8. Bleeding Dry?
Horror has always been cyclical (or, if you prefer, sick-lical). One type of terror rises as others fall, the genre has so many iterations that it's easy for one to take over for a while.
And, more often than not, eras spawn their own horror genres - with torture porn born from not only thoughts of torture itself (spotlighted by the controversy of Guantanamo Bay) but also the ever-increasing influence of the 'net.
Hostel was directly inspired by the growth of online shockers and ties directly in to the seemingly endless human need for the next
And, right now, despite the budgets staying relatively low, it appears that torture porn might be on the wane. As mentioned, horror remakes, which channel a lot of the gore-some action into retreads of old slasher films, took over as more successful at the box office.
Plus the latest Saw film - Saw VI - failed to display the usual box office power. For years, the movies have been guaranteed earners for Lions Gate, crushing all comers around Halloween.
This time, however, demonic happenings triumphed over detailed traps as Paramount's micro-budgeted, 'net fandom-powered Paranormal Activity triumphed, despite being released in 1,000 fewer cinemas.
Don't count out the Saw films and their ilk just yet, though. Lions Gate is plunging ahead with Saw VII, which is apparently planning to aim for the 3D trend.
And while the outlay remains low and the rewards still possible, studios will keep sponsoring the likes of Eli Roth and co.
Who knows? Even if torture porn dies in its current incarnation, it can always rise from the grave in a few years or a couple of decades, spurred by a first-time director with a great idea and a whole new twist of the knife…
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Comments
JPDisco
Oct 30th 2009, 11:40
Hostel - "where people are tortured for the delectation of online viewers." Not in the version I saw....
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veers
Nov 2nd 2009, 22:05
Yeah, that's the plot to My Little Eye (2002).
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veers
Nov 2nd 2009, 22:24
(In case the Greek capital letter delta does not display correctly after I press "Post Comment", I mention it's intended use here beforehand.) BTW, congrats to Total Film for almost getting the title correct: "WΔZ". I guess it's better than "WAZ", which is the most frequent misspelling because someone couldn't be bothered to type a Greek capital letter delta. But the *correct* title (as seen in the film's credits), is actually wΔz. Some may think I'm being anal here, but since the symbols are part of a *real* mathematical equation, it *does* matter what symbol is what and what is capital and what is not - in mathematics, physics and chemistry a capital letter may have a different meaning from a small letter. See that famous Internet encyclopedia about the wΔz equation.
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