Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 : Horror, Exploitation, and the Cinema of Sensation / Aaron Michael Kerner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kerner, Aaron Michael, Author.

Series:

War culture.

War Culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sadism in motion pictures.

Torture in motion pictures.

Horror films--United States--History and criticism.

Horror films.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (268 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Saw, Hostel, The Devil's Rejects: this wave of horror movies has been classed under the disparaging label "torture porn." Since David Edelstein coined the term for a New York magazine article a few years after 9/11, many critics have speculated that these movies simply reflect iconic images, anxieties, and sadistic fantasies that have emerged from the War on Terror. In this timely new study, Aaron Kerner challenges that interpretation, arguing that "torture porn" must be understood in a much broader context, as part of a phenomenon that spans multiple media genres and is rooted in a long tradition of American violence. Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 tackles a series of tough philosophical, historical, and aesthetic questions: What does it mean to call a film "sadistic," and how has this term been used to shut down critical debate? In what sense does torture porn respond to current events, and in what ways does it draw from much older tropes? How has torture porn been influenced by earlier horror film cycles, from slasher movies to J-horror? And in what ways has the torture porn aesthetic gone mainstream, popping up in everything from the television thriller Dexter to the reality show Hell's Kitchen? Reflecting a deep knowledge and appreciation for the genre, Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 is sure to resonate with horror fans. Yet Kerner's arguments should also strike a chord in anyone with an interest in the history of American violence and its current and future ramifications for the War on Terror.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1. Torture Porn: From 9/11 to the Multiplex

2. The Torture Porn Genre: Key Tropes

3. Some Antecedents: Sadism, Exploitation, and (Neo-) Slashers

4. The Saw Franchise: Videogames and the Sadistic Pro(an)tagonist Jigsaw

5. The Hostel Films: Consuming Bodies

6. "I Think We Took a Wrong Turn . . ."

7. Soft-Core, and Beyond Torture Porn

Notes

Bibliography

Filmography

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 21. Dez 2019)

ISBN:

0-8135-6404-2

OCLC:

913869369