Extreme cinema

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File:Saw movie series props (5134032571).jpg
A set of props used in the production of the Saw films, which are notorious for depicting extreme graphic violence

Extreme cinema (or hardcore horror and extreme horror[1][2]) is a subgenre used for films distinguished by its use of excessive sex and violence, and depiction of extreme acts such as mutilation and torture. The rising popularity of Asian films in the 21st century has contributed to the growth of extreme cinema, although extreme cinema is still considered to be a horror-film-based genre. Being a relatively recent genre, extreme cinema is controversial and widely excluded by the mainstream media.[3] Extreme cinema films target a specific and small audience group.[4]

History

Precursors and Early Influences

Human fascination with taboo content—violence, sex, and the transgressive—stretches back millennia. Ancient Greek theatre regularly depicted gruesome myths (deities dismembering mortals, sacrificial rites) and moral extremes, while Roman gladiatorial games broadcast real‑world violence as mass spectacle. This enduring interest laid the groundwork for modern entertainment’s exploration of extreme themes, but the true nature of extreme content in entertainment began in the early 20th century.

Paris’s Théâtre du Grand‑Guignol (1897–1962) formalized the “shock horror” aesthetic, specializing in plays rife with blood, dismemberment, and psychological terror. Its visceral on‑stage gore directly inspired filmmakers to pursue similarly explicit imagery on screen, bridging ancient taboos and modern cinematic transgression. The movie Un Chien Andalou (1929) was one of the first kinds of films that was labelled as extreme cinema.[5]

Video nasties era

In Britain, the unregulated home‑video boom of horror titles—later dubbed “video nasties” by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association[6]—prompted prosecutions under the Obscene Publications Act and led directly to the Video Recordings Act 1984. Over forty films were seized or banned, illustrating how graphic on‑screen violence had become a flashpoint for censorship debates. In Italy, Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust (1980), blended documentary conventions with animal cruelty and dismemberment. Its found‑footage realism led to legal investigations[7] and helped inaugurate the modern “found‑footage horror” subgenre, including movies such as The Blair Witch Project (1999).[8][9]

Mondo-style shockumentaries like Banned from Television (1998) and Traces of Death (1993), which compile graphic real-life deaths without educational framing, have been criticized for breaching standards of taste and some have been banned in several countries including the UK.[10][11] A 1997 incident involving a Pennsylvania woman who lodged formal complaints after renting Traces of Death drew public attention to its release.[12]

Asian Extreme era

In the late 1990's and early 2000's, Western critics coined “Asian Extreme” for a wave of Japanese and other East Asian films that combined supernatural horror with graphic violence and sexual transgression. Key early entries include Ring (1998), Audition (1999), Battle Royale (2000), Ichi the Killer (2001) and Oldboy (2003). Directors such as Takashi Miike and Park Chan‑wook pushed splatter and torture visually to new levels. Although not all films in this category reach the extremity of later entries, their violent and transgressive content helped coin the label "extreme cinema" in Anglophone criticism. This era also marked a shift where extreme content was not just for shock, but became a form of cinematic stylization.

New French Extremity and Balkan Shock Cinema

In a 2004 Artforum essay, James Quandt labeled a cluster of early‑2000s French films "New French Extremity", noting their blend of arthouse style and unrelenting body horror. Films such as Irréversible (2002), À l’intérieur (2007), and Martyrs (2008) typify this period’s formal experimentation and nihilistic violence. Irréversible became the most notable of these due to its graphic 10-minute long rape scene and graphic violence in a scene where a man beats another character to death with a fire extinguisher.[13]

In post‑Yugoslav Serbia, A Serbian Film (2010) exploited taboos of sexual violence towards children and necrophilia as bleak allegories of political and cultural exploitation.[14] This film tested contemporary obscenity laws and reaffirmed extreme cinema’s status as marginal and was banned in six different[15] countries.

American avant-garde experimental films

With the shift from physical "video nasties" to online VOD, micro‑budget directors continue to provoke bans for uncontextualized violence. The Bunny Game (2011), for instance, was banned in the UK for its depiction of a prostitute being abducted and subjected to prolonged sexual and physical violence, with the company citing that the content would risk potential harm towards the public, and would violate the Video Recordings Act 1984.[16] A similar film in this category of extreme cinema is E. Elias Merhige's 1989 cult classic Begotten.[17]

Extreme horror franchises

A few movies that were considered extreme cinema became franchises, such as Saw, which became popular due to the movie featuring various traps that would cause torture and mutilation to its victims when they tried to escape them, with the first Saw movie making over $100 million worldwide on a budget of $1 million,[18] being a strong box-office success, leading to more than 10 Saw movies and the franchise being one of the highest grossing horror franchises.

Another extreme horror film that became a franchise was Terrifier,[19] a film about Art the Clown, who became a slasher villain known for his extremely brutal and tortuous kills, which caused the franchise to be well known for its graphic violence, where the director decided not to allow any of the Terrifier films to be rated by the MPA to avoid the NC-17 rating.[20] Terrifier 3 would make over $90 million worldwide[21] on a budget of $2 million.

Notable films

Title Year Ref.
A Serbian Film 2010 [22][23][24][25][26]
August Underground 2001 [27][28]
August Underground's Mordum 2003 [29][30][31]
August Underground's Penance 2007 [32][1][33]
Act of Vengeance 1974 [34]
Alipato: The Very Brief Life of an Ember 2016 [35]
Angst 1983 [36]
Antichrist 2009 [37][38][9]
Audition 1999 [39][25]
Auschwitz 2011 [40]
Bandit Queen 1994 [41]
Begotten 1989 [40][37][42]
Benny's Video 1992 [40]
Black Friday 2004 [43]
Blood Feast 1963 [40][1]
The Bunny Game 2010 [44]
Caligula (unrated version) 1979 [40]
Caligula... The Untold Story 1982 [45]
Cannibal Holocaust 1980 [46][47][48][49][25]
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover 1989 [50]
Cannibal 2006 [51]
Crash 1996 [40][52]
The Devils 1971 [40][53]
Dogtooth 2009 [39][25]
Dogville 2003 [54]
The Exorcist 1973 [55][9]
Faces of Death 1978 [45][37]
Fat Girl 2001 [56]
Flower Of Flesh And Blood 1985 [57]
Frontier(s) 2007 [58][59][60]
Funny Games 1997 [39][61][25]
Gandu 2010 [62]
Grotesque 2009 [63]
Gummo 1997 [64]
The Green Elephant 1999 [65]
Hacksaw 2020 [66]
Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies 1994 [45]
Hellraiser 1987 [45]
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 1986 [67][68]
Hostel 2005 [45]
The House That Jack Built 2018 [69]
The Human Centipede 2009 [45][70]
I Spit on Your Grave 1978 [45]
I Stand Alone 1998 [1]
Ichi the Killer 2001 [71][72]
The Idiots 1998 [73]
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS 1975 [45]
Infinity Pool 2023 [74][75]
Inside 2007 [76]
In the Realm of the Senses 1976 [77][25]
Irréversible 2002 [45][25][9]
Julien Donkey-Boy 1999 [64]
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love 1996 [78]
Kinatay 2009 [79]
The Last House on the Left 1972 [9][80]
The Machine Girl 2008 [81]
Maniac 1980 [82][83]
Man Bites Dog 1992 [80]
Mark of the Devil 1970 [80]
Men Behind The Sun Quadriology 1988-1995 [84][85][86][87]
Melancholie der Engel 2009 [88][89][90]
Martyrs 2008 [22][24][26]
Masking Threshold 2021 [91][92][93]
Matrubhoomi 2003 [94]
Megan is Missing 2011 [95][96]
Multiple Maniacs 1970 [97][98]
Mysterious Skin 2004 [80]
Naked Blood 1996 [99]
Natural Born Killers 1994 [100][101]
Nekromantik 1987 [80][102]
Oedipus Rex 1967 [80]
Oldboy 2003 [61][103][25][1]
Paanch 2003 [104]
Pieces 1982 [105][106]
Pigsty 1969 [80]
Philosophy of a Knife 2008 [107][108][109]
Pink Flamingos 1972 [80][110][25]
The Poughkeepsie Tapes 2007 [80]
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead 2006 [80]
Rambo 4 2008 [80]
Re-Animator 1985 [80]
Relic 2020 [111]
Requiem for a Dream 2000 [80]
The Revenant 2015 [70]
Saani Kaayidham 2022 [112]
Schramm 1993 [113][114]
Snuff 102 2007 [115][116]
The Sadness 2021 [117][26]
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom 1975 [47][118][25][26]
Saw 2004 [119][1]
Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist 1997 [119]
Snuff 1976 [1]
Stille Nacht 1969 [119]
The Substance 2024 [120][121]
Suicide Club 2001 [71]
Subconscious Cruelty 2000 [122][123]
Sweet Movie 1974 [119]
Taxidermia 2006 [24]
Terrifier 2016 [124]
Tetsuo: The Iron Man 1989 [125]
Thanatomorphose 2012 [126][127]
Thriller: A Cruel Picture 1973 [119]
Trash Humpers 2009 [64]
Tumbling Doll Of Flesh 1998 [128][129]
Un Chien Andalou 1929 [119]
Vase de Noces 1974 [119]
What is It? 2005 [130]
Where the Dead Go to Die 2012 [119]
Who's Watching Oliver 2018 [131]

Notable directors

Controversy and legacy

Extreme cinema is highly criticized and debated by film critics and the general public. There have been debates over the hypersexualization that makes these films a threat to the 'mainstream' community standards.[149]

There has also been criticism over the increasing use of violence in modern-day films. Ever since the emergence of slasher-gore films in the 1970s, the rising popularity of extreme cinema has contributed to the casual violence in popular media.[150] Some criticize the easy exposure and unintended targeting of adolescents by extreme cinema films.[151]

Both Oscar winner The Exorcist and midnight movie favorite Pink Flamingos are inducted into the National Film Registry.[152] Requiem for a Dream and Oldboy were named on the BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century.[153] The behind-the-scenes look at Cannibal Holocaust was the subject of a Season 2 episode of the documentary series Cursed Films.[154][155]

At the 97th Academy Awards, The Substance was nominated for five awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Coralie Fargeat and Best Actress for Demi Moore (the former becoming the ninth woman nominated for directing).[156][157][158]

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Sources

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  • Fyfe, Kristen. "More Violence, More Sex, More Troubled Kids." Media Research Center. MRC Culture, 11 Jan. 2007. Web. 9 Feb. 2016
  • Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  • Dirks, Tim. "100 Most Controversial Films of All Time." 100 Most Controversial Films of All Time. Filmsite, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2016.
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  • Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

External links

Template:Horror film

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g "A Malignant, Seething Hatework": An Introduction to US 21st Century Hardcore Horror · Senses of Cinema
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g 10 Horror Movies So Extreme They Actually Made People Sick – ScreenCrush
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Begotten: The Most Disturbing Avant-Garde Film Ever Made – Paste Magazine
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Terrifier 3 - Box Office Mojo
  22. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ a b c d The 30 Most Extreme Movies of the 21st Century So Far « Taste of Cinema
  25. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 10 essential films from the 'Extreme Cinema' genre|Far Out Magazine
  26. ↑ a b c d Mainstream Extreme: How 2022 Made "Disturbing" Popular – Fangoria
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Extreme Cinema – Rape Squad – Flickering Myth
  35. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ 10 Extreme Horror Movies That Try To Break Their Audience - WhatCulture.com
  37. ↑ a b c Extreme Cinema: The 40 Most Disturbing Horror Movies Ever Made – PHASR
  38. ↑ (Butcher Block) Chaos Reigns in Visceral Pain in 'Antichrist' – Bloody Disgusting
  39. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Bandit Queen (1995)|Roger Ebert
  42. ↑ 'Begotten': Images Never Meant to Be Seen – Split Tooth Media
  43. ↑ Black Friday is grim yet great|Rediff.com
  44. ↑ Extreme Cinema - The Bunny Game (2010) – Flickering Myth
  45. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  46. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  47. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  48. ↑ Extreme Cinema – Cannibal Holocaust (1980) – Flickering Myth
  49. ↑ Ruggero Deodato, Director Of The Controversial Horror Film Cannibal Holocaust, Dies At 83|/Film
  50. ↑ The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)|Roger Ebert
  51. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  52. ↑ Extreme Cinema – David Cronenberg's Crash (1996) – Flickering Myth
  53. ↑ (Butcher Block) Ken Russel's Controversial 'The Devils' Is a Holy Trinity of Sex, Violence and Religion – Bloody Disgusting
  54. ↑ a b c d The New Extremism in Cinema: From France to Europe - Google Books
  55. ↑ Extreme Cinema – The Exorcist (1973) – Flickering Myth
  56. ↑ a b c Genre Trouble and Extreme Cinema: Film Theory at the Fringes of Contemporary Art Cinema - Google Books
  57. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  58. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  59. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  60. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  61. ↑ a b The 30 Most Extreme Movies of the 21st Century So Far « Taste of Cinema
  62. ↑ Gandu – Variety
  63. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  64. ↑ a b c d Trash Humpers: How a Stupid Comedy Premise Became a Truly Disturbing Movie - MovieWeb
  65. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  66. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  67. ↑ Extreme Cinema – Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer – Flickering Myth
  68. ↑ (Butcher Block) The Uncomfortable Realism of 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer' – Bloody Disgusting
  69. ↑ Extreme Cinema – The House That Jack Built (2018) – Flickering Myth
  70. ↑ a b The birth of "extreme cinema": "The Revenant" is an endurance test of suffering for Leonardo DiCaprio -- and moviegoers. But for what?|Salon.com
  71. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  72. ↑ How Ichi the Killer brought ultra-violence to the mainstream – BBC Culture
  73. ↑ Extreme Cinema – The Idiots (1998) – Flickering Myth
  74. ↑ Infinity Pool Review – An Imperfect Experiment in Extreme Cinema – The Curb
  75. ↑ ‘Infinity Pool’ Review: Extreme Sci-Fi Tale Squanders a Promising Premise – TheWrap
  76. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  77. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  78. ↑ Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1997)|Roger Ebert
  79. ↑ Extreme cinema: the transgressive rhetoric of today's art film culture 2015021892 ... – EBIN.PUB
  80. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  81. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  82. ↑ Extreme Cinema – Maniac (1980) – Flickering Myth
  83. ↑ (Butcher Block) Tom Savini's Gore Effects of 'Maniac' – Bloody Disgusting
  84. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  85. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  86. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  87. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  88. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  89. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  90. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  91. ↑ Interview with Johannes Grenzfurthner on quepeliverehoy.es; 22 November 2021
  92. ↑ "Masking Threshold: A True Macro Exploration of Existential, Ringing Madness" (iHorror); 26 September 2021
  93. ↑ "Masking Threshold: Obsession Takes Hold In This Brutal Horror Film"; review in: Film Inquiry, 26 October 2021
  94. ↑ A Nation Without Women (2003) – Moria
  95. ↑ Megan Is Missing (Movie Review)|Bloody Good Horror
  96. ↑ Some movies blur the line between shock and trauma. Here's why that's problematic. - The Diamondback
  97. ↑ Top Gross-Out Moments in John Waters Films – Antigravity Magazine
  98. ↑ Multiple Maniacs – DVD Talk
  99. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  100. ↑ Exploring the Popularity of Squid Game — When Extreme Goes Mainstream
  101. ↑ Extreme Cinema – Natural Born Killers – Flickering Myth
  102. ↑ Extreme Cinema – Nekromantik – Flickering Myth
  103. ↑ Extreme Cinema|Rutgers University Press
  104. ↑ Anurag Kashyap’s Paanch Movie Review: Flash of Brilliance – madaboutmoviez.in
  105. ↑ (Butcher Block) Going to 'Pieces' Over J. Piquer Simon's Gory Slasher – Bloody Disgusting
  106. ↑ Extreme Cinema – Pieces (1982) – Flickering Myth
  107. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  108. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  109. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  110. ↑ 10 Midnight Movies That Made History – MovieWeb
  111. ↑ What to watch at LFF: New extreme cinema|London Film Festival 2020|BFI
  112. ↑ Keerthy Suresh, Selvaraghavan are terrific in this bloody, yet focused revenge drama
  113. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  114. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  115. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  116. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  117. ↑ 'The Sadness' Review – Gory Virus Movie Goes for the Jugular With Transgressive, Extreme Horror|Bloody Disgusting
  118. ↑ Extreme Cinema – Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom – Flickering Myth
  119. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  120. ↑ The extreme body horror film prompting mass cinema walkouts around the world|The Independent
  121. ↑ 'The Substance' Review: Cathartically Fun, Extreme Feminist Body Horror – Variety
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  123. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  124. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  125. ↑ (Butcher Block) Cyberpunk and Body Horror Collide in 'Tetsuo: The Iron Man' – Bloody Disgusting
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  127. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  128. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  129. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  130. ↑ Goodbye, McFly: Crispin Glover's 'It' Trilogy and the Cinema of Reaction – Senses of Cinema
  131. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  132. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  133. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  134. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  135. ↑ Extreme Cinema – Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible – Flickering Myth
  136. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  137. ↑ Extreme Cinema: The Most Shocking Movies Of All Time – Flickering Myth
  138. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  139. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  140. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  141. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  142. ↑ Template:Cite thesis
  143. ↑ When Takashi Miike Heard He Could Do 'Anything' For Masters Of Horror, He Put That To The Test|/Film
  144. ↑ One of the World's Most Extreme Horror Movie Directors Made a 19-Minute Film for Apple|Gizmodo
  145. ↑ Sex and Violence: Journey into Extreme Cinema – Offscreen
  146. ↑ (Butcher Block) Eli Roth’s Flesh-Eating Viral Frenzy ‘Cabin Fever’ – Bloody Disgusting
  147. ↑ The 30 Most Extreme Movies of the 21st Century So Far « Taste of Cinema
  148. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  149. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  150. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  151. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  152. ↑ Brief Descriptions and Expanded Essays of National Film Registry Titles|Library of Congress
  153. ↑ The 21st Century's 100 greatest films – BBC Culture
  154. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  155. ↑ Cursed Films' Episodes, Ranked - MovieWeb
  156. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  157. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  158. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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