Consisting of gruesome images and no character or plot development, the horror genre has changed immensely from what it used to be.

Today’s horror films have escalated quite a bit within the past 50 years when it comes to violence and brutality. Currently, filmmakers can show just about anything on camera. Films such as “The Green Inferno” and “The Human Centipede” are perfect examples. For those who have never heard of these films, they consist of little-to-no story but a lot of blood and gore. The correct terminology for this is “torture porn.”

The recent release of “The Green Inferno” has caused a lot of buzz in the film industry. With constant rumors of it being one of the most gruesome films to date, the film is able to provide truth to those statements. The film shows frequent scenes of a tribe of cannibals harvesting off of student activists whom, ironically, saved the tribe from being demolished by bulldozers tearing down the rainforest. The films shows a range of graphic images from eye removals to a person being eaten alive.

“If you go to the cinema to experience images and feelings you don’t get in your day-to-day life, then The Green Inferno certainly delivers,” Matthew Parkinson said in a review on Cinemarter.

Take a look at the classic film “Psycho.” Alfred Hitchcock created a beautiful masterpiece with one of the most famous scenes of all time. The film does not consist of constant images of dismembered limbs or slit jugulars. It contains an actual story line with great acting and cinematography. Another great example is “The Shining.” Although there is a scene with a tidal wave of blood flowing out of an elevator, the film does not stray from the biggest necessity of a great film, the plot.

Since its release in 2006, “Hostel” has made $80,578,934. The film by none other than Eli Roth is one of the biggest torture porn films in history, although nowhere near comparable to inferno. This film, just like “The Green Inferno” has very little plot and multiple scenes of discomforting graphic images. Even with all of this nonsense, the film was still able to make $80 million with a production budget of only $4.8 million.

It is baffling to think about why we pay to see such graphic content in movies. Perhaps it is because we are able to see all the brutality up close but are not actually in danger ourselves. Maybe some of us just enjoy watching others get hurt. Either way, horror is not what it used to be and waiting for it to come back may be hopeless.