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Criticism
The genre has received significant criticism.
Billboards and posters used in the marketing of
Hostel: Part II and Captivity have drawn criticism for their
graphic imagery, causing them to be taken down in many
locations.
Director Eli Roth has claimed that the
use of the term "torture porn" by critics, "genuinely
says more about the critic's limited understanding of
what horror movies can do than about the film
itself", and that "they're out of touch."
Horror
author Stephen King defended Hostel: Part II
and
"torture porn" stating, "sure it makes you
uncomfortable, but good art should make you
uncomfortable."
Influential director George A.
Romero has stated, "I don’t get the torture porn films",
"they're lacking metaphor."
The term “splatter film” is often confused with
“slasher film.” While there is often overlap, many
slasher movies, like Halloween (1978), are not
considered splatter films because they don’t have enough
on-screen gore.
Other films, like Maniac (1980), The
Prowler (1981), The Burning Moon (1992) and
Haute
Tension (2003) can fall into the splatter subgenre.
Scenes of splatter also appear in other genres. Some
examples are El Topo (1970), a western, and Kill Bill
(2003), a revenge-thriller.
Many chambara films, a
subgenre of samurai movies, contain elements of
splatter, where excessive amounts of blood spray from
arteries. Examples include Shogun Assassin (1980) and
Lady Snowblood.
Splatter film or Gore film
Selected splatter film directors - Herschell Gordon
Lewis
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