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John, The usual horror movie line is that they reflect the public subconscious, so bad times haunt people in the sense that the late 1960s and early 1970s were a great time for horror films possibly reflecting all that civil unrest and anti-Vietnam angst. Run that forward to today and a lazy correlation to torture in films and global events might be found in the reaction to Abu-gharib Iraqi prisoner abuses and the general relaxation of civil rights in order to win the un-winnable war on terror. But Audition was made years ago, before 9/11! Diverting your query slightly perhaps you might consider the rise in Jihadi Snuff films, a really interesting relatively recent development in World Cinema that's been ticking over for the last few decades reaching major prominence with the death of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan. The Allied forces 'liberated' Iraq in the Gulf War 2 (note the deliberate movie sequel terminology) using 'Star Wars' technology and the terrorists/rebels/freedom fighters fought back using cameras and DVD burners. Actual death in film had previously been confined to Snuff (pretend) and Mondo (documentary) but now it has re-emerged in these films pedalling disparate political ends. Here finally are horror movies that deliver on all that PR and marketing that conventional horror films really promote, by brutally killing somebody. I might suggest that contemporary horror is counter-reacting to this extreme manifestation of the reality boom, in an age where rolling news corporations compete to show the most grisly reportage by diverting in two directions: by becoming gorier and more explicit (i.e. by using torture amongst other methods) and by aping reality (in films like Wolf Creek or Open Water). David Perilli The original of this email was scanned for viruses by the Government Secure Intranet (GSi) virus scanning service supplied exclusively by Cable & Wireless in partnership with MessageLabs. On leaving the GSi this email was certified virus-free * * Film-Philosophy Email Discussion Salon. After hitting 'reply' please always delete the text of the message you are replying to. To leave, send the message: leave film-philosophy to: [log in to unmask] For help email: [log in to unmask], not the salon. **