Lions Gate Films--Hostel, John Q., and Me

I've noticed this name pop up more and more often in film previews, and it is usually NOT a good omen for the advertised movie (I'm just going by what I have seen in previews, so nobody start yelling about how I'm ignorant and am unfairly judging LGF). And now they are producing Hostel, an utterly vile movie that caters to the ****ed-uppedness of people.

Let's say that there's a Tom. Now, this Tom has two sides in him when considering this film. There's Normal Tom, who is completely repulsed by the film and wishes that it would spontaneously combust. Then there's Perverse Tom, who is drawn to this film out of horrified fascination. He wants to see it because torture is one of 'those things' that's gross and clearly evil but by which he is fascinated because there's very limited resources for learning about it (within the confines of what is considered decent).

Now, this brings me to ask the following questions:

1. Am I the only who feels this way (in the sense that I am not one of a small, perverted minority)?
2. If not, why do people like this sort of stuff?
3. Does anyone here on KMC plan on seeing this film?

Originally posted by FeceMan
I've noticed this name pop up more and more often in film previews, and it is usually NOT a good omen for the advertised movie (I'm just going by what I have seen in previews, so nobody start yelling about how I'm ignorant and am unfairly judging LGF). And now they are producing Hostel, an utterly vile movie that caters to the ****ed-uppedness of people.

Let's say that there's a Tom. Now, this Tom has two sides in him when considering this film. There's Normal Tom, who is completely repulsed by the film and wishes that it would spontaneously combust. Then there's Perverse Tom, who is drawn to this film out of horrified fascination. He wants to see it because torture is one of 'those things' that's gross and clearly evil but by which he is fascinated because there's very limited resources for learning about it (within the confines of what is considered decent).

Now, this brings me to ask the following questions:

1. Am I the only who feels this way (in the sense that I am not one of a small, perverted minority)?
2. If not, why do people like this sort of stuff?
3. Does anyone here on KMC plan on seeing this film?

Worst thread of the year..

With that said

Yes
See answer 1
No

Originally posted by KidRock
Worst thread of the year..

With that said

Yes
See answer 1
No

EDIT: Mods, please don't move this to the Horror Movies forum; I'm not asking about the film, I'm asking about people's reactions to it. Plus, the GDF is better company 🙂.

I've been hearing about it lately, and honestly, I think that the film will probably be much more tame then it's advertisements lead you to think. If it were as "horrific" or "graphic" as the advertisements would like you to believe, then it would not be getting a major release in America, and it would not be getting advertised at all. I'm expecting it to be a little bit more gruesome then your average horror film, but not by much.

Now, I've seen tons of truly depraved, horribly graphic and, even some films that I'd consider traumatic, and I love them, they're my favorite type of film. I find them fascinating and usually these films are more then just the sum of their shocks, they're out to make a valid and fascinating point about society, humanity, violence or any other number of topics, and they do so in true artistic fashion, using the violence in their films as a tool to get their point across. A film that is just plain violence with no plot, theme or message is quite boring. However, when used correctly, violence and gore can be one of the best tools for making a point in film, and getting noticed.

Now, to your questions.

I'm sure there are others who share your negative feelings about extreme shock cinema, I'm not one of them. I've a defender of films like that, that attempt to shock and disgust the viewers with honesty to make a point rather then give them mindless entertainment. I think it's an attribute that is far to rare, and one that should be nurtured and appreciated.

I think a lot of people are intrigued by the taboo. This film presents itself as a real horrible and graphic movie. The commercials are done very well in making it seem like one of the most extreme films ever to be released. As I said, this will garner interest by many people. To quote one of my favorite films, Cannibal Holocaust "People love this stuff, the more you rape their senses, the happier they are" or something like that. I think this is very true.

I'll probably go see it, just so I can see what the fuss is about. Though I doubt it will be anywhere near the true cinematic monsters I've seen, such as Irreversible, Men Behind The Sun, Salo, Audition, I Stand Alone, Cannibal Holocaust and The Guinea Pig series, I'm hoping it will be at least decent for a modern mainstream horror film.

Also, I really disagree with your dismissal of LGF, they've been responsible for some of the best, and bravest horror films of the past few years, and should be applauded for giving some of these great films a chance to be released, when they otherwise wouldn't be because of cowardly mainstream Hollywood.

I also disagree that graphic and disturbing films only cater to the "****ed-uppedness of people". Many of these films have a lot of artistic merit and cater to a variety of people who like them for a variety of reasons.

http://forums.lgf.com/showthread.php?t=1526

Here you can see if the film really is "that" gory, disturbing, etc. (I myself haven't the courage to even click the links.)

What are the the other films you mentioned like? Very gory, intense torture scenes, or just worse overall?

The clips weren't very graphic, most of them cut away before anything actually happened. Still, didn't look anywhere near some of the other films I've seen.

The other films I've mentioned are all different. Irreversible has the most horrific and realistic rape scene ever caught on film, along with a very amazing and graphic death involving a guys head and a fire extinguisher. Men Behind the Sun had some torture scenes, but mostly scenes involving real life cadavers that were really shocking. Audition had a major torture scene at the end, Cannibal Holocaust is infamous for containing real animal cruelty and deaths, which got it in some hot water. Guinea Pig is really really gory, two of the films in the series are just fake snuff films. Salo is pretty much known as the big daddy, the ultimate taboo movie, has numerous scenes of rape, humiliation, torture and gore, along with just some really gross stuff, like eating human feces and such. However, all of these movies do what they do to make a point, and have an artistic reason for containing the scenes that they do.

didnt LGF like produce the Saw Movies...theyre just feeding into what people want to see. 😬

Originally posted by a1hsauce
didnt LGF like produce the Saw Movies...theyre just feeding into what people want to see. 😬

After doing a bit of research on this film, I hate to say it, but I am very, very interested in seeing it.

junk food for a sadistic mind.
i'll pass 😬

Heh, I find your Sig and your post Ironic...

Originally posted by Tptmanno1
Heh, I find your Sig and your post Ironic...

no rabbits were harmed in the making of this sig 😛

i dont mind cartoon violence for the sake of humor.
its when the point of a film is to be as shocking and graphic
as possible, just so people will say "OMFG!!!11"....just seems
like mindless crap to me. but i never said it should be banned
or anything like that. just that i want nothing to do with it

I've never seen a movie who's real point was to just shock people as you have claimed. Almost always there is a deeper artistic reason for those shocks. Hostel doesn't seem to be any different. From reviews that I've read the shocks are a tool to make some point or another.

Originally posted by BackFire
Irreversible has the most horrific and realistic rape scene ever caught on film, along with a very amazing and graphic death involving a guys head and a fire extinguisher.

Audition had a major torture scene at the end

I am DYING to see these 2.. sadly here in the Bible Belt movie places dont carry these kinds of films.. due to being both foreign (most people here just cant be f*cked to read subtitles 🙄 ) or anything non rated or rated higher than a straight R

Both are outstanding films, two of the best horror films I've seen. You can get them both online pretty easily if you're having trouble finding them. A new DVD of Audition was just recently released and it's pretty cheap (like 12 bucks) and is available at major stores (best buy, ect).

But yeah, both are definately worth the trouble to find.

In the case of America, I guess it's little more than a case of art reflecting life. This is the kind of entertainment you should expect when you have a president who - until just recently - condoned torture as a means of getting answers. The old 'Bush is bad' mantra is easy enough to laugh at, but rather disturbing when it happens to be true.

It is also rather hypocritical that someone who has openly celebrated some of Bush's more dubious actions, finds fault in a movie that reflects the nature of the country Bush has created.

On a slightly tenuous note; watch what you want.

Originally posted by Ya Krunk'd Floo
In the case of America, I guess it's little more than a case of art reflecting life. This is the kind of entertainment you should expect when you have a president who - until just recently - condoned torture as a means of getting answers. The old 'Bush is bad' mantra is easy enough to laugh at, but rather disturbing when it happens to be true.

It is also rather hypocritical that someone who has openly celebrated some of Bush's more dubious actions, finds fault in a movie that reflects the nature of the country Bush has created.

On a slightly tenuous note; watch what you want.

oh FFS.. I am no fan of Bush but one has NOTHING to do with the other.. yes art imitates life & vice versa.. always has & always will.. it has nothing to do with Dubya..

Not to mention that these types of extreme films have been around for decades, way before Bush was even getting his first DUI. And most of them aren't even from America.

If you had done your research, you would have found that the horror genre has been one of the most successful genres of last 4 years. Of course, there has always been horror films, and indeed many are from other countries, but the correlation between an overly aggressive government and an increase in the graphic nature of many movies remains. The nature of a society is reflected in its art.

If you agree that there is a relationship between art and life, then I suggest you replace your current brain-bulb and get yourself illuminated because something isn't connecting properly. What you are saying is: "Yes, art imitates life, but not in this case" - this is what is called a contradiction. If the relationship exists, then this is an effect of the current US government. Whether it is direct or not, makes no difference.

It seems to be the plight of stupid people to recognise a particular phenomena, but fail to connect it to its cause. Try harder.

But you're making a connection where there may be no connection. You're just assuming that correlation = causation, which isn't always the case. "Bush is in office right now, thus this movie is influenced by him and his government" is hasty and may or may not be true. You'd have to wait until you actually see the movie to say that for sure. Because there are many other aspects of this society, and life in general, that movies deal with, they aren't always about the president or the government at all. The only thing that really makes sense with the connection is the whole torture thing. But I think that's more of a coincidence seeing as the film was being made, and the idea had, way before that controversy took place.

The idea for Hostel, was influenced by a website that Eli Roth discovered which claimed that you could go on a "torture vacation", for $10,000, and torture people. It was probably just some dumb roleplaying thing, but Eli thought it was interesting and took off with it, making a "what if it was actually real" thing. Assuming that the film is inherently connected to Bush, or anything specific other then the website mentioned above, is hasty, especially seeing as none of us has seen the film yet. It's a possibility, yeah, but it isn't as sure-fire as you make it seem.

I'm not connecting the US governments actions with this specific movie, but rather that the culture of violence that permeates from the White House has an affect on the society that bears witness to it.

You can see the influence everywhere - the aftermath of Katrina, the treatment of minorities, the treatment directed towards strangers, the current rise of fundamental religious beliefs trying to infiltrate the educational system, the treatment of 'prisoners of war', the reaction towards Americans abroad, and - yes - the movies.

It is an overt truism to say that the most powerful government in the world has a powerful impact on people's lives.

You'd be naive - or ignorant - to think otherwise.

(I'm not directing that last comment directly at you, Backfire)