Debate: Is gore really horror?

Ok I was wondering. Is gore really horror? Honestly gore isn't scary, it's disgusting. Also many horror movies can be scary without gore (ie: Halloween, Exorcist, etc.). Gore is ok in horror films, but sometimes it gets out of hand. What do you guys think? Please present a reasonable argument.

Gore is just a subgenre of Horror where the bloody messy parts just gets overdone that if its not cheesy it makes a good horror film since it would inspire fear and such.

Too much gore is annoying. Example: Dead Alive

"gore isn't scary, it's disgusting."

That about sums it up, some of the best horror films don't try to actually scare you as much as they try to disgust and disturb you, and gore is a good way to do both.

Of course, if a movie has simple gore in it, it is not automatically a horror movie, some of the goriest and most disturbing films I've ever seen aren't horror (Irreversible, I Stand Alone)

Gore can also provide the difference between a good horror movie and a great one. Imagine the evil dead series if it didn't have the high gore factor. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad film but an inferior one nonetheless.

well halloween doesnt have alot of gore in some of the movies and i think its a great movie

I'm not saying gore should be used in every movie I'm just saying that it can help a movie.

true that would make halloween alot cooler

gore is humor.

Gore horrifies some people so therefore its horror! The two often come hand in hand anyway.

HEY BACKFIRE.I agree i got really disturbed in bad boys 2 because it had so much gore.Therefore gore can be disturbing.And make a movie a better one.

Originally posted by Striel
Too much gore is annoying. Example: Dead Alive

Post of the day! Gore is used to revolt people, and it's not scary..horror and being scared have more to do with atmosphere and story, not with a pile of limbs or a zombiewith a mouthful of flesh...imo anyway.

I appreciate any movie that has alot of outstanding gore.

I think a little gore can be good in a film, a lot is just boring cos its the same thing, and too much just makes the film funny and not scary

Someone needs to see cannibal holocaust. Thats you slashwristbarbi. Cannibal Holocaust is proof that Gore in excessive amounts can be artistic. First Off, Two live animals are killed on screen, if that unsettles you then dont listen to me. Scondly, the human gore is so realistic, including male genital dismemberment, violent rape with foreign objects, primitive abortion, and lots of dangling savage penises. Now i did get a chuckle or two out of it but all in all it completely unsettled me (which no film has ever done) and made me think. You have to watch it several times to get the full effect and intent of the film. The first time no matter how hard you try, the visuals will take over. The second time though when your bowels can handle the story it will really leave some interesting questions circing your head. I think everyone here should check it out with an open mind of course.

The Nasty Butler.

I forgot to mention, gore isn't always campy and fun a la Evil dead and Dead Alive. Films like the old Italian Cannibal films such as Cannibal Holocaust and New indie underground shit like AUgust underground takes Gore and vomits it into your lap with the disgusting brute force of reality. So gore in this manner is truly frightening because it is fed to the viewer in a very realistic manner.

Certainly will check out Cannibal Holocaust. But I think it depends on how the gore is handled in a film. What you described does sound disturbing, but I think in a lot of films today the gore just isn't shocking enough to be disturbing or frightening. Some gore is really good - like in May where she cuts her eye out. But I still think most isn't really scary. Most of what we see today, anyway.

Also check out german video gore flicks like Schramm and NEKROmantic. NEKROmantik is a touching story about a simple highway cleanup man who regularly gives his wife dismembered body parts to pleasure herself with. But when he brings home a whole corpse to her she runs away with it and send our protagonist on a homicidal rampage. Always when looking for interesting gore material, dont look in the mainstream. Find the deepest darkest corner of the net, like AsylumofOblivion's page to find truly terrifying gore horror. Another good sup genre, not for everyone though, is GoreNography. Basically horror porn. Brutal and savage, but so disturbing is the fact that someone actually thought of these ideas and then found otherswilling to help film these dark ideas.

Cannibal Holocaust definately is a very powerful and almost beautiful in the way it presents it's gore. It's a shame that it's so hard to find, unless you like using Ebay. I was lucky enough to get a bootleg copy from my cousin who used to be into all these types of films when he was younger.

Grindhouse Releasings should be releasing a super duper special edition of Cannibal Holocaust this year, but with the way they seem to do things, it could be much longer then originaly stated.

Nastybutlerbob, you should see the movies Irreversible and I Stand Alone, both those have great gore scenes, while they aren't really horror, they are both among the most disturbing films I have ever seen.

thanks for the tip....where can I find them? And one more time (not one last time) I will recommend August underground..on toetag pictures. Considered by most to be the first truly unwatchable film.