R.I.P - My tolerance for gore
A moment of silence please...
Thank you!
I don't know if this means I've officially grown up or what. I mean, I still love cereal and can watch cartoons for hours. But, last night marked the death of my high tolerance for the goretastic.
Actually, the ability to withstand eye-gouging, stomach-churning gore is less a kids thing then it is a young adult thing. As a kid, you quickly shield your eyes to scary and gory things. As a teen you pump your fist with joy at the over-the-top grossness of it all.
Well as an adult I'm not only shielding my eyes but turning the channel!
Unfortunately, even reminding myself it's only a movie doesn't do much good to wipe the images away.
The murderer of my tolerance, Showtime's original scarefest, Masters of Horror.
Sometimes, the shows are funny. Last year's episode with Michael Moriarity was the best and had me giggling righteously, mostly at Moriariaty's creepy, yet tickling portrayal of a serial killer.
Okay, so I'm weird to be tickled by a serial killer.
I said my tolerance for gore has died. Not my love of the horror genre.
Other times, MOH is spooky. I still recall the weirdly haunting story of the over-sexed mutant girl. Serious proof that men will...well, watch the episode.
But last night's MOH was just plain gross. I squealed and screeched through the first fifteen minutes. Watched through my fingers the second fifteen and had turned the channel by the final twenty.
I was disappointed in myself.
I truly tried to stick out the entire hour. I did.
But the show spiraled into horrible gore that would make even the producers of Saw wince.
Use your imagination to envision how the following things were used on the human body:
*A steel animal trap
*An aluminum bat
*A sewing needle
*A six inch knife
All very innocent tools on any other show!
An obvious glutton for punishment, I went back and attempted to watch the last seven minutes. When Meatloaf (playing the main baddie) said, "I need something sharp," in a conversational tone, I knew what was what and haul assed from the channel.
I don't know if he found something sharp. And I don't care to know what he did with it if he did!
I swear, I have not been truly afraid to watch a movie since I was nine years old and my aunt Jan forced me to watch (without fingers obscuring the good stuff) late-night horror films. She introduced me to scary movies and took me to my first theatre-film, Poltergeist.
Not since those days, where I'd curl into a ball as I watched fascinated, have I felt the need to run in the opposite direction of what a scary movie has to offer. But last night...man, I couldn't take it anymore.
Geez, what next? Loving foreign films? Or only watching chick-flicks?!
Someone tell me, what is it about the human mind that makes it too sensitive, too sensible and too friggin' intuitive that it begins to process such things differently as you age?!
It's just a movie!!! I screamed to myself last night. But I was saying this AS I turned the channel to a late-night re-run of Ugly Betty.
I won't give up on the MOH series. Dammit, I've watched its predecessors - Tales from the Crypt, Outer Limits and such - without issue. And some of those got pretty darn disgusting. So, I will not let MOH conquer me.
Even while admitting I'm obviously getting less tolerant of graphic gore, I also believe (no, I know) the producers of these things are pushing the limits. They're upping the ante on gore to levels that must have censors working overtime.
I read that one of the MOH eps, for this season, was directed by a Japanese filmmaker known for his unsettling movie images. The ep was pulled by Showtime and is only available if you purchse the DVD. It was that disturbing, apparently.
So maybe it's not me.
Still, last night when that woman took that needle and...::shudder::
Yeah, it's me.
Thank you!
I don't know if this means I've officially grown up or what. I mean, I still love cereal and can watch cartoons for hours. But, last night marked the death of my high tolerance for the goretastic.
Actually, the ability to withstand eye-gouging, stomach-churning gore is less a kids thing then it is a young adult thing. As a kid, you quickly shield your eyes to scary and gory things. As a teen you pump your fist with joy at the over-the-top grossness of it all.
Well as an adult I'm not only shielding my eyes but turning the channel!
Unfortunately, even reminding myself it's only a movie doesn't do much good to wipe the images away.
The murderer of my tolerance, Showtime's original scarefest, Masters of Horror.
Sometimes, the shows are funny. Last year's episode with Michael Moriarity was the best and had me giggling righteously, mostly at Moriariaty's creepy, yet tickling portrayal of a serial killer.
Okay, so I'm weird to be tickled by a serial killer.
I said my tolerance for gore has died. Not my love of the horror genre.
Other times, MOH is spooky. I still recall the weirdly haunting story of the over-sexed mutant girl. Serious proof that men will...well, watch the episode.
But last night's MOH was just plain gross. I squealed and screeched through the first fifteen minutes. Watched through my fingers the second fifteen and had turned the channel by the final twenty.
I was disappointed in myself.
I truly tried to stick out the entire hour. I did.
But the show spiraled into horrible gore that would make even the producers of Saw wince.
Use your imagination to envision how the following things were used on the human body:
*A steel animal trap
*An aluminum bat
*A sewing needle
*A six inch knife
All very innocent tools on any other show!
An obvious glutton for punishment, I went back and attempted to watch the last seven minutes. When Meatloaf (playing the main baddie) said, "I need something sharp," in a conversational tone, I knew what was what and haul assed from the channel.
I don't know if he found something sharp. And I don't care to know what he did with it if he did!
I swear, I have not been truly afraid to watch a movie since I was nine years old and my aunt Jan forced me to watch (without fingers obscuring the good stuff) late-night horror films. She introduced me to scary movies and took me to my first theatre-film, Poltergeist.
Not since those days, where I'd curl into a ball as I watched fascinated, have I felt the need to run in the opposite direction of what a scary movie has to offer. But last night...man, I couldn't take it anymore.
Geez, what next? Loving foreign films? Or only watching chick-flicks?!
Someone tell me, what is it about the human mind that makes it too sensitive, too sensible and too friggin' intuitive that it begins to process such things differently as you age?!
It's just a movie!!! I screamed to myself last night. But I was saying this AS I turned the channel to a late-night re-run of Ugly Betty.
I won't give up on the MOH series. Dammit, I've watched its predecessors - Tales from the Crypt, Outer Limits and such - without issue. And some of those got pretty darn disgusting. So, I will not let MOH conquer me.
Even while admitting I'm obviously getting less tolerant of graphic gore, I also believe (no, I know) the producers of these things are pushing the limits. They're upping the ante on gore to levels that must have censors working overtime.
I read that one of the MOH eps, for this season, was directed by a Japanese filmmaker known for his unsettling movie images. The ep was pulled by Showtime and is only available if you purchse the DVD. It was that disturbing, apparently.
So maybe it's not me.
Still, last night when that woman took that needle and...::shudder::
Yeah, it's me.
posted by Paula at 12:57 PM
2 Comments:
Giiiiirl, I LOVE the horror genre and have for ages. I still stay up late night to catch Motel Hell or Basket Case--which was more funny than scary. Personally, I thought it was just me that was flinching at the new crop of films popping up. Hostel almost made me throw up. I can take Jason and Freddy cutting people up but now it's gotten to the point where "regular humans" are using torture tactics and if you've seen Hostel you know the scene I'm referring to with the whole eye socket thing.
I haven't seen Saw III yet but I hear it's along those same lines which made me say maybe I'll wait for PPV. And the new film La Turista looks interesting but again, it seems like the same premise as the aforementioned and at this point it's just getting to be a little too much for me. I am really attempting to stick to my fave genre seeing as they are the only movies I'll pay my $7.00 for but the whole thing is just becoming a little too ridiculous.
P.S. I was so upset when our digital went out during Halloween. I totally missed the Gorefest but did manage to catch one of my old faves, The Omen.
Now The Omen, that's a scary movie! I don't mind being scared or even creeped out. But the gore thing...the new level of torture is too real, I guess.
Campy horror and homicidal maniacs are one thing. LOL But there's something about Saw and those type of movies where it's man torturing man sadistically that I can't take.
I remember Basket Case. That thing was crazy!
I haven't seen Saw II or III. I saw the original and felt like that was probably the gist of it.
I was curious about Hostel, but never saw it. And La Turista got a luke warm review from Entertainment Weekly - so I lost some of my interest in it.
Movies here are about $9.45. So a movie has to be damn near amazing for me to pay to see it. They come out on DVD fast enough that I don't mind the wait.
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