full blown Hollywood career maker. And if you do it to Nazis you get an Oscar nod too.
Torture Porn, is an identifiable label, has all warnings of its content and purpose in its very definition. I mean, what the hell else would you call it? This genre isn’t for the kids, it’s strictly for the hardcore. Any form of censorship that could be rallied against this breed of film by using the term Torture Porn in a derogatory fashion is immediately rendered mute. So say it loud, I’m watching Torture Porn and I’m proud!
“Yes” Mattsuzaka
What’s my all-beef patty with the term Torture Porn? Well, it’s a subject that is not quite as relevant as it was a few years back, during the height of the critically created subgenre, but what it stands for, is always pertinent to horror and its many detractors. Torture Porn was created by claimed horror fan and film-critic, David Edelstein, who described some of these films as “Movies that are so viciously nihilistic that the only point seems to be to force you to suspend moral judgments altogether.” It’s a term used to downgrade a portion of horror, saying these films are not worthy of any artistic value. It is a term used to describe a type of film that has been around for a lot longer than Hostel and that is Exploitation, which is what these films are in the end.
Why would it become a focus all of the sudden? Because these films made a splash at the box office and people were going to see them. They are no different than say, Last House On the Left, or the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so why is this term created now? It’s a way to take from our genre with a negative tag, a tag that implies that these films are nothing more than pornography, or better yet, trash. This has been an issue that has plagued our genre of choice for many years and even films that are regarded as classics, were put under the scrutiny of critics trying to take a stance as well as make a name for themselves, by disrespecting what we hold near and dear to our hearts.
Torture Porn is a term meant to get a rise out of politicians and overzealous Christian groups, who now have a perfectly frightening and dirty sounding name for a type of film they reject, a type of film that many of these people know nothing about. Horror as entertainment has been dragged through the mud for as long as it’s been successful and it has been used as a political platform to frighten parents into keeping their children safe from the horrors of these movies by voting for them. Anytime there is a school shooting, or some child related act of violence, there is instant backlash and horror is one of the first on the receiving end.
In the 80’s, the term Slasher was meant to degrade those films of that time, even though Slasher films had been around for years already, it wasn’t until a Friday the 13th came along and became successful, that critics and do-gooders went after them. Over time, the negative term Slasher was embraced by fans, thus taking away its meaning, but Slasher is a much different in it’s description. It fits. Torture Porn insinuates that and equates the bloodletting on screen to the same release one would get sexually when watching pornographic material. It is a way of making these movies less than what they are, which is art.
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Now it’s your turn to weigh in on the term Torture Porn dear reader - do you think it’s derogatory, or no? Make sure to leave your thoughts and thanks to our lovely and gorgeous participants for taking part in the debate!
Still why does any film honestly needs to be remade, especially when it has often been no longer than twenty years after it’s original release, especially when you consider that film making hasn’t really moved along that greatly in such time, apart moving further away from hands on effects to relying more on CGI effects. Still it does beg the question “if a film works the first time, why remake it?” After all if something isn’t broken in the first place why try and fix it? A question especially asked of the 1998 remake of “Psycho”, which was essentially a shot for shot remake of the original film, begging the question as to why Gus Van Sant, even choose to remake it. Is the prospect of watching a film in black and white really that daunting to a modern audience?
Still the Hollywood remake machine rumbles on, frequently adding to the increasingly sterile state of modern horror, with the current output often seeming like a GQ explosion on the screen, as god forbid the audience be exposed to realistic average looking people, which it could be argued was what was so great about the original films and something especially magnified by the recent series reboots for “Friday the 13th” and “Nightmare on Elm St”.
Perhaps it is just that as an audience we are now to spoiled with the production quality of films that are being produced, or maybe it’s just the prospect of watching a film which is not in English that it makes it hard, for your average movie goer to watch some of these original films, especially those which are still in the same grainy prints of their original release, something that it seems the studio system feels is a justified reason for remakes, seeing how upon the release of “My Bloody Valentine” (2009) director Patrick Lussier could be found to be defending his film, by stating that it’s release had meant that the original had been given a DVD release which it wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Still this can hardly be argued as being a strong argument, for what is essentially fast cash for the studios.
Studios should be looking forward and trying to evolve on these previous films, by creating new horror legacies rather than trying to emulate and cash in on the legacy of the originals, after all “Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken” and recreating a tested classic won’t always produce the same effect created by the original.
Just wanted to give you all a heads up about a DVD giveaway going on over at Hayes Hudson’s House of Horror! The prize is a DVD double feature for the independent short films, Killer Cup and Killer Cup 2. To enter, you have to first take off your pants, then…oh, wait, those are the instructions for my “special cream.” Sorry. All you really have to do to win this DVD double feature of doom, is become a follower of Hayes Hudson’s House of Horror (if you aren’t already), leave a comment with your name and email address in the comments section (of the contest post), and you might be the lucky random winner! YAY! Good luck to all that enter!
Click here to enter and for more details!
Gruesome Details:
Dinner With Max Jenke:
Heart in a Jar:
The Island of Lost Soul
Things That Don't Suck:
Rach’s Media Opinions:
All Things Horror:
The World of Disgruntled Monkey
