Posts Tagged ‘torture’

Cliff:

Answering this question is not as easy as it might seem. For starters, I would like to make clear that I am a supporter of torture films (or what many people incorrectly call “torture porn”) as a subgenre of horror cinema, for reasons that can be best understood by reading my essay on the topic. In short, however, I would claim that torture films can be considered artistic, and thus if a torture film’s artistic merit can be defended then it is justifiable insofar that it is a valid cultural artifact. Not all torture films can be sufficiently defended, but the possibility is there nonetheless. Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: More contemporary than usual, while still unusual

Director: Kevin Greutert

Screenwriters: Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton (Saw IV, Saw V)

Cast: Tobin Bell (Saw), Costas Mandylor, Mark Rolston, Betsy Russell, Shawnee Smith

Length: 1h 30m

Synopsis: The maniacal Jigsaw (Bell) has long since been dead, but his “games” continue to be played. The next main target is a health insurance executive (Rolston) who has denied coverage to persons in need of it, resulting in their deaths. The man carrying on Jigsaw’s work, detective Hoffman (Mandylor), forces the exec to come to terms with what he’s done. The goal of his games remains the same as all the others: to test a person’s will to live. Read the rest of this entry »