Ditto... Ditto... And ditto...

I can't watch rape, torture, or exploitation... They will disturb me and keep me up for DAYS!

That being said, I always read discussions around these movies - Reviews, feedback... Because I like absorbing the culture and world around horror movies - what's out, what's hot - Trends and reactions within horror fans and in movie-watchers in general - I can only peer into it through reading posts on here, for example, but can't watch a Serbian Film by myself.

And as for "real life" violence/death - Oy, I can barely bring myself to watch The Act of Killing, let alone smut like Faces of Death...

I think it comes down to I actively avoid movies that I know will disturb me and make me unhappy. Martyrs took me by surprise and I don't want that to happen again...

I have no horror filter. Depravity and torture are inherently horrific and should therefore be embraced as aspects of the artform. I do however have an artistic sensibility that precludes any horror movie that disrespects the medium. Medium first, subject second.

You have me curious, what's one horror movie that has disrespected the medium?

Saw III

I think everyone hit on some of the things I would have said regarding the appeal of these films. Some of it is actually just for fun because some of the over-the-top gore and splatter is very hard to take seriously especially when the movie is absurd all the way around. Another point that was given was that I like facing all the horrible things in this form because I sure as heck can't stomach it in any other. I found it very interesting that a few people had the same stance as I do - I can sit there and watch blood and gore all day long, but if you show me something real then I may lose my lunch. My family used to make fun of me, "You can sit there and watch a person's throat get slit, but you see an ambulance on the side of the road and you are reaching for your gum so you don't vomit. You don't make sense." In a way, it makes sense because I know what's on screen isn't real, isn't final. I don't know that when I pass a car wreck or what-have-you. One other thing I would say about the appeal is that I, personally, kind find beauty in very, very dark disturbing things. Some of what is displayed on screen - color choice, camera angles, actor expressions, etc. - can be breathtaking in that depiction of horror, pain, and death. I know it sounds awful, but there is a perverse beauty to some of it.

My main interest in horror movies have always been the paranormal type story lines, but I've always loved gore as we see it in movies such as Re-Animator, Evil Dead, Braindead and so on... stick someone with a needle and they lose enough blood for 3 people. That kind of stuff doesn't bother me.

I do however find it more and more difficult to watch movies involving detailed, realistic torture. Especially after chronic pain entered my life... now I avoid that kind of movies almost completely. I find that I regret it every time I watch one, and struggle to erase the images from my mind. That kind of movies are not nescesarily GORY as such, though.

Witnessing horror, like riding a roller coaster, stimulates a chemical in our brain that is a mixture of both danger (fear of violent death) and pleasure (our personal safety). Some find their comfort zone (e.g., Hammer horror, the Aliens franchise) and stick with it while others need their thrill constantly ratcheted up like a drug addict.

Eventually the supernatural may not satisfy their craving and they may expand to the smut and torture horror films you describe (as well as less savory mediums) to get a "fix."

Scary Movie also comes to mind.

Yeah, that sums up my formative horror years. Now, I'm a compleat junkhead searching for horror bits in everything from indie underground sleaze to mundane cartoons. All day, every day. It's amazing I find time to workout five times a week (while watching horror movies of course).

Must stay fit for the impending zombie apocalypse. HDC salutes you.