Of all the subgenres within Horror, Torture Porn had to be the one I’ve always avoided, and the one I was least excited about approaching. The image I had in my head of the subgenre from the limited amount that I knew of it was a stylized gruesome bloodfest that lived up to its name as a fanservice. Most of this is from getting it confused with slashers and splatter films; while otherwise some of these elements are true for the subgenre, there’s a lot more that goes into it than I realized.
I will say, watching Saw (2004) for the first time, I ended up being into it a lot more than I thought.
Of course I was quite squemish and didn’t care for many of the very defining features of the film, I found myself on the edge of my seat during the chasedowns, the wrestling combat scenes, as those caught my attention and thrilled me. I was genuinely invested in the outcomes of said scenarios.
We witnessed many difficult choices having to be made, and this film serves yet another example of the deterioration of man in another context.
Many horror films and dramas, especially the ones I’ve been seeing in the past ten weeks, contain the overall theme of crumbling under extreme pressure, whether that be in a collaborative/societal setting, or by your lonesome. These men being pressured by revolting circumstances, terrifying phone calls from your family on the verge of being murdered, all while getting little to no answers have all the steps to cause a person to have their well-being absolutely collapsed.
What got me the most and had me re-evaluating myself was the fact I was cheering in the ending when Adam finally got the guy that was putting them through this misery… or so he and I thought.
While I knew there was no way it was that simple, it still gutted me deep when the man that had his head repeatedly beaten over with a cement block was just another victim. Plus the fact that I’ve been wanting and waiting for at least one victim to attack back (granted, this is how I feel through a lot of horror movies), and I started off (key word, started) cheering at one of the most violent outbursts in the film.
On top of this, the man conducting the game that everyone was looking for was in the middle of the room with them the entire time. Finding out that you were being watched, both from outside and the inside, especially in defeat when it’s too late to react. Yet again, deterioration of the mind through the worst possible circumstances.
Had Lawrence been in his ending situation several hours beforehand, not facing the pressures of time and hearing gunshots over the phone on his family’s end, maybe he would have thought to use the saw to drag the phone closer to him instead of cutting his entire ankle off and thinking he could live to make it up the stairs before bleeding out.
This also raises the question, at this rate, what is the value in escaping? Would you be “grateful to live” if it were through deceit and terror?
And where does it stop? Let’s say a person was terribly traumatized from an experience with Jigsaw’s games, maybe to the point of either suicide or substance use (which Jigsaw has punished people for both circumstances). Overall living in misery. Would Jigsaw see that and feel the need to punish them again because they’re not frolicking in flowers singing “oh it feels good to be alive”? Would he feel that his work is done or would he feel the need to do more? Is it a one time thing? Maybe I’m just new to this franchise and thinking too much into it.
On this note, I perceived Jigsaw’s motivations as… interesting.
What I have gathered from my first ever viewing of Saw is that the killer has terminal cancer and therefore sees anyone else’s hardships as below his, which draws him to punish said people in very elaborate and planned out ways. Jigsaw really is the kind of guy to say “you have no right to be sad because I have it worse. I have to suffer, therefore so shall you.”
What a fucked up way to say “life’s too short” to someone that cheated on his wife, or with depression or a drug addiction.
Aside from my judgement towards the main antagonist and questioning some of the others’ decisions, my respect and ability to take Torture Porn seriously has moderately increased upon learning its role in commentary towards the War on Terror, post 9/11 events and overall torture tactics present in times of war. Looking at these films through this lens as I’m watching it for the first time turns me towards a modern-day context, given the current events the world is facing in Iran and Ukraine.
With that being said, I wonder even further why people enjoy watching this stuff with a voyeuristic pleasure. Perhaps it’s that knowing that this kind of thing could happen to anyone is a part of the thrill.