History

The prehistory of extreme cinema can be traced back to censorship of art films and advertising tactics to classical exploitation films to Anglo-European markets along with liberal representations of sex in the first half of the 20th Century onwards. ^[3]

The genre of extreme cinema itself is relatively short; the term was widely used until the early 2000s. The name ‘extreme cinema’ originated from a “line of Asian films that share a combination of sensational features, such as extreme violence, horror and shocking plots”. ^[4]

Controversy

Extreme cinema is highly criticized and debated by film critics and the general public. There have been debates over hypersexualization that makes these films a threat to the ‘mainstream’ community standards. ^[5]

There is also criticism of the increasing use of violence in modern-day films. Ever since the emergence of slasher-gore movies in the 70’s, the rising popularity of extreme cinema has contributed to the violence in popular media. ^[6] Some criticizes the easy exposure and unintended targeting of adolescence by extreme cinema films. ^[7]

Classification and guidelines

BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) classifies extreme cinema films into a ‘R18’ rating, which is defined as “special and legally restricted classification primarily for the purpose of consenting to”. ^[5]

Psychology

Some of the controversies surrounding extreme cinema has had its effects when exposed to the general public without proper censorship. Some studies have suggested the correlation between exposure to extreme sex and violence from the media and violent behavior and aggression in children. ^[8]

Notable movies

Some of the notable examples of this genre of cinema are Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom ^[9] and the works of Lars von Trier . ^[10]

References