Am I so totally out of it? The movie HOSTEL. I really hated it..

Well, you seem to be projecting your values and beliefs on me. I come from a different background and life experiences than you do. So, I am able to separate fiction from reality, and still am affected by the violence I see on the news.. That's how I can listen to gangsta rap or watch slasher movies. I know they are not real. It's Hollyweird. I am one of the most peaceful guys you'll ever meet.

 

I don't think you can make such value judgements about people who derive some enjoyment out of a genre of films that you find so offensive. I perfectly understand someone's reasoning for not liking these kinds of movies. But to think that someone is less of a human being because they do choose to watch them....

 

I get that, Grant. I'm not the king of the world, so my desire to censor slasher movies probably is not going to stop anyone from watching them. I fundamentally don't believe in making other people's decisions for them. All I can do is choose not to support these kinds of films in any way - I will never buy a movie ticket to see one of these films, buy a DVD of one of these films, or even watch one of these films at someone else's home.

 

I, too, am able to separate fiction from reality. However, my understanding of reality affects my choices in which sorts of fiction I read or watch. If something is grossly immoral and wrong in reality, it would seem to me to serve no purpose to watch a fictional depiction of it. I'm sure there are arguments to made about how watching depictions of the darkest corners of human nature somehow has a cathartic or purgative effect on the viewer - I personally don't buy that argument, but if you do, more power to you.

 

I can sit through most anything knowing it's special effects & makeup. I few years ago I watched one called Cannibal Holocaust that showed small animals & a giant sea turtle actually killed on screen in close-up. Now that I couldn't stomach. That's probably the only one I've ever seen that went too far, IMO.

 

It wasn't that big.

I'm still trying to figure out if the cat vs. rats scene in Men Behind The Sun was real or not.

 

Or whether many of the bodies/parts in the morgue scenes were real, as is often asserted.

 

He didn't kill the kid, he just shot him in the foot. Come on yesstiles, haven't you ever been disciplined that way?

 

Haven't seen Hostel, and don't plan to, but I've seen the reviews for a movie that came out earlier this year that looks to be even more "morally repugnant" than Hostel:

http://www.reelviews.net/movies/c/captivity.html

 

What may make this one particularly repugnant is that it looks like it was based on actual torture porn - well, maybe not actual, but I'm aware of a series of Spanish-origin porn comics with storylines about models/actressess/etc being kidnapped and sexually tormented. Fun, fun, fun. :thumbsdn:

 

I have the bad habit of watching movies before even making a coment about them, so when I watch this one I'll open a thread about it.

 

I'm not making a comment about it, I was quoting the review I linked to.

 

I undertand that, even though I detest some films (like the aforementioned "Mother's Day" and "Sleepaway Camp," two films that deeply angered me in their seemingly irredeemable motives and depictions).

When I was growing up I was infatuated with the slasher genre of the times (first half of the 80's). I really enjoyed that stuff. Yet, when my friend and I stumbled upon a bum behind a dumpster, I froze in terror. I thought he was dead and started crying, while my friend thought it was cool. The bum turned out to be just passed out, but the different reactions of my friend and I showed how different we are.

 

Sleepaway Camp? You mean the movie that spawned two sequels starring Bruce Springsteen's sister as a crazed slasher woman? It's been a while since I've seen them but I don't remember those movies being any more repugnant than a typical Friday the 13th outing.

 

It was the first time a film infuriated me. It was the manipulative nature of it, revealed in the climax where the young girl is shown to really be a boy (with onscreen *****). I remember the depiction of her character being completely undermined in the most despicable fashion by this "reveal." It was a long time ago ( I saw it in the theater) but I was really angry and felt really used.

 

a lot of people LOVE Sleepaway Camp's "surprise" ending and a surprising number of people cite it as one of the most chilling moments in horror.

personally, i thought it was more cheesy than anything. and i was definitely not thinking hard enough about that movie while watching it to feel manipulated or infuriated in any way.

 

Well after 116 replies I have to rent this movie now just to see what all the fuss is about.

 

Steve,
The current horror suspense flick has upped the ante of shock, gore, quick, cuts, and make-up effects at the expense of psychology, suspense, and humor. There is no more release of tension in these films, just unremitting carnage. Which, it seems, contemporary audiences find entertaining.
The imagination that brought Hostel to the screen is that of a young man from nearby Newton, MA., so this film got a lot of publicity here in the Boston area. I haven't seen it and I don't intend to.
But as someone who has enjoyed the films of Sam Raimi, George Romero, David Cronenberg, Tobe Hooper, Stuart Gordon, and others who could be considered to work the same genre, I'm not going to get dramatic or make value judgements about the people who made Hostel. FWIW, one of the creepiest movies I've ever seen is Parents, directed by comic actor Bob Balaban.

 

i agree with this wholeheartedly, though it's put in a much gentler way (and probably better) than i would've said it. my perception of several personal aquaintances has been changed on learning that they enjoyed this kind of movie, not to mention the idiots who let their kids watch them. to me those who would seek out these images and voluntarily implant them in their minds are not those whose judgement i would trust or whose humanity i would believe in.

being that most of the people being tortured in these things are attactive women, i would surmise that those who create these movies and those who enjoy them have some kind of sexual neuroses, to put it kindly.

at the same time, though, i'm very wary of censorship because that has a way of spreading and being used to silence other forms of legitimate speech and expression. so i have no solution other than avoiding these movies in all ways, and avoiding those who watch them as much as i can. in a way the presence of these movies flushes the weirdos out of the woodwork, which may be their only saving grace.

obviously i disagree. we all make value judgements about other people every day. if someone is a racist, or a child molester, or just smells bad, those all affect how we view them. if one voluntarily chooses to watch other people being tortured for "entertainment", that tells something about a person, and is, in at least a small way, an indicator of what's going on in his/her head. we're all looking for clues...

 

Never heard of it til I stumbled across this thread. Not gonna read the thread, not gonna watch the movie. : )

 

There are many reasons why Psycho and Silence of the Lambs are great movies and The Ring (to use an example of a film I've actually seen) is not. I'm not sure that you would be convinced by any of them, though.

 

He kills him later when Spider talks back to him...

 

I hated this movie too, I wanted to sneak out the back door, it was ill. Doing autopsies on people while they are alive is not scary, it's sick. I actually paid to see this movie because Tarantino’s name was on it, never again. I thought I posted a thread on this at the time but I can’t find it.
Long before "Silence of the Lambs", (which is a masterpiece), their was "Last House on the Left", "Blood Feast", "Friday the 13TH", "2000 Maniacs", and many more drive-in butcher movies, Hostel is worse than most of those. You could drive over to a slaughter house and see the same thing.
At least there were no “nasty” sex scenes to warp our kid’s minds….

 

So....someone who watches a "torture porn" horror movie is comparable to a racist, a child molester and/or smells bad. LOL! Give me a break. I won't simply give you "an indicator of what's going on in my head". I'll show you:

 

I like all three films,but personally i think The Ring is the better of the three.The single most underrated horror film ever in my opinion.Now the sequel,well that's another story.