Bodily mutilation in film describes the apparent mutilation for theatrical purposes of a character in a film. Bodily mutilation is most usually portrayed in the context of horror, but is also used in other genres, such as medical dramas or war films. It is used primarily either to shock or fascinate the audience of a film, or to add a sense of realism to a film. Improved special effects in recent decades have seen an increase in the prevalence of bodily mutilation in film.
Brief history
Early years
In the early years of motion picture, horror was often used in order to attract and intrigue audiences. To frighten and fascinate the audience was the goal. Lon Chaney was well known for his portrayals in various horror films, but the subject in focus is his use of makeup to create his ghastly visages. He was known as “the man of 1,000 faces.” (Rickett 2000) Chaney was arguably one of the forerunners of makeup use in horror films. Some others include actors Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr. But it was the man behind their makeup, Jack Pierce, who made them what they were (Rickett 2000). While these movie makers didn't make films rife with violence and mutilation, their influence on later film makers was great. Early horror movies focused on suspense and monsters but as realism has progressed, movie makers have focused more on realistically portraying the horrible fate of whoever is unfortunate enough to fall victim to the fell devices.
Advent of horror
Although there was a boom of monster and alien flicks in the 50s and movie makers using make up more for realistic depictions of violence and gore in the 60s, the advent of realism in horror as we now know it arguably began with the 1973 film The Exorcist. This was the first of its kind as far as special effects used realistically to portray gruesome scenes. This movie, created by director William Friedkin with make up master Dick Smith directing the effects set the stage for countless other such films to be made. After the release of The Exorcist and its subsequent popularity scary movies began to shift and the violent horror flick became a major genre. With effects greats Kevin Yagher, Dick Smith, and Tom Savini behind such classic horror films as Friday the 13th (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Halloween (1978), and Dawn of the Dead (1978) this genre gained immense popularity (Rickett 2000). This craze peaked during the 80's went down a little in the 90's but with the movie Scream (1996) horror movies were back in. As special effects continue to get better, so the horror films continue to grow even more violent, gruesome, and realistic in their portrayals of human mutilation as can be seen in the recent Saw films (2004,2005, 2006, 2007) as well as others such as Hostel (2005) and Hostel: Part II (2007). However horror films are not the only movies that have worked to realistically portray bodily mutilation.
War Films
War movies have often romanticized battle and violence for glory; but after the Vietnam War, many movies worked to portray war in its true form, all the violence, brutality, and even the psychological distress included. This is shown in several films including The Deer Hunter (1978) and Casualties of War (1989). A great example is the classic film Saving Private Ryan (1998). In the beginning of this movie there is a 15-minute scene showing the landing of American troops at Omaha beach. In this scene there are untold amounts of blood and gore as German machine guns literally rip the U.S. soldiers apart achieved through bullet hit squibs. Other war movies such as Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Enemy at the Gates (2001), and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) work to show the effects of battle on the human body.
Modern Media
Nowadays, you can find body mutilation in many different kinds of movies. Some of the more common examples are in movies or shows that depict hospital or law enforcement. As hospital and police movies and TV shows gain popularity and attempt to make the situation more real, they have utilized techniques to make operations and crimes as realistic as possible. This includes breaks, burns, cuts, surgery, and violent attacks. This portrayal is often graphic, but accurate. Regardless of intent, movies have progressed greatly from the early years of Chaney and Pierce in the realistic portrayals of bodily mutilation.