MovieChat Forums > Hei tai yang 731 (1988) Discussion > Historical Movies Depicting Human Attroc...

Historical Movies Depicting Human Attrocity vs. Hollywood Horror Schlock


Ok before this gets started don't drag the animals into this.

Many people are comparing this movie to movies such as Hostel and the Devil's Rejects, but this is made in a very different context. These events actually did happen. Now I do consider myself to be fond of gore movies and have seen plenty of them, but a movie like this strikes a chord that movies of pure fiction can not.

If you're watching this solely because "1 HeRdS M@n BeH1nD t3H sUn 15 teh BROOTALZ!" Then don't comment.

You really can't compare something that portrays historical events to a story created just for entertainment of those who want to see fictitious sadism. Another thing, don't compare the effects in this movie to more modern movies because that argument in and of itself is ridiculous. A lower budget movie made in the 80s will logically not have effects comparable to a movie produced almost twenty years later with the aid of CG and all that juzz. This movie exists on a different context from today's "torture porn" genre which exists solely to titilate teenagers. Seriously, with a little research a movie like this will hit you harder than any special effect or fictitious story.

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Sergeant D, you might like this article about the "25 Most Disturbing Films": https://www.greencine.com/central/disturbingfilms1

I like the author's discussion into what makes a movie "disturbing" and includes a lot of films that are extremely difficult to watch, like 120 Days of Sodom, but say really important things about the society that the auteur was living in when he made the movie. So yes, we can freak out about how gruesome/sadistic these movies can be but we should also hold them up for their artistic and moral values they are trying to convey. I haven't seen this film yet but it's on my list - thank you for your insights!

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