Released Tuesday, August 10, 2010

“This
documentary is about a website that engaged in the commercialization of
bondage and sado-masochistic imagery and performances. It in no way
represents bondage and sado-masochism as practiced by many adults in
their private lives.”

In recent years the horror film industry has created the term
torture porn. When you hear the term, it usually applies to that
sub-genre of film where there are intense depictions of torture,
mutilation, and most often death. Eli Roth’s Hostel films are likely the most cited examples, with the Saw
franchise often referred to in that manner. It’s most often used in a
derogatory way. It’s a style. It’s decried by many. Still, these films
do good business. For most folks, they’re what you might call a guilty
pleasure. But what if these films didn’t go quite so far? What if there
wasn’t so much blood as there was torture. What if the woman clearly
suffered almost immeasurable pain, yet never really died or suffered
permanent damage? What if it were real? What would you call it then?
There are over 35,000 people out there who called it Insex.

Let’s start out by explaining that Graphic Sexual Horror is
not a horror film at all. It’s a documentary created by Barbara Bell
and Ann Lorentzon, who were associated with Insex. The film is a quite
candid look inside the world of one of the most famous websites of its
kind. The site depicted scenes of incredibly graphic torture of real
women, often through live video feeds. Now before you start to think
that I’m describing the plot of some new horror film, there are a few
things to make clear here. All of these women were paid, quite
handsomely, for their performances. They signed rather extensive
waivers and were capable of stopping the torture at any time. After
watching the documentary, you might have reason to question that last
statement, and we’ll explore that later. For now, it’s important to
understand that we’re not talking about women who were grabbed off the
streets and tortured to death by some maniacal serial killer. And it
was all the brainchild of a guy known at the time as PD aka: Brent
Scott, a one-time professor at Carnegie Mellon University. At the
height of its popularity, the site was serving 35,000 paid monthly
subscribers.

The documentary interviews a large number of the models who worked
for the website over the years. They talk about what path led them to
the site. They also talk about their feelings concerning the material
they were producing as well as the ordeals they were enduring. Of
course, the common theme was the incredible amount of money that was to
be had. Thus brings up the rather gray area of consent I mentioned
earlier. Models were given waivers where they were able to put in
writing what their hard limits might be. You might be amazed at where
those limits could be found. A very powerful clip on the film shows an
interaction between a model and Brent during a live feed. He slaps her,
which was one of her specified hard limits. Meanwhile she was more than
willing to have vises put on her nipples or electrical current zapped
to her genitals. She did not want to have her face slapped. When Brent
crosses this hard line, we discover that consent is an iffy matter. She
can say stop. But it will mean exhibiting a sign of weakness. More
importantly, it will mean giving up a job that can pay as much as
$2,000 for one live feed. The girls clearly understood that stopping a
session likely meant they would not be invited back. So, the question
becomes one of: “Is there a dollar amount that effectively negates
consent?” The documentary does a fine job of exploring both sides of
the question.

As for Brent himself? I have to say that I found him to be somewhat
of an A-Hole. He certainly comes off looking like some kind of a
nutjob. That doesn’t mean he isn’t smart. The film contains a ton of
clips, usually short, where you’re taken behind the scenes of a shoot
or live feed. It’s obvious that Brent was affected by the huge amounts
of cash as much as the girls. Still, he’s seen to be enjoying torturing
the girls. He taunts them relentlessly. Yet, you’ll find that many of
the girls harbor only fond memories of the guy. I’m sure there’s a
syndrome name for it somewhere. All in all, the girls appear to have
left the experience no worse for wear. Of course, what emotional
baggage or scars they carry is a harder thing to judge without having
met them before their experience with Insex. I find it hard to believe
there isn’t some weight they carry from the experience. Some of them
had drug troubles, likely fed by the copious amounts of cash they were
earning. Yet, it appears that in at least one case Brent was
instrumental in helping a girl get clean. He does appear to be
safety-conscious, and no girl was ever seriously injured.

Insex was eventually closed down by the government. It was one of
those roundabout methods, but hey, tax evasion got Al Capone behind
bars, didn’t it? So, you never know how they might come at you. Brent
and his people didn’t face a criminal court, although he admits here he
expected to. Instead, the feds sent intimidating letters to the credit
cards and banks linking violent porn sites with terrorism. Running very
much afraid of that label, the banks cut off the site’s ability to
process those 35,000 members. Before long the industry’s life-blood of
green cash was cut off, effectively putting them out of business
without ever stepping foot in a courtroom.

Finally, it’s important to understand that there are some graphic
images here as the title implies. Frankly, it’s nothing worse than
we’ve seen on tons of fictional films and without the buckets of blood.
Yet, these images are often far more disturbing. There is plenty of
nudity, but this film is not pornography. You won’t see any real sex
acts going on here. The focus is the girls and their pain. There is one
full frontal on a dude that I always find disturbing, but he’s not
engaged in what most of us would define as a sexual act. I found the
film did an excelent job of keeping the focus on the people and their
own insights. It is this trait that made this a more comfortable film
to review and include here. But be fairly warned. This film is not for
everyone. There are no punches being pulled here. Most of these clips
are quite disturbing. But, isn’t that the point? Barb and Ann are
making a powerful point in all of this bondage and suffering. It’s a
point worth spending some time to experience, if you have the stomach.
You won’t forget these images, but it won’t be because you were turned
on by them, whatever your particular bent.

Video

Graphic Sexual Horror is presented in its original aspect
ratio of 1.78:1. You always have to take into account that this is a
documentary and not really something where image presentation is going
to stand out. The website clips vary in quality, but they are fine, for
the most part. There were some compression issues. Nothing that took
away from the overall experience. The new interview material looks
rather sharp with true color and nice contrast.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 is strictly for the dialog.

Special Features

Deleted Scenes: There are 4 including an alternate
ending where Brent is trying to traverse a road that really isn’t there
anymore. The guy does some damage to his vehicle, including a piece of
a tree sticking out of the grill. Unfortunately, there is no play-all
option.

Model Interviews: Again there is no play-all, and
many of these pieces should have just run together. It’s a tedious way
to watch sometimes just 30 seconds of video.

Interview With Barbara Bell: (8:29) Barbara is
sitting in a garden talking about some of the key points of the
production. There are some really obvious jump edits here, so it should
be considered rather raw footage.

Trailer

Final Thoughts:

Here at Upcomingdiscs, we make it a very strong point that we do not
review pornography. I often get sent titles that I believe cross that
line enough to keep out of our pages here. I watched this film
carefully, fully prepared to omit any mention once I was finished
viewing the film. This film makes a valid exploration into the minds of
the people who participated in this culture. It is not a “how to” film.
The intent here really is to provide insight. I thought it would be a
close call. It really wasn’t. At worst, the film is “borderline crazy, which is always interesting”.