by Natalie Faulk

Created on: October 26, 2007

There has been a revival as of late in the genre of shock exploitation films. Originated in the late 60's and early 70's, exploitation films were originally "morally challenging,"
giving the audience a shared complicity in what it is viewing. (Harris, 2007). Typically full of sex, drugs, gore, freaks, and monsters, for example, these films pushed the boundary of mainstream cinema, even developing a cult following to this day.

Current shock films are more laden with gore and torture than their predecessors. Rob Zombie made a name for himself in the film genre with "House of 1,000 Corpses" and its sequel, "The Devil's Rejects." Borrowing from the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" formula of inbred-family-in-Texas-tortures-and-eats-unsuspectin g-victims, films such as these have inspired a new generation of fans.

It is widely accepted that early shock films were made with only one goal in mind: to shock the audience. The earliest film to garner such praise, or infamy, is Wes Craven's first film "The Last House on the Left." Shot in 1972, this film featured graphic and brutal scenes of sexual abuse and murder; and with its re-release on DVD in 2003 has amassed a whole new generation of fans. (Lee, 2007).

With the advent of computer generated imagery such films have the potential to push the bar even further. Eli Roth's "Hostel" and "Hostel 2" are easily the most pervasive exhibit of graphic violence ever to be seen on the big screen. Very graphic torture, complete with overly-realistic sound effects have launched this genre of film into an entirely new dimension. Called "splatter films" in the 80s due to the proliferation of blood and gore, today it is almost the norm for horror cinema, and the fans can't be happier.

Early shock exploitation films are widely thought to have gotten their start by the macabre interest of people with respect to the human body's vulnerability and "theatricality of its mutilation. (Wikipedia, 2007). The first cinematic appearance of human body mutilation and on-screen gore can be seen as early as 1916 in D.W. Griffith's film "Intolerance." Ultimately, the use of special effects in creating excessive amounts of gore gave director George Romero artistic license to coin the genre "splatter cinema" particularly descriptive of his film "Dawn of the Dead." Frequently, "splatter cinema" is confused with "slasher films." The primary difference is the amount of visible gore, thus giving "splatter" its descriptive moniker.

It is these splatter films which "revel

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