to be sickened by the level of violence and gore in horror films these days?

[dontmeanto]

...and the sheer volume of them??

DP and I went to hire a film Saturday night as a treat and couldn't believe just how many of these films were on the New Arrivals shelves.

Various plots on abduction, torture, force, maiming, etc.

I guess I just don't get why people are entertained by these films? I find them disturbing at best and absolutely disgusting at worst.

I just don't want those types of things in my head, and I worry there's a generation out there that will in some way become desensitised to this level of violence by making these films "cool" to watch with friends.

I remember being shocked by Scream when I was a teen, but these now are a billion times worse!

AIBU?

I do actually agree with Claig regarding the generational desensitisation. My grandparents went through WW2, but would still be absolutely horrified at watching a young woman being tortured and maimed for entertainment.

What will horror be like in 50 years time?

I googled "A Serbian Film." (Actually DP did as I was too chicken to read what its about). What the absolute fuck?? Necrophilia and child rape. Why, why, why ??? Why make a film like that? Why watch it?

It saddens me that there are under 18's out there who WILL watch it, cos their older sibling has, or a mate got their hands on it. The age restriction guidelines don't prevent a thing. If anything teens will be drawn to the forbidden-ness of it.
Then what? Someone earlier said they will never get over watching it. I for one would be sad if my son or daughter was permanently affected by something like this.

I honestly believe these films are causing a de-evolvement back TO gladiator times.

I don't know what the answer is, though, as censorship by government doesn't sit right with me, either.

'I don't know what the answer is, though, as censorship by government doesn't sit right with me, either.'

The answer is censorship. They have removed our only guard against this crap and told us that trying to stem the flow of this filth is wrong because it is censorship. They want free rein to flood us with more of this crap, and only censorship will stop them.

I personally found Hostel horribly compelling, but ultimately regretted watching it. It made me feel a bit 'icky' that someone had thought it up. I think horror appeals to a side of us that is intrigued by real life horror, which (thankfully) hardly anyone has to face nowadays. Like an extreme version of a rollercoaster.

I'm sure the majority can watch films like this without any effect, but wonder if it would have a negative impact on the minority. What sort of research has been done on it?

Also just looked up Serbian film. Seems a bit gratuitous to me, to say the least.

I re- watched an episode of The Walking Dead last night.
I think I agree that I'm de sensitised to the violence in it.

But I cannot watch the beginning of Clockwork Orange and absolutely recoil at Nil by Mouth so I cannot see that this has de sensitised me to violence in general.

Don't understand the problem,really. But perhaps I don't spend too long over analysing it.

the whole "well the Romans did it with the gladiators" argument is a spurious one

we look back at the past, and lets face it it was pants! Romans, Spanish Inquisition, Witch Burning, Middle Ages. Bloody times, yes?

yet we accept the rise of torture porn as entertainment, and dont even try and compare "Hostel" with "Nightmare on Elm Street" as the thinking behind them is completely different

Blood/gore I can cope with (eg I watched 300 the other day and didn't think about it). I think the stuff I can't stand and disturbs me is cruelty in terms of inflicting violence just because, which is why I find torture for fun so disturbing.

'so I cannot see that this has de sensitised me to violence in general'

It is a process of desensitisation. You still retain many of your normal instincts and have not been completely desensitised. But some people have become more desensitised than you by what they have seen.

It is not healthy for individuals or for society to watch violence for entertainmnet and to become desensitised to it.

Watching very violent films, especially a lot of recent ones that don't even seem to have an artistic merit (I'm looking at you Saw, Hostel and The Human Centipede), just doesn't appeal to me. I've got quite a vivid imagination, and I find that once I've seen something like this, I can't un-see it, and I find it popping into my head at random times and it makes me feel ill. Scary films (paranormal, thriller types) that include an element of violence/gore are more appealing (although I'm not a fan of them either) because at least the violence had purpose. It just seems like horror films at the minute are an exercise in who can be the grossest, and plot/script/tone of the film are not even at the back of anyone's mind when the films are being made. They just don't entertain me, and I do find it a bit grim that other people are so entertained by crap like Hostel. To put it in perspective though, I love Game of Thrones, but am finding one of the current storylines (Theon) and the images that go with it, quite difficult to stomach, and it's actually putting me off the programme a bit. So maybe I've just got a particularly weak stomach or delicate sensibility.

But I am never going to enjoy watching someone giving someone else a bloody good hiding in a realistic setting,however de sensitised I become.

I will in that way never become completely de sensitised.

Maybe some of the people who are de sensitised to 'realistic' violence watch horror/violence as a result of de sensitisation to violence.Maybe it isn't that watching it makes them become it,but vice versa.

'Maybe some of the people who are de sensitised to 'realistic' violence watch horror/violence as a result of de sensitisation to violence.Maybe it isn't that watching it makes them become it,but vice versa.'

This is what they always tell us. but it is a lie. Watching this stuff reinforces any tendencies they may have and breaks down their barriers and boundaries even further. Watching crap fuels them further.

You have to understand the real purpose behind what they have decided to promote and fiance and show you. It is not about money, it is about deliberately altering your mind and breaking down your boundaries in order to desensitise you to violence.

Here are some reviews of the computer game "Call of Duty".

''The way a trained soldier holds and fires a gun is very specific and they?ve got the movement right, down to the last detail. It isn?t glorifying war, it?s bringing it into living rooms and simulating it as closely as possible,'
Andy McNab, The Sun

That is the purpose - to bring war and violence into your living room, to simulate it for you as closely as possible, to desnsitise you to it so that you will accept it. They've got it "down to the last detail" for you in order to desensitise you to the reality.

''The phrase ?an assault on the senses? doesn?t come close: it?s thrilling, immersive, sometimes scary, always exciting, and occasionally overwhelming. Don?t worry. It won?t turn anyone into a killer,'
Charlie Brooker, The Guardian

It is an "assault on the senses" and it is deliberately so. It is meant to be "overwhelming". Progressives say, don't worry, it won't affect you, but of course it does and it is supposed to.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226588/Call-Duty-Political-storm-brutal-video-game-allows-killing-civilians-airport-massacre.html

Easily I feel the same regarding Game of Thrones! Love it, but have to turn away as of late because of Theon. So yes, maybe I am particularly sensitive to this stuff. It is only fiction after all.

I guess I worry about my two babies being curious teenagers one day. Which is why I spend "too long" "over-analysing it." I s'pose it's up to me to really forewarn them on this stuff.

I worry the day my daughter goes on a sleepover, and one of the more brazen girls whips out a copy of Hostel for all of them to watch. Was bad enough being The Omen or Blair Witch Project when I was that age but this stuff is on a whole 'nother level!

The studios and conglomerates have no end of "talent" that is prepared to churn out this crap, so not all of the twats who make it will be able to get finance. The conglomerates concentrate on what they feel is the most effective use of their resources.

Money is thrown at companies who churn out stuff like "Call of Duty". They market it, promote it and advertise it and the public queues up at midnight to get their hands on the latest version. the public are being used and don't understand the purpose of the game.

"At HMV in Newcastle Mandy Peters, 44, a cleaner from Newcastle, bought the game for her 16-year-old son Luke.

She said: 'I know the game is an 18 certificate but I was still happy to buy it for him. If I don't buy it he would probably just play it at a friend's house.'

A shop assistant at the Game computer store in Coventry said: 'Managers told us not to sell it to anyone who looked under 21 but if they were with their parents we had to sell it to them.

'There were loads of young kids who had dragged their parents to the store so they could get their hands on the game. It made a bit of a mockery of the whole age-limit certificate.'

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226588/Call-Duty-Political-storm-brutal-video-game-allows-killing-civilians-airport-massacre.html

:o

But I am talking about graphic violence, and computer games and horror films are both parts of the same "assault on the senses" by the men in suits on an unsuspecting public who are pawns in their game.

They have turned graphic violence and evil into a game and a spectacle to be watched while chomping on potato crisps and drinking beer. They have desensitised people to shocking scenes deliberately. They are trying to simulate violence and war so that it enters your living room and so that you will be desensitised to it when it one day comes to your door.

I grew up in the era of "I Spit on your grave", the Elm Street franchise, the Friday 13th franchise etc etc.

So I'm a bit about the 'these days' comment.

Unless you mean all the vampire 'twilight' type movies

I still don't understand to what end you think the 'men in suits' are motivated by? You say they want to desensitise us, but why do ku think they want us in this mind set?

I don't like it, but don't think it's a huge conspiracy.

'You say they want to desensitise us, but why do you think they want us in this mind set?'

Because they will rule us and if you read history you will see how rulers in the past ruled us. They are changing our society, breaking boundaries and "assaulting our senses". They are desensitising us to prepare us for the future they have planned for us. Read George Orwell.

"it aint right"

"and there was a lot of applause from the party seats but a woman down in the prole part of the house suddenly started kicking up a fuss and shouting they didnt oughter of showed it"

"nobody cares what the proles say"

Binky - arguing with a conspiracy theorist, whether it's to do with moon landings or horror movies, never goes anywhere :)