Episode 04: Extreme Horror & Ethics of "Unwatchability"

This episode was recorded on July 11, 2023 and posted on August 12, 2023.

Content Warning: Light vulgarity, discussions of extreme and disturbing media.

Introduction

• Welcome to No Bodies Episode 4
• Introductions to your Ghosts Hosts with the Most - Lonely of Lonely Horror Club and Projectile Varmint aka Suzie of Horror Movie Weekly
• Introductions to our guest - Jay of the Dead host of Horror Movie Weekly & JOTD's New Horror Movies, movie critic extraordinaire, podcasting master, & dear friend
• Today's Topic: Extreme Horror & Ethics of "Unwatchability"

Extreme Horror Discourse

• Our experiences with extreme horror
• Defining extreme horror and exploitation horror
• "Is it extreme horror?" rapid fire
• Historical lens of extreme & exploitation horror
• Ethics of making & consuming extreme media
• Censorship in horror media
• Jay's perspective on balancing horror & faith

Worst & Best Representations of Extreme Horror

Spoilers ahead!

Unwatchable Lists

• Salo: 120 Days of Sodom (1975) - Jay & Lonely
• August Underground (2001) - Lonely
• The Human Centipede (2009) - Suzie
• A Serbian Film (2010) - Jay & Lonely

Worst

• Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) - Jay
• Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - Suzie
• The Sadness (2021) - Lonely
• Eden Lake (2008) - Lonely

Best

• Martyrs (2008) - Suzie
• Kidnapped (2010) - Jay
• Eat (2014) - Jay
• Raw (2016) - Lonely

Suzie's Deep Cuts

• Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
• Ichi the Killer (2001)
• The Girl Next Door (2007)
• Megan is Missing (2011)

Other Extreme Examples from Jay

• Feed (2005)
• The Bridge (2006)
• The Act of Killing (2012)
• The Corpse of Anna Fritz (2015)

Final Thoughts

• As extreme horror continues to grow in popularity, are we risking becoming desensitized to violence?

Thank you to our guest!

• Follow Jay's podcasts Horror Movie Weekly and Jay of the Dead's New Horror Movies.

Keep Up with Your Hosts

• Check out our instagram antics and drop a follow @nobodieshorrorpodcast.

• Projectile Varmint - catch Suzie on Horror Movie Weekly with our dear friends Jay of the Dead, Mister Waston, and Channy Dreadful. Suzie also runs the HMW Instagram @ horrormovieweekly.

• Lonely - read more from Lonely and keep up with her filmstagram chaos @lonelyhorrorclub on Instagram and www.lonelyhorrorclub.com.

Original No Bodies Theme music by Jacob Pini. Need music? Find Jacob on Instagram at @jacob.pini for rates and tell him No Bodies sent you!

Leave us a message at (617) 431-4322‬ and we just might answer you on the show!

Sources & Additional Reading

Kerner, A., & Knapp, J. (2016, June 17). Extreme cinema. De Gruyter. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781474402910/html?lang=en

Lewis, J. (1970, January 1). Hollywood v. Hard Core. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/hollywoodvhardco00lewi_0/page/198/mode/2up

Phillips, K. R. (2022). The ethical edge of a chainsaw, or how horror invites us to ponder the limits of our exprience. Media Ethics Magazine. https://www.mediaethicsmagazine.com/index.php/browse-back-issues/218-spring-2022-vol-33-no-2/3999383-the-ethical-edge-of-a-chainsaw-or-how-horror-invites-us-to-ponder-the-limits-of-our-experience

Splatterpunk for dummies, or defining the genre for those who love horror fiction. FANGORIA. (2023, January 13.). https://www.fangoria.com/original/splatterpunk-for-dummies-or-defining-the-genre-for-those-who-love-horror-fiction/

Szabo, S. (2023, March 7). Horror movies banned for being too disturbing. Looper. https://www.looper.com/4613/horror-movies-banned-disturbing/