Resident Evil levels of gore

[Mr. Spencer]

I agree, sometimes it's not what you see but what you don't see.

[I_Am_Nemesis]

I felt RE4 was the perfect amount of gore for me, the beheadings, face melting, zombie exploding was brilliant, then RE5 went and ruined it by pretty much cutting most of the decent gory stuff (executioner scene anyone?, well except for the exploding heads. Also as for the whole imagination can be more powerful than what you see on screen, well i agree with it to a certain extent, for example the film creep, utilizes this pretty well in one scene. However I feel RE5 censored gory scenes, which to be hoenst arent that really gory in the first place, such as the executioner beheading near the beginning, a beheading isnt exactly overly gory, and i feel that not seeing the decapitation actually took away the shock factor of what the whole seen was going for in the first place.

[Wrathborne]

I agree, sometimes it's not what you see but what you don't see.

Your getting old John.

Been waiting for like 2 weeks to use this on ya!

[Dark_Chris]

RE5 is censored because of some new censoring law in Japan. They just can't make a gory game anymore even for outside world. At least that's what I heard.

[Smiley]

The level of violence and censorship really depends. Even RE1 worked with the uncensored video. Not because it was gory, but because it was better filmed than the edited video. The censored version was choppy and edited poorly. Despite that I still preferred seeing it in black and white as opposed to color because it gave off the campy vibe of a classic horror movie.

Code Veronica also didn't need over the top gore to work out for the type of game play it had. What it should have toned down on was the action during cutscenes because the bullet time effects made it feel more sci-fi action than horror. REmake was a mixed bag. This relied more on the fear of not knowing but at the same time wasn't afraid to show what these monsters could do. That's why you see a character killed by some form of monster be it Cerberus, zombie, yawn, neptune or tyrant. So situations like Barry's death from Lisa where he's knocked into a pit look terrifying but no real gore is shown. And Rebecca killed by a hunter is cut away yet you clearly see blood spatter from the swipe to her face. Then we have scenes like Kenneth and Joseph's deaths where you get that found footage point of view shot that ends with blood, but you see no more than the monsters attacking.

I did not care for the lack of gore in RE5. If you're going to go all out on action then you best up the gore factor. When they lop someone's head off with a chainsaw the cut away feels like such a cheap cop-out. Although the executioner's cut away when he chopped off Fisher's head seemed more artistic than simply showing the entire act. RE4 was better though. It went back to the campy gore look and came up with some really brutal kills. Such as Leon's face melting off or being impaled.

[Wrathborne]

^ this.

[Smiley]

Actually I can put this another way. As a film student I noted a preference in action films that were brutal and in some cases gory. The more action the more gore. But for a small closeted horror film it was best to use tension, fear of not knowing and less gore. The cut away shots worked for that.

Games aren't so different here. A small budget horror game works best with limitations (including the gore) while an all out action title can do wonders being over-the-top and brutal.

These days though there's a backwards blend. I see action films targeted for younger teens so they cut back on the brutal or bloody kills and opt instead to do quick cuts or implied deaths. Die Hard comes to mind with its latest installment. Then you have some horror stories that needn't be as gory as they can be yet with each iteration they try and become more graphic. Alien and Saw franchises come to mind.

I'm sure there's more examples out there. RE5 was trying to be that balance. Didn't deliver fully on scares or proper brutality. In fact if censored enough this could have passed for a teenage audience. I've seen Indiana Jones get away with as much as RE5.

[Rombie]

Remake didn't have exploding zombies which frankly...its odd to shoot a zombie with a rocket launcher and have it drop over dead in one peice, with an undead 'Deeeerp'.

Yeah that was what I meant by not to extremes but I do agree it is odd. But the limbs and head removals were quite realistic, as was the shifting weight of their collapse. I just like that a lot more than the comical explosions of gore in RE4, although I can understand why people like that.

[Dracarys]

I agree, sometimes it's not what you see but what you don't see.

You will not see anything as awesome as blowing off both arms of a zombie just for it to keeping running at you, knock you over and jump on top trying to eat your face.

[Wrathborne]

So Miss Dracarys...you survived the 'binning' once again.

Thought yer right,a real zombie with no arms would still be on your ass.

[Carnivol]

Actually I can put this another way. As a film student I noted a preference in action films that were brutal and in some cases gory. The more action the more gore. But for a small closeted horror film it was best to use tension, fear of not knowing and less gore. The cut away shots worked for that.

Ever done any read ups or seen interviews/commentaries with David Cronenberg, Paul Verhoeven and/or Larry Clark where they touch the subject of violence, censorship and so forth?

[Smiley]

Can't say I have. Just observations of films. Not so much listening to commentaries behind the directors. Sometimes I do. I'd imagine the intent for someone like Verhoeven based on his films (Total Recall, Robocop, Starship Troopers) implies the outlook of society towards violence and gore. At least that's my take. America in general has a censorship problem with sex, but isn't afraid to show a bullet enter someone's brain on television. I feel it's absurd.

Still the level of over-the-top violence can't be ignored. Especially when you root for the action star to overcome the obstacles that get in his way. I shamelessly admit I like brutal R rated action films so I do fall in line with my society being entertained by violence. However that doesn't suggest I would go out and perform the same acts of chaos displayed in my games or movies. A lot of people think these encourage violence where as I see it as an escape from that. In a fictional setting you can be entertained by the chaos depicted. In real life I would find it appalling. Hell, I find most reality TV appalling.

[Darkmoon]

The act of creating life is obscene and can't be shown.

The act of ending life is fine for Saturday Morning Cartoons.

[Carnivol]

The thing with Cronenberg, Verhoeven and Clark is that they are surprisingly down to earth in terms of any type of content that the ratings boards love getting their nuts in a twist about. If something's part of their narratives; you see it (just as anyone else "in the room" would see it). It's all there. No off-screen implications or PG-13-ified alternatives.

Verhoeven pretty much put it best in some interview (think it was in some interview about Robocop); "You make a movie about violence, you show what violence actually does."

Larry Clark is of course questionably just bat-shit-insane, but, hey, ask yourself if his movies would be "complete" without some of those really messed up scenes (not that his movies contain much violence, but there's plenty of other things for the ratings boards to moan about)

Cronenberg? Well ... he's just Cronenberg. 'Nuff said.

The act of creating life is obscene and can't be shown.

The act of ending life is fine for Saturday Morning Cartoons.

I was under the general impression that I saw more relationships being established than lives ended on Saturday Morning TV these days ... but maybe that's just 'cause I grew up with stuff like the Animals of Farthing Wood :/

[Darkmoon]

I may be wrong, but I don't recall ever seeing Fox and Vixen going at it. I do remember seeing Sinious being choked to death by a giant rat (or bitten to death in the books, I think), the pheasants eating some shotgun shells (and ending up roasted) and such, however.

...Animals of Farthing Wood was a harsh show.