henke on 10/10/2009 at 22:18
Quote Posted by AR Master
If you are "entertained" by essentially watching surgery and torture you are bereft of moral fortitude and are experiencing what I believe is essentially sociopathic tendency, if not just complacency with images of extreme violence and gore
If it seems like watching
real torture I'd say you have trouble differentiating reality from fiction. And
"bereft of moral fortitude"? Dude, what happened to you? You better put that high horse back where you found it.
I've seen Saw, it was good. But overall I'm not a fan of the genre, still I gotta stand up for those movies because when you start saying that being entertained by that stuff shows sociopathic tendency you're just a small step away from claiming the same thing about firstperson shooters.
Tocky on 10/10/2009 at 23:07
Eh. Saw was an inventive slasher flick as far as devicery goes. Thin plot.
It used to be that slash horror derived it's shock from the total demolition of social mores but Texas Chainsaw and Last House drove that one off a cliff fairly early on. Nowhere else to go really. Disturbing was never my horror kink anyway. Halloween bored the crap out of me. Rob Zombie slash is no better. Even the new devices don't compare to the ball in Fantasm. No mystery, no spooky, just disectoman. Hell, Charles Ing(sp?) walked among us and pretended to be human so how the hell can a movie top reality as far as sick?
Shit that happens out of nowhere that makes no sense... well. There is one hell of a lot farther to go on that one.
fett on 11/10/2009 at 02:01
Quote Posted by henke
And
"bereft of moral fortitude"? Dude, what happened to you? You better put that high horse back where you found it.
I think no matter where in civilization you're from, we can pretty much all agree that torturing someone is an "immoral," or "bad," or "socially disadvantageous," thing to do - however you want to frame it. Yes, Saw is just a movie, but doesn't the fact that so many people are fascinated or entertained by it seem even a little off kilter to you henke?
Renzatic on 11/10/2009 at 03:34
I think it all depends on your mindset. Some people like watching movies that make them squirmy, uncomfortable, and tense. Something these new slice up dice up faux-snuff horror films do quite well. In this case, I wouldn't say these people are sicko freaks bereft of morality and decency, they just have weird tastes.
If you're watching these movies because you like watching people die badly, then yeah, you've probably got a couple issues.
henke on 11/10/2009 at 08:49
Quote Posted by AR Master
no, i dont think so
Man, give me something to work with here!
Are you saying that being entertained by a film about people trying to escape a killer's traps while the cops try to find him before the clock ticks out shows sociopathic tendencies while being entertained by a game where you shoot and kill people is perfectly healthy?
I think they're both perfectly healthy. Nothing sociopathic about it, just normal everyday bloodlust. You can fool yourself all you want that humans aren't like that but the truth is that we
need this shit. Just shutting it out isn't gonna do anyone any good.
Ostriig on 11/10/2009 at 13:45
But that's not what he's saying. Just "trying to escape a killer's traps while etc." horror movies, or straight out brutal action movies aren't the subject here. Those rely on depictions of aggression, of violence. Same with shooty-shoot videogames. And you could make an argument that it all stems from natural evolutionary instincts within humans.
What is being criticised is the type of movie that delivers detailed graphics representations of methodical torture and mutilation, movies that rely on intricate depictions of sadism. And that's not healthy whichever way you wanna look at it.
the_grip on 11/10/2009 at 13:54
Ah... the trailer listed Austin as one of the openers. I figured it was through the weekend.
henke on 11/10/2009 at 14:17
Quote Posted by Ostriig
What is being criticised is the type of movie that delivers detailed graphics representations of methodical torture and mutilation, movies that rely on intricate depictions of
sadism.
Care to name one of these movies? The movie I was describing was Saw, which does have "detailed graphics representations of methodical torture and mutilation", but besides that it also happens to be a thrilling movie. Dismissing it as merely "torture porn" is unfair. Now, I don't doubt that there are sickos out there that watch it purely for the torture scenes, but you can't blame that on the movie.
Muzman on 11/10/2009 at 14:21
It's really difficult to generalise about this stuff, even when it's in the same filmmaking scene or genre. The impact can defy classification.
I thought Hostel and Wolf Creek had a nasty streak that really hit home at times and made them "good" exploitation revival films (although neither approach Casino for nastiness, a film I really don't want to watch again. Which is a pity because it's very good. That it is mostly true is probably a factor here). But they make plenty go 'meh'.
Saw series on the other hand, while ostensibly similar (and not that I've watched past two) are completely vapid shit. Boring, boring, boring, laughable, annoying, stupid and back to boring; is the usual run of things there. They can throw all the intestines and spooky dolls they like, I could not care less. Kill Bill's violence has more impact. Yet people continue to praise their horror power.
Scots Taffer on 11/10/2009 at 14:26
Dumb people are frightened by simple things: true story.
(No offence intended, henke, I just loathe the Saw/Hostel type movies)
