Torture Porn Torture Porn Popular Horror after Saw Steve Jones Northumbria University, UK © Steve Jones 2013 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN: 978–0–230–31941–7 hardback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Contents List of Figures vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction: ‘Welcome to Your Worst Nightmare’ 1 Part I ‘Torture Porn’ (Category) 1 ‘The Past Catches Up to Everyone’: Lineage a nd Nostalgia 13 2 ‘Bend to Our Objectives’: ‘Torture Porn’ as Press Discourse 27 3 ‘No-one Approves of What You’re Doing’: Fans and Filmmakers 40 Part II ‘Torture’ (Morality) Introduction 57 4 ‘Your Story’s Real, and People Feel That’: Contextualising Torture 63 5 ‘Some are Victims. Some are Predators. Some are Both’: Torturous Positions 82 6 ‘In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher Is King’: Torture, Spaces, and Power 101 Part III ‘Porn’ (Extremity) Introduction 123 7 ‘Ladies First’?: Torture Porn, Sex, and Misogyny 129 8 ‘Why Are You Crying? Aren’t You Having Fun?’: Extreme Porn 150 9 ‘You Will Not Believe Your Eyes ... or Stomach’: Hardcore Horror 170 v vi Contents Conclusion: ‘Will You Continue?’: Beyond ‘Torture Porn’ 187 Notes 193 Bibliography 202 Filmography 217 Index 223 List of Figures 1.1 Yasmine’s freedom is hard won in F rontier(s) (2007, France/Switzerland, dir Xavier Gens) 19 1.2 The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011, Netherlands/USA/UK, dir Tom Six) 20 1.3 Paying tribute to horror classics: Martin claws at a car window in T he Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011, Netherlands/USA/UK, dir Tom Six), a nod to the first zombie attack in N ight of the Living Dead (1968, USA, dir George Romero). 20 3.1 The image of a typical Eli Roth fan? Poppy in Storm Warning (2007, Australia, dir Jamie Blanks) 42 3.2 Life-affirming? Jean tortures Eddie in w Δ z (2007, UK, dir Tom Shankland) 44 4.1 Kate breaks the fourth wall in the final shot of C reep (2004, UK/Germany, dir Christopher Smith) 73 4.2 Becca feels like she is being watched from afar in D ying Breed (2008, Australia, dir Jody Dwyer) 76 5.1 Playing t he innocent: Tonya in the opening of B reathing Room (2008, USA, dirs John Suits and Gabriel Cowan) 85 5.2 Jennifer hides behind her FBI badge in the final shot of Untraceable (2008, USA, dir Gregory Hoblit) 9 8 6.1 and 6.2 Parallel shots, analogous acts: Josh’s throat is slit by the businessman, and the businessman’s throat is cut by Paxton in H ostel (2005, USA, dir Eli Roth) 104 6.3 Trapped in the expansive outback: Kristie cannot evade her killer in W olf Creek (2005, Australia, dir Greg McLean) 105 6.4 Martin is attacked after discovering the CCTV monitors in Detour (2009, Norway, dir Severin Eskeland) 106 6.5 Chrissie dwells on the threshold of escape in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006, USA, dir Jonathan Liebesman) 114 7.1 Geeves castrates himself in P enance (2009, USA, dir Jake Kennedy) 136 7.2 A background figure walks away from the rape in I rreversible (2002, France, dir Gaspar Noe) 138 vii viii List of Figures 8.1 Dirty Harry comforts Nikki Hunter during her breakdown in Meatholes 2 (2005, USA, dir Khan Tusion) 159 8.2 Lexi Belle must spell ‘fellatio’ correctly to survive her trap in S aw: A Hardcore Parody (2010, USA, dir Hef Pounder) 162 9.1 One of the archetypal stand-ins for Angela in R eGOREgitated Sacrifice (2008, Canada/USA, dir Lucifer Valentine) 181 Acknowledgements Although I do not have the space here to name every individual that I would like to, I offer my heart-felt gratitude to my family, friends, and colleagues for their support, and not only in the writing of this book. I am sure those individuals know who I am referring to: I hope they also know how much they mean to me. Project-specific thanks are due to the editorial team at Palgrave Macmillan for their help and support in constructing this book. Particular thanks to Felicity Plester, who suggested compiling a mono- graph on torture porn in the first instance. My appreciation is offered to Peter Hutchings, John Armitage and the anonymous reader who kindly offered constructive feedback on the proposal for this book. My thanks also go to those at Northumbria University who enabled me to take a sabbatical to draft the monograph. Above all, I wish to thank my partner, Lydia, whose patience and support know no bounds. This book is dedicated to you, as am I. ix