Why do you like gore/extreme violence?

[Spartan005]

A couple years ago I made a thread called "Anyone else here HATE horror movies," which got a lot of responses. Unfortunately, I never actually explained why I hate them so much. Stupid plots and bad acting aside, I'm sick of seeing people being brutally murdered on screen for no reason.

I just recently decided to watch all of the death/torture scenes from saw VI out of curiostiy, but everytime they came on I just got mad. The last death scene shows someone slowly melting in half from acid while screaming in pain for about a full minute. When it's finally over his torso seperates from his legs and his intestines slide out onto the ground. The whole time it was playing all I could think was "WHY THE F*** DO PEOPLE ENJOY THIS."

And this isn't coming from some religious nut job either. I'm a 19 year old guy who likes haunted houses, and thats about it. ]

Anyway, I'm really curious about this. I've posted the same question before on other sites, but no one has really come up with an answer yet. So, why do you like gore?

[Spooky1]

The only gore I like in movies is the type that is so over the top, that is actually funny (Evil Dead II, Dead Alive). I don't like or watch the "Torture Porn" type movies.

[sickNtwisted]

Torture porn just pisses me off. I'm a monster movie type of gal.
I hate that when people hear the word horror they automatically think of those stupid slasher films. Horror movies have been around way before the advent of torture porn.
There are many wonderful films and sub-genres within the horror world that don't contain that level of violence or sadism.

[Regions Beyond]

As sickNtwisted said, there are a lot of sub-genres of horror, and not all are gory: try films like say,The Orphanage, original Nosferatu, The Changeling, etc etc....being creepy is a rare thing but does occur, on it's own merits.

I like me a good, gory, disgusting movie though as well as long as it is 'well-made'. Movies after all, are not reality...the first Saw and to and to an extent, the second, were well made. They dealt also with the personality of the killer and human elements, drama, choices....after the 2nd, they just got more and more dull and scattered. I like over the top, ridiculous gore in a movie where it's clear the filmmakers are having fun with it (Evil Dead II, Dead Alive, Machete), not taking it too seriously. But it also has a place in giving texture or selling the world of a film. Examples of this, to my mind, include films like Ravenous (a re-telling of the Wendigo myth and the western U.S. in pioneer days), Pan's Labyrinth (dark fairy tale about war and human nature with supernatural elements as well), and Sleepy Hollow (got to expect severed heads there...).

Horror films need not be all about gore, but they shouldn't be all about cheap scares or the unseen horror either. The best horror films mix all the elements together to create unease or tell a story about humans in a frightening situation.

[Da Weiner]

I like the ghost/haunted genre of horror films. Slasher films never really did anything for me. I think the only slasher that I liked was Freddy Krueger - mostly because he came to you in your dreams.

With regard to your question about gore/extreme violence - I think it's like a car wreck - you can't help but look. It could be curiousity that gets the best of us and how they can make it look "real" on film. I do remember watching the "Faces of Death" videos a very long time ago just to see what real death looked like or to actually see what can happen instead of having it described to you or through the eyes of a director or a newspaper article.

It's funny how we as Americans are shielded or advised that a graphic scene is going to be shown on tv (maybe because it is a real life graphic picture of someone and hard for us to understand how this could happen) but when it comes to a fictional gore film, it is the director's insight that can pull out all the stops through special effects that we can watch. But, then again, that is why they call it fiction. This is just my interpretation of why people enjoy a gore/violence movie.

[morbid mike]

I like all the horror movies I love death,destruction,violence,and pain I dont know why but I like it i also laugh at skate boarders who fall and crack their heads open this action come's from my hatred of punk@$$ skateboarders....a few of my fav movies are the devils rejects,house of 1000 corpses,jeepers creepers,good fellas,casino,and scarface....I am sick and twisted for some reason but harmless kinda like Jeff Dalhmer LOL

[sickNtwisted]

Haha! Like Jeff Dahlmer! My kind of humor :)

[GOT]

Do you remember Misery? Do you remember how gut-wrenching it was to see a foot turn sideways when it got whacked with a sledge hammer? No blood. It didn't rip off and stick to with wall, slowly sliding down leaving a trail of blood and bone fragments. The foot just turned sideways and we all screamed. It's all in the story-telling. Those without stories, go gore galore for cheap thrills. I don't care for it ether and keep it out of my haunts. P. S., I hate that much of this stuff now makes it onto TV. Don't show a boob, but you can show bloody torture to our kids.

[Allen H]

I am not a fan of Slasher movies or "torture porn". I like monster movies.
When I do haunts, I avoid what I call "CNN Haunts". That means if you can see it on CNN then you wont see it in my haunted house. You wont see people killing people, there is always a supernatural element. People hear about murderers and rapists all the time on TV they dont need it in their entertainment as well. If you see a mutilated body in my show then nearby there is evidence that a werewolf killed him, or whatever my featured creature happens to be. Someone can walk into my haunted house and not see a display that remins them of their uncles suicide, or their best friends car accident.
That being said, Im glad there are haunts out there that are the other end of the spectrum. I want folks to have a choice, I want there to be all aspects represented. The show you have and the stories you tell make your haunted house show your personality. I love going through a haunt and learning about the mind that put it together.

[jaege]

I guess most of the fans of that genre are ashamed to admit it. I am not a fan myself. The old "B" horror flicks are my preference.

[sickNtwisted]

I enjoy watching gore (when it's well done) to see if I can see the 'strings'. As a make-up effects artist gore doesn't bother me because I know how it's all done. Which is why I can find it very entertaining and most gore out there is soo unrealistic that it's laughable.