Shubhabrata Dutta
Torture is the most inhuman thing invented by humans. And yet, the kind of popularity that slasher movies have garnered over the years is mind-bending because it is inexplicable. Why we take such pleasure in seeing people being brutally killed might still be a mystery, but it doesn’t change the fact that we do, and that too to the extent that we use the term “torture porn,” which means torture that excites us. A whole genre has formed out of this, and while we do not know the extent to which such torture porn is convenient, here we bring you the top movies that incorporate them heavily. Some of these movies can be streamed on Amazon Prime, Peacock, tubi, and Vudu.
17. The Girl Next Door (2007)
‘The Girl Next Door’ takes torture porn horror to a whole new level due to its plot. Directed by Gregory M. Wilson, the film tells the story of Meg Loughlin (fictional counterpart of Sylvia Likens counterpart) from the eyes of David Moran, who recounts the harrowing experience of his childhood. Loughlin was his crush, who was abused and killed by her aunt. The film is based on Jack Ketchum’s 1989 eponymous novel that tells the true story of 16-year-old Sylvia Likens, who was tortured, raped, and starved for three months by her caregiver and a group of boys before she succumbed on October 26, 1965. ‘The Girl Next Door’ cast includes Daniel Manche, Blythe Auffarth, Blanche Baker, and Graham Patrick Martin. You can watch ‘The Girl Next Door’ here.
16. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
A film that technically pioneered the slasher genre as we know it today, ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ is directed by Tobe Hooper, who faced many difficulties while making and distributing it. Despite receiving mixed reviews at the time of its release, it is today considered one of the most influential horror movies of all time. Isn’t this the case with any movie that was ahead of its time?
In the film, we follow five friends/hippies traveling through Texas. After running out of gas, they decide to explore an abandoned house that, unbeknownst to them, is the home to a trio of cannibalistic brothers. One of these is the now-popular sinister character Leatherface, known for his weapon of choice, the chainsaw, and the mask he makes out of the skin of his victims. What follows is the friends trying to escape the murderous siblings, failing to do which results in the most painful and gruesome death. The movie kickstarted a franchise that includes sequels, comic books, and even video games, all of which are still being made. The cast includes Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen. You can watch the film here.
15. Hostel (2005)
Directed by Eli Roth, this film centers on a trio of friends whose cross-country Europe trip takes the form of a deadly game. When the three bachelors decide to explore a Slovakian hostel and its lusty women, they find themselves trapped in a torturous underground extravaganza carried out by a secret cult that gets paid by wealthy sadists to torture innocent tourists. The only way to live is to find a way to escape or die trying. The film has two sequels, ‘Hostel: Part II’ (2007) and ‘Hostel: Part III’ (2011), both of which follow the workings of the sinister cult. ‘Hostel’ stars Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eyþór Guðjónsson, Jennifer Lim and Barbara Nedeljáková. You can watch it here.
14. The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)
An independent body horror flick directed by Tom Six, this bizarre movie follows a mad German surgeon who decides to make a human centipede by “joining” (stitching) three tourists, whom he has kidnapped, mouth-to-anus and surgically connect them so that they have one digestive system. If reading this makes you feel disgusting, wait till you see the movie. It stars Dieter Laser, Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie, and Akihiro Kitamura. There are two sequels, ‘The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)’ and ‘The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence),’ available. You can watch ‘The Human Centipede (First Sequence)’ here.
13. A Serbian Film (2010)
Directed by Srđan Spasojević, ‘A Serbian Film’ is a Serbian flick that garnered a lot of controversy due to its sexual content and graphic violence that, frankly speaking, should be close to impossible for any sane human to sit through to the end. It follows a guy named Miloš (Srđan Todorović), an almost-retired pornstar, who is lured into doing a porn film by an independent pornographer named Vukmir (Sergej Trifunović). However, Miloš soon realizes Vukmir’s sadistic nature as he forces Miloš to perform in front of kids as well as indulge in paedophilic acts that seem to have no bounds. The film ultimately ends with Miloš going on a killing spree. The film involves more very gruesome scenes and acts that can be inappropriate for some viewers. So discretion is advised. You can watch it here.
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12. Tetsuo the Ironman (1987)
Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto, this Japanese surrealist cyberpunk body horror movie deals with sexual fantasies underscored by metal. We follow the Salaryman who, after being involved in an accident, finds his body parts turning into metal and even has metal fetish dreams. He ends up killing his girlfriend while having sex, thanks to his sex organ that has transformed into a drill. Later on, it is revealed that the victim of the accident the Salaryman was involved in has caused all this. The two eventually merge and take the shape of a vast metallic monster, setting off to turn the whole world into metal. The only way for you to digest what you have just read is to watch the movie. It uses a lot of practical special effects (known as Tokusatsu in Japanese) that add to its overall impact. You can watch the film here.
11. Guinea Pig: Devil’s Experiment (1985)
The first of a six-film franchise that deals with pure torture, ‘Guinea Pig: Devil’s Experiment’ uses a found-footage style to show three men who torture a woman in ten subsequent stages as an experiment to test the human body’s tolerance to pain. The stages involve striking, pinching with pliers, fingernails ripping, maggots, and incisions. The sequels incorporate more violence, including dismemberment and followed by murder. Horrifyingly and brutal, the film belongs to a class of its own due to its practical approach.
10. Blood Feast (1963)
Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, aka the Godfather of Gore, ‘Blood Feast’ follows Egyptian immigrant Fuad Ramses (Mal Arnold), who uses the cloak of a catering business to hide his sadistic act of killing women. He is using their body parts and blood to make a stew (the “blood feast”) that shall resurrect the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, the goddess of love, fertility, and war. A weird story incorporating death and dismemberment with weirder performances makes ‘Blood Feast’ a singularly peculiar addition to this list. You can watch it here.
9. Inside [A l’interieur] (2007)
A French slasher directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, ‘A l’interieur’ (‘Inside’ in English) follows an unnamed madwoman (Béatrice Dalle) who intrudes on the home of a pregnant woman named Sarah (Alysson Paradis) to take her unborn child. This is after the unnamed woman loses her unborn baby in the aftermath of an accident that involved a pregnant Sarah and her husband, who too died in it. A lot happens before the two women go one-on-one with each other, including the brutal deaths of the cops who come to check on Sarah and Sarah’s mother. Are you sure you want to watch this one? If you are, then you can watch it here.
8. Society (1989)
A body horror comedy that is no less than a satire on the Beverley Hills elite, ‘Society’ is directed by Brian Yuzna. It follows a guy named Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) whose doubts about his wealthy family turn out to be true in a bizarre way after an audio tape of their murderous orgy reveals that they, as well as Bill’s rich friends, are not even humans and can suck the insides of a person, killing him/her/them. Sounds interesting? You can watch ‘Society’ here.
7. Braindead (1992)
Before Peter Jackson made ‘Lord of the Rings,’ he made ‘Braindead’ AKA ‘Dead Alive,’ a splatter comedy that shows how the bite of a Sumatran rat monkey (the result of monkeys raped by plagued rats) from Skull Island, turns Vera (Elizabeth Moody), mother of Lionel (Timothy Balme), into a ravenous zombie and spreads the virus to other people in the neighborhood. Whether Lionel and his partner Paquita (Diana Peñalver) can escape from the monstrous Vera is what we find out in this box-office-bomb-turned-cult-classic Roger-Ebert-hated gruesome flick.
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6. Saw X (2023)
This is the tenth part of the horror film franchise ‘Saw,’ directed by Kevin Greutert. It follows John Kramer (Tobin Bell), the main antagonist of the Saw films, who has developed brain cancer. But when the brain surgery he underwent turns out to be a scam, Kramer decides to rain his torturous wrath on those responsible. These include five people who tricked him into saying yes to the surgery. Once he abducts them all, he begins his pain game. To tell you what the game involves would ruin the film for you. But it does involve pipe bombs wired into arms, leg severing with a saw, skull drilling, blood waterboarding, and more like the image above. Get the idea? So we request you to watch it, as torture horror porn remains incomplete without a ‘Saw’ film. You can watch it here.
5. Ichi the Killer (2001)
Directed by Takashi Miike, this Japanese horror flick is based on Hideo Yamamoto’s manga series of the same name. It follows a psychologically damaged man named Ichi, who is manipulated into killing factions of the yakuza by a guy named Jijii. The catch? Ichi becomes sexually aroused when enraged, something that Jijii uses to turn him into a brutal assassin who inflicts pain on his enemies in the most violent of ways. Banned in several countries due to its level of brutality and gore, ‘Ichi the Killer’ is today considered a commentary on a world where protection cannot exist without violence. Read that again. The film is based on Hideo Yamamoto’s manga series, which was first published in 1993. You can watch it here.
4. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
An Italian cannibal film directed by Ruggero Deodato, ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ adds another ingredient to torture porn, i.e., violence towards animals. Showed in found-footage format, the film follows a group of filmmakers who burn a bunch of Amazon tribespeople to death for the sake of their film and even rape an indigenous girl and then kill her too. As revenge, the makers are brutally mutilated and killed by the tribe, one by one. How? Well, we don’t want to ruin the disgusting feeling for you. The film reels are found by an anthropologist, Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman), who then reveals the footage to the broadcasting executives and us, the viewers. You can watch it here.
3. Salo or 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Set in the fascist Republic of Salò (1943–1945), this Pier Paolo Pasolini directorial follows four wealthy corrupt men – the Duke, the Magistrate, the Bishop, and the President – devoid of moral principles who kidnap 18 teens, including their own daughters, and exploit them in the most sadistic of ways, including genital torture and violence, all as a part of a debauched ritual. While the film is a torture porn flick at face value, it is a clear satirical commentary on Italy’s fascist regime. ‘Salo or 120 Days of Sodom’ is a loose adaptation of Marquis de Sade’s 1785 novel ‘The 120 Days of Sodom.’
2. I Spit On Your Grave (1978)
A rape-revenge drama directed by Meir Zarchi, ‘I Spit On Your Grave’ garnered a lot of controversy due to its violent depiction of rape that goes up to 30 minutes. The ironic nature of being the worst film ever and a cult classic earns the film a spot on this list. It follows Short story writer Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton), who is gang raped by four men and left for dead. However, she survives and ensures that all the men die horrific deaths, giving us some of the best revengeful ways to kill a man, including severing his genitals and disemboweling him with a boat propeller. You can watch the film here.
1. Funny Games (2007)
This psychological horror film is a remake of the 1997 Austrian film of the same title, both of them having been directed by Michael Haneke. ‘Funny Games’ follows two serial killers, Peter and Paul, who are out looking for victims. They take the Farber family hostage in their lake house and start playing a sadistic torture game of survival with them, with a timer set to the following day. No amount of hope can help you cope with what happens in this movie that stars Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Devon Gearhart, Michael Pitt, and Brady Corbet. You can watch ‘Funny Games’ here.
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