It’s a bit sad that the ‘Torture-Porn’ genre ever got any traction in the first place, but such is the evolution of things. With ‘Captivity’ doing so poorly in its debut this weekend (and the last installment of 'Hostel' doing so badly) it looks like audiences have had their fill of movies about gruesome and slow ways to kill someone that you (or an antagonist who represents you in a movie) have kidnapped -- that is, until the next iteration of this plot that’s just different enough we have to see it.
The names being invented to describe this new sub-genre are far more engaging than the movies themselves. I like the combo of: gore + porn = ‘Gorn’. It’s not as pretty looking as torture-porn but it’s more fun -- short, sweet, and doesn't require that you type the word 'torture' so much -- nice.
'Captivity' may not have done well, but this Pandora’s box has been opened and there’s no turning back. Each year from now on we can look forward to the next installment(s) of mindless, pointless, and almost plot-less excursions into the juvenile fantasy (posing as motion picture entertainment) of kidnapping and torture. And every year the blogosphere will object, but less and less vehemently as time passes, until, years from now, no one bothers to mention that the latest gorn is nothing more than an exploration of drugging, kidnapping, torture, and rape.
We find ourselves undergoing the inevitable decline that awaits all societies (in the past or future, on this planet or another) whose members possess that double-edged attribute known as Human Nature. I don't suppose anyone is to blame for that. Whatta you gonna do?
