Oh boy. Another torture movie.
Take HOSTEL, remove the story, amp up the nastiness and gore and you've got GROTESQUE. Yes, this movie is disgusting. Yes, it is often painful to watch. The effects are excellent. The mood is grim. The performances are convincing.
SO WHAT? Is there ANYTHING new here? Is there any point beyond being "the sickest movie ever made?" When FLOWERS OF FLESH AND BLOOD came out twenty years ago, it was unexpected. The mysteriousness regarding its origins and the weird and seedy atmosphere helped make it an infamous underground horror movie. GROTESQUE is too slickly made to appear to be a snuff movie. Any semblance of "is this real" is dashed by the professional photography.
Torture movies have become commonplace and have lost virtually all their notoriety. Now they're just boring. Perhaps to a non-horror fan GROTESQUE might be the most horrifying thing they've ever seen. But what non-horror fan would seek out or watch the movie? GROTESQUE is a big, big bore. Yet another pointless freakshow that horror geeks can boast about having seen. "Oh my God, man. The dude cuts this chick's nipples off. It's brutal, man." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever.
Take HOSTEL, remove the story, amp up the nastiness and gore and you've got GROTESQUE. Yes, this movie is disgusting. Yes, it is often painful to watch. The effects are excellent. The mood is grim. The performances are convincing.
SO WHAT? Is there ANYTHING new here? Is there any point beyond being "the sickest movie ever made?" When FLOWERS OF FLESH AND BLOOD came out twenty years ago, it was unexpected. The mysteriousness regarding its origins and the weird and seedy atmosphere helped make it an infamous underground horror movie. GROTESQUE is too slickly made to appear to be a snuff movie. Any semblance of "is this real" is dashed by the professional photography.
Torture movies have become commonplace and have lost virtually all their notoriety. Now they're just boring. Perhaps to a non-horror fan GROTESQUE might be the most horrifying thing they've ever seen. But what non-horror fan would seek out or watch the movie? GROTESQUE is a big, big bore. Yet another pointless freakshow that horror geeks can boast about having seen. "Oh my God, man. The dude cuts this chick's nipples off. It's brutal, man." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever.