Since you don't like films that feature actual cruelty to animals does that mean you would of walked out of Cannibal Holocaust?

... now you know after seeing you talk about it... i HAVE to go and see it..

I'd argue that Hostel was trying to be about something as well - it's just that Eli Roth's not quite enough of a talented filmmaker yet to successfully explore it. But certainly the first half of the film, before the torture and violence creeps in, is scarier and more interesting than what comes after, as is the scene with the American businessman.

Anyway, as culturally relevant as it may or may not be, surely the whole torture thing's been played out more than enough by now - when can we have a resurgence in gross, gloppy 18-rated monster movies, please?

I liked Hostel, it was stupid and empty but it was very enjoyable fluff and it was nice to see a nasty horror film for once.

Martyrs looks very good.

I'm really not at all interesting in seeing movies in which the key activity is people being intentionally cruel.

I believe that there is a significant difference between the cathartic role of being frightened through horror, and the effect of depictions of extended and explicit infliction of physical or psychological pain. The former helps us to connect more fully to our shared humanity, but for most people the latter has a dehumanising effect, diminishing empathy and encouraging a tendency to relate to others not as people but as objects.

Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that there is no place at all for the depiction of cruelty in movies. There are many films in which it's role is key in depicting just such dehumanisation in the characters involved - many movies about war and the holocaust come to mind.

Horror should provide a safe outlet for our anxieties - and there are plenty of those around right now. I'm tempted to argue that many of the issues are rooted in the problem of evil in a monotheistic paradigm, which leads to shadow projection rather than integration and transformation - but that would doubtless have me exiled to Pseud's Corner.

As Kurtz says towards the end of Apocalypse Now "It's impossible for words to describe what is is necessary, to those who do not know what 'horror' means."