Shocking Cinema and Historical Context

The torture of Alex during the project is considered shocking because it is uncomfortable to watch and the eye-horror is quite extreme, he has his eyes held open and is unable to blink.  However we don’t see any of the horrific things he’s watching and the scene isn’t very graphic. We just feel uncomfortable because he is held against his will and the mechanism holding him looks painful and uncomfortable. At time up close torture like this would not have been seen on screen, we get close ups of Alex and see his reaction and discomfort so we are able to feel how he feels and that makes the audience more uncomfortable.

In Hostel the eye-gore is much more graphic, we hear the screams of the victim and see her being brutally tortured.  Her eye is literally hanging out of the socket and that’s disgusting. It’s so graphic and insane that the audience is shocked that it would even be shown in this way, this close up and this detailed.  On top of this, the man’s attitude to the whole event is shocking because he treats the whole event as though it’s a game and laughs; this attitude to such gratuitous violence is unexpected and shocking. 
However, it also could give the scene a sort of comical feel because it is so over the top and over-acted that it takes away from the violence somewhat or makes the scene milder on repeat viewing. Not only this but as it is a torture-horror film, it’s usually expected that there will be shocking, gratuitous violence involved and that may take away from the shock.