MovieChat Forums > Captivity (2007) Discussion > 'Torture Porn'?

'Torture Porn'?

posted 18 years ago by lazarillo
18 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen this yet (and probably won't until it comes out on DVD), but I'm perplexed why this and other recent movies of its ilk like "Hostal" and "Saw" are getting called "torture porn". The lead actress in this is the same one who once played a porn star without doing so much as a nude scene, so I'm not expecting much porn (tell me if I'm wrong). "Hostal" had a lot of sex, but it was straight sex mostly at the beginning of the movie and very distinct from the bloody torture at the end (and if that turned you on, you got a lot bigger problems than these movies). I don't recall the "Saw" movies being too erotic at all, while some other supposed offenders like "Turistas" might have been a little sexy, but really only tortured the poor bastards like me who were dumb enough to watch them.

If you don't like this these kind of movies then fine, but do we have to have all this half-assed mass psychoanalysis of the people who do with ignorant labels like "torture porn"? People that go to these movies aren't all sexual sadists anymore than people who go to movies with Dakota Fanning or whoever's going to be the next horribly-overexposed-child-actor-that-if-I-ever-see-again-I-hope-it's-on-the-back-of-a-milk-carton are all closet pedophiles. I mean c'mon.

Exterminate the Brutes!

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] cuttingedgenyc 18 years ago

It's not an ignorant label. It's accurate. Movies like this, and a few others, are specifically filmed, and then marketed, to make the torture of women seem sexy. Hence, "torture porn." Have you seen the number of posts here talking about sexual gratification from torture in this movie? Do you think that's just a coincidence?

I like horror movies that are genuinely scary, and aren't filmed and marketed with this as their primary goal. But I don't like torture porn. Apparently, most of America agrees with me because these movies aren't doing jack at the box office.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] underdawg87 17 years ago

umm, i am not even sure if you guys are kidding or not anymore.. just like the person who replied to the original poster, the word "torture porn" is one phrase that should be read and interpreted together. the porn has nothing to do with sex and nudity in the way this phrase is used. they call it "torture porn" because they (the media) believe that the people who watch these movies "get off" on watching people (guys and girls) getting bloodied up and killed. it has nothing to do with nudity, and nothing to do with femlae victims. Hostel (the first one) had guys getting killed....Saw (pretty much all of them) had no nudity whatsoever. thus you are proven wrong by the very movies that inspired the term "torture porn"

Horror has always been directly linked to sexual pornography, in that these two genres only appeal to the physical reactions....horror makes you jump and feel fear, while porn gets you in the mood to be "stimulated"

torture porn references that these movies "stimulate" people, maybe not sexually, but it satisfies them watching these people die.

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[–] JudgeX 17 years ago

Dangerous and subversive? Please.

Because the actress is "beautiful" doesn't have anything to do with it. The horror/torture genre is no more guilty of choosing attractive people for its roles than are romantic comedies or drama movies.

Why does it tend to be a female? Because this evokes more sympathy from the viewer. If the lead is male, male viewers expect him to man up and beat down the badguy, whereas, a female lead is excused from the fight by her gender, and seen as more helpless and prey-like.

It also goes back to the fact that many serial killers have in fact captured and tortured female victims, so, it adds a touch of reality to the movie to have girls being tortured... and yes, sometimes that becomes sexual...

If you want to go back and look at movies like Last House on the Left and I Spit On Your Grave, you'll see girls being captured and raped as well, but it's done realistically, and I sincerely doubt that anyone enjoys watching those scenes. They are made to HORRIFY. There are viewers, such as myself, that enjoy seeing new things that are shocking and evoke feelings of empathy with the characters.

Sometimes, by the end of the movie, you really WANT the captured girl to escape or kill the badguy, and she often does. Sometimes, the characters are made to be stupid, and you pretty much want them to die, to release some of your frustration with typically stupid people.

Brainwashing the youth of America? The "youth" of America has no business watching a rated R/Unrated movie, so, I don't even want to hear that. If the "youth" DOES happen to see rated R content, and it "brainwashes" them... they had pretty terrible parents and teachers growing up, and I'd be pretty sure that with or without the movie, they would have failed at life anyway.

Get Real.

Bottom Line:
If you do not like horror movies, do not watch them. The assumptions you draw about why "sexy" girls are used, or "why" people watch them, or how much they "brainwash" viewers depict extremely thick ignorance of the world in which you live. They also prove a certain lack of self-confidence and even a hint of jealousy with the girls on the screen... almost like you want people to pay more attention to YOU for some reason. Grow up.

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[–] Day_of_the_dead_living 17 years ago

"The point is that these movies almost always show the torture of beautiful girls who happen to be half naked, spread-eagle, and pouty."

No, the majority of victims in "torture porn" are men...
If you can name even THREE "torture porn" movies that
feature half-naked beautiful girls, spread-eagle and pouty,
I'll be so impressed, I'll eat my own eyeballs and put it
on YouTube. The ONLY movie of this type, made in recent years,
that puts the focus on murdering more or less sexualized females,
is Hostel 2. The sequel to a movie that did the same thing
to young men. And I don't recall any of the victims,
even in H2, being spread-eagle and pouty.

"These movies are brainwashing the youth of America. It is dangerous and subversive."

And my guess is that you haven't actually watched them.

Unless you count the asian fake-snuff and extreme gore
from the 1980- & 90's, there is no "torture porn" genre,
and there certainly is no such thing in America or Europe,
unless you take specific scenes from certain movies
totally out of context, just to prove some deranged feminist point.

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[–] underdawg87 17 years ago

i find it funny how so far...no one that has posted, has spelled HOSTEL correctly.

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[–] Horror_Fan01 17 years ago

you make it seem like everyone spelled hostel wrong, when only one person did.

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[–] underdawg87 17 years ago

both people that used the word Hostel spelled it wrong...the original poster, and preacherlynne...she spelled "hostile". its just funny how neither one of them got it right...but niether one of them spelled it the same as each other.

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[–] rushour144 17 years ago

yo lazillo, OP, please elaborate on this.

whoever's going to be the next horribly-overexposed-child-actor-that-if-I-ever-see-again-I-hope-it's-on-the-back-of-a-milk-carton are all closet pedophiles.

YOu make it seem like you would rather see a child actor drad than acting. Seems to me that you have a pretty sick mind man. I may be wrong and you probabluy just worded it WAY WRONG, but that sounds really bad on your part.

As for these type movies though, I personally think some of them go way too far. I understand that people go see these, I sure do, but seeing the 2nd hostel made me realize that movies are getting out of control. That whole scene with that guy carving that dudes leg and eating it whike the guy was twitching and the whole freak lady that is begging to get aids, has gone way to far in my book.

I can understand if someone wants to bring true fear to the screen but, they need to realize that some things should be kept in their heads! HAHA.

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[–] Filmmaker84 17 years ago

People read too much into the "torture porn" label. It refers to actual porn but does not imply that these films have a sexual aspect. People get caught up on the word "porn." It's a pretty simple deffintion
When someone watches porn is typically for the sex scenes and only the sex scenes. To become aroused and then be done. It has nothing to do with the story or performers. Purely the sex.
Torture porn refers to the sub-genre where people are only there for the torture scenes. It is not sexual, but going to see what new disgusting way people are going to be tortured. To see if you can sit through and watch it. It has nothing to do with the story or actors, purely the outrageous torture scenes.

It's the same thing that's been going on for years. Just in different forms. In the 70's and 80's it was about body counts and simpler effects. Halloween started it, Friday the 13th made it bloodier, nightmare on elm street made it bloody and supernatural. It's all about one uping to stay ahead of the curve.

We've all seen slit throats and stabs, so SAW comes out with fairly laid back (in terms of new films) torture seens. ( bear trap-head does not explode, it's implied. Barb wired death is sped up. Foot is sawed off off screen) then it gets one uped and one uped. Because people are only interested in the torture. The torture porn aspect.

The films get progessivly worse because they only want the selling factor. Friday the 13th has about 10 dead bodies. f13 part 8 has about 25-30. Saw has about 5 torture scenes. Captivity about 15.

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[–] Arttillygirl 17 years ago

It's a close-minded label critics have given to America's current obsession with blood and gore. Sure, they're wrong. They're critics; what else is new? I'm not offended by the label, it just gets annoying how movies like Saw and Hostel are placed in the same category, when in reality the films are totally different genres. The fact is, critics will never be totally satisfied with anything film has to offer; I would probably grow a passionate hatred for movies too if my job was to watch them all day.
Torture? Yes. Porn? Uh...no.
Question answered? I think so.

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[–] cattyfinns 17 years ago

torture porn refers to the fact that the gory stuff in these films exist merely to titillate, its all about sadism and i think it's kind of a sad direction for horrors to go in.
its not scary, thats my main complaint, i watch horrors to be frightened, not to be disgusted..

I'm not really like that... except when I am.

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[–] sharkykt 16 years ago

Oh dear, ok it seems you need a quick movie education. Have you ever watched a porno? Real porn? Basically NO plot, no real story just sex, sex, sex. And well people get off on that, that is the only purpose.

Ok "Torture Porn" means no plot, no real worthwhile story just torture torture torture. No point to any of it, just torture. And well people in a way "get off on it" not always in a sexual way. Why do you think reality shows are such a huge success, this is the age of the voyeur and for some twisted rather sick reason people are getting off watching others in pain or humiliated.

So no, the term Torture Porn does not mean at all sex, or sex involved, it simply means a plotless, pointless movie that centers around one thing, in this case torture.

However, in regarding the SAW movies, while the sequels are lacking somewhat, the original, my favorite, there is a point. It teaches you not to take life for granted and to value what you are given. It teaches a moral lesson. Clever as hell in a way in that Jigsaw doesn't even lift a finger, it is up to the "victim" or lesson learner.

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[–] sgraf_x 16 years ago

Prolly a good way to snag serial killers, check the audience members of TP movies!

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[–] djsnafu23 16 years ago

Its a goddamn stupid label, and misaaplied mostly by prude idiots who haven't don't know jack about what they talkin about...

myspace.com/bankrupteuropeans

Coz lifes too short to listen to Madlib

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