“It’s just torture and murder. No plot, no characters. Very, very realistic. I think it’s what’s next.”
So said Max Renn, the sleazy cable TV programmer as played by James Woods in director David Cronenberg’s "Videodrome" (1983) who stumbles upon a phantom satellite signal that shows young women being tortured 24/7 by men in leather masks.
The comment Woods’ character says seems certainly appropriate in today’s movie world unfortunately. The past few years filmmakers have attempted to pass their sick works showing innocent characters in despicably unthinkable predicaments as so-called entertainment. Watching them go through such imaginative acts of masochism, the only hope I could have for the characters is that death comes quickly, even if it's just a movie.
The highest amount of praise "The Human Centipede" received came from Entertainment Weekly movie critic, Owen Gleiberman, who awarded it a B+. Gleiberman opened his April 30 review saying how certain horror-film junkies, which he calls himself, "craves the extreme and the dosage of awesome ickiness has to keep getting upped."
The worst review came from Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert who gave it no stars in his May 5 critique saying, "the star rating system is unsuited to this film."
"Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don't shine," Ebert wrote.
For those not familiar with the never-been-done before premise which on that level I do give Centipede director Tom Six a small, miniscule of credit, let me enlighten you. Two American women on vacation overseas are kidnapped by a brilliant yet demented German surgeon (Dieter Laser) who has plans of connecting their digestive tracts from mouth to anus to a male victim he’s already got imprisoned in his secluded home, hence “the human centipede.” Just try watching that as you and your significant other are munching down on your popcorn and Raisinets in the privacy of your own home as the first victim in the chain has to defecate, as described in the CNN article.
The way I see it movies like these are for two, if not three groups of viewers. The first are those who continue to annoy the living crap out of me every time there is a bad accident on the interstate. They always slow down when I am trying to get somewhere, and I could care less what the Hell’s going on.
There is only one reason why drivers do this and it's not to stop, get out and help. They slow down in hopes they will see some bodies, buckets of blood, body parts or a combination of all three lying on the road.
The second group is those who want to sexually get off seeing themselves as either the one in the films doing the terrorizing or as the victim.
As Woods’ Max Renn says when he stumbled upon that satellite signal in Cronenberg’s film, these movies being released today, even if they’re just films, have no plot and no characters. It’s just torture and murder.
Oh, how I really wish that wasn’t so.
©8/7/10
So said Max Renn, the sleazy cable TV programmer as played by James Woods in director David Cronenberg’s "Videodrome" (1983) who stumbles upon a phantom satellite signal that shows young women being tortured 24/7 by men in leather masks.
The comment Woods’ character says seems certainly appropriate in today’s movie world unfortunately. The past few years filmmakers have attempted to pass their sick works showing innocent characters in despicably unthinkable predicaments as so-called entertainment. Watching them go through such imaginative acts of masochism, the only hope I could have for the characters is that death comes quickly, even if it's just a movie.
Films like the Saw franchise (2004-2010), which has been going strong at the box office since the first one was released in 2004, P2 (2007), Captivity (2007), Eli Roth’s "Hostel" (2005) and "Hostel: Part II" (2007), and The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009), currently in limited theatrical release, all feature characters, women in particular, being brutally terrorized. Perhaps a new category should be created. Instead of a horror or psychological section, these movies, some of which boast unrated extended versions when released on DVD and Blu-ray, should be placed into a category called “Torture Porn.”I came to that conclusion after reading a May 11 article on CNN about the most recent horror film, "The Human Centipede" (2009), which got a lot of attention last Spring after being granted a limited release in theaters showing independent movies. The controversy over the film was far from the positive word-of-mouth last October's unexpected supernatural box office hit, "Paranormal Activity" (2009), received.
The highest amount of praise "The Human Centipede" received came from Entertainment Weekly movie critic, Owen Gleiberman, who awarded it a B+. Gleiberman opened his April 30 review saying how certain horror-film junkies, which he calls himself, "craves the extreme and the dosage of awesome ickiness has to keep getting upped."
The worst review came from Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert who gave it no stars in his May 5 critique saying, "the star rating system is unsuited to this film."
"Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don't shine," Ebert wrote.
For those not familiar with the never-been-done before premise which on that level I do give Centipede director Tom Six a small, miniscule of credit, let me enlighten you. Two American women on vacation overseas are kidnapped by a brilliant yet demented German surgeon (Dieter Laser) who has plans of connecting their digestive tracts from mouth to anus to a male victim he’s already got imprisoned in his secluded home, hence “the human centipede.” Just try watching that as you and your significant other are munching down on your popcorn and Raisinets in the privacy of your own home as the first victim in the chain has to defecate, as described in the CNN article.
Don’t lie. I know for a fact just reading that description is enough to peak your grim curiosity. You know you want to watch. Personally, I don’t see where the entertainment value is in any of this. I challenge anyone who can offer up a good enough reason to justify sitting through such celluloid junk that if it were any worse and people were actually murdered on screen, they’d be snuff films.I, for one, am thankful I still have not seen the original "Saw" (2004) and "Hostel" (2007) and won’t be seeing them anytime soon except maybe to bash them in a review. I did not like "P2" (2007) and the most I saw of "Hostel: Part II" (2007) was about five- or ten-minutes' worth while flipping channels. I was just in time to see some poor female character hung upside down and having her back torn to shreds by a nude woman wielding a scythe as she bathes in the victim’s blood. Then there was the ending I later caught of a group of young kids kicking around a woman’s decapitated head like a soccer ball. Nice, huh?
The way I see it movies like these are for two, if not three groups of viewers. The first are those who continue to annoy the living crap out of me every time there is a bad accident on the interstate. They always slow down when I am trying to get somewhere, and I could care less what the Hell’s going on.
There is only one reason why drivers do this and it's not to stop, get out and help. They slow down in hopes they will see some bodies, buckets of blood, body parts or a combination of all three lying on the road.
The second group is those who want to sexually get off seeing themselves as either the one in the films doing the terrorizing or as the victim.
I don’t mind controversial movies so long as the filmmaker is trying to make a point with the unpleasant subject matter. I did not like Videodrome and found it to be a trashy, weird, sci-fi, horror movie that featured Deborah Harry of the singing group, Blondie. I did, however, see the point Cronenberg attempted to get across. That point was no matter how disgusting and violent a movie is, some, if not all people can’t bring themselves to NOT watch it. It’s almost like a sick addiction.If there is any point in making graphically violent movies today like "The Human Centipede" or the upcoming remake of "I Spit on Your Grave" (2010) due out this October, I suspect it’s to see how far a filmmaker can go in grossing out their viewers. There is no entertainment in that.
As Woods’ Max Renn says when he stumbled upon that satellite signal in Cronenberg’s film, these movies being released today, even if they’re just films, have no plot and no characters. It’s just torture and murder.
Oh, how I really wish that wasn’t so.
©8/7/10
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