Shock and ahh!

Recent trends in horror films can be cruel and unusual punishments for theater goers

By: Dan Kaplan and Matt Levin

Posted: 4/4/08

Blood, guts and whatever rusty instruments you can find in a toolbox are the staples to the recent crop of grisly - and pathetically plotted - horror films. Affectionately dubbed "torture porn" or "gorno," these movies showcase lingering torture scenes of suffering (and often salacious) co-ed victims. Plots exist on the backburner in these movies that emphasize shock factor and little else. The latest of the bunch, "The Ruins" (about a group of sexy archeologists attacked on a dig in Mexico…or something to that effect), opens in theaters today. Here's a list of five other films in the genre that also are painful to watch:

"The Hills Have Eyes II" (2007)

Plot: The prelude to this sequel was simply a terrible remake. The sequel itself, however, is in a league of its own when it comes to stupid plots. In an abandoned part of the New Mexico desert, trainees of the National Guard are maimed by cannibalistic mutants living in the sand dunes.

Bad guys: Mutants - deformed as a result of living on nuclear testing ground.

Most Gratuitous Scene: After one of the female trainees bites off the tongue of one of the enemies, the lead mutant Papa Hades comes along, and a macabre rape scene ensues.

Rated R for prolonged sequences of strong gruesome horror violence and gore.

"Turistas" (2006)

Plot: Brazil winds up being not such a sultry place to vacation for a group of (mainly Americans) tourists. The backpackers are kidnapped and tortured by natives of the country. The entire country of Brazil took offense to this movie, and actor Josh Duhamel even apologized to the Brazilian government for the way the country is represented in the film.

Bad guy: A foreigner-hating madman/doctor who's a fan of organ harvesting.

Most Gratuitous Scene: Probably all of the blatant racism.

Rated R for strong graphic violence and disturbing content.

"Hostel" (2005)

Plot: Three backpacking friends set out on an excursion across Europe. A mysterious encounter in Amsterdam leads them to a hostel in Bratislava (which you might remember as the impoverished town in "EuroTrip"). One by one, group members disappear, as what initially seemed a promising vacation quickly becomes a nightmare.

Bad guy: The Dutch Businessman, who we later find out to be part of "Elite Hunting," a worldwide murder organization.

Most Gratuitous Scene: Easy. Josh (Derek Richardson) is abducted by the Dutch Businessman and receives all manner of torture including having his joints drilled into, his Achilles tendon cut and eventually, his throat slit.

Rated R for scenes of torture and violence.

"The Devil's Rejects" (2005)

Plot: In this sequel, three members of the serial-killing Firefly family from 2003's "House of 1000 Corpses" escape a siege by the Texas State Police at its headquarters. Together, the family begins a killing spree as the lone survivors. But with a sadistic sheriff and two bounty hunters following close behind, how long can they last?

Bad guy: The insane sheriff, John Quincy Wydell (such is the movie that serial killers somehow gain our sympathy.)

Most Gratuitous Scene: Wydell (William Forsythe) captures the remaining Firefly members and tortures them in full-on psychopath mode, nailing their hands to chairs and stapling pictures of victims to their bodies. "The Devil's Rejects" went through eight edits to be lowered from a NC-17 to R rating.

Rated R for sadistic violence.

"Saw" (2004)

Plot: This is the movie that set the torture porn genre in motion in the new millennium. Two complete strangers, Dr. Lawrence Gordon and photographer Adam Faulkner, awaken after a normal day and find themselves locked in an old washroom. Neither knows the other, but one has been told he must kill the other in order to save his family. It's all part of an elaborate game put on by the mysterious villain Jigsaw.

Bad guy: Jigsaw, an unorthodox criminal who, in lieu of simply killing people, constructs traps in which his victims ultimately kill themselves.

Most Gratuitous Scene: Toward the end of the flick, madness sets in for Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes), and he proceeds to saw off his own foot in an escape attempt.

Rated R for grisly violence and language.

mrlevin@syr.edu

sdkaplan@syr.edu