# Do you like thrillers with really sadistic, brutal criminals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954 "2025-06-21T21:59:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/21 "2025-06-22T01:23:08Z")
Written fiction is okay with me. I don’t like the gory sadism on the movie screen. ---
**Author:** ![justdoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@justdoit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justdoit)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/22 "2025-06-22T01:32:29Z")
I don’t like it either. SIlence of the Lambs and No Country for Old Men are the most brutal I can tolerate, and I had to watch them in parts, not all at once. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/23 "2025-06-22T01:41:21Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Is a given character doing this for money? Or revenge? Or a political cause? Or to keep his kid out of prison? Or any one of half a hundred other things? Sure, I’ll watch a character brutally kill someone for an interesting reason; I watched every episode of COLUMBO, and didn’t care how brutal the kills were or weren’t; the brutality wasn’t the point. > > Is he doing this because he’s just the kind of guy who enjoys inflicting pain on an innocent? That’s — not really interesting, to me. Brutality for some other reason? Tell me a story. Brutality for the sake of brutality? _That’s_ the story? Yeah, I’m less interested in that story. I mean, you really have to work for it, at that point; I’m not saying you can’t get there, but, jeez, it’s an uphill climb. For me it’s the exact opposite. I enjoy a good creative slasher movie. _Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Hatchet_, and so on are some of my favorite horror movies. But it’s the unreality of the whole situation in those movies that allows me to enjoy them as entertainment. When real world things start to get added in, like with _The Purge_ and its inclusion of politics, or true crime shows, then I lose interest. The way I look at is something like this. I get enough real life in my real life. I want my movies to be so over the top that there’s no mistaking them for reality. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/24 "2025-06-22T02:19:46Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I watched every episode of COLUMBO, and didn’t care how brutal the kills were or weren’t; the brutality wasn’t the point. > > Is he doing this because he’s just the kind of guy who enjoys inflicting pain on an innocent? I really doubt any episode of Columbo featured the sorts of depravity I’m talking about here. And, yeah, a lot of these killers just seem to be portrayed as sociopaths, with no real explanation ever given as to why they did what they did. > [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I enjoy a good creative slasher movie. … > > I get enough real life in my real life. I want my movies to be so over the top that there’s no mistaking them for reality. Yeah. Personally, I’m not a fan of slasher movies. But I can appreciate some over the top violence like in Bullet Train. Or Ash vs the Evil Dead. Or - like I said - shows about violet criminals like The Sopranos or Peaky Blinders. But nearly every day in the paper I read about senseless violence. I wonder why people desire to watch it for enjoyment. There is so much emphasis on the terror of the helpless victims. Just adds to the ugliness around. Whether or not there is a hero and the perpetrator gets their comeuppance. Yet a show like SVU is (IIRC) quite successful, garnering many awards. Maybe we should bring back gladitorial games and public executions… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/25 "2025-06-22T02:23:23Z")
Sadistic, brutal criminals don’t improve the story for me. The threat of of numerous deaths and imagined suffering is sufficient for the necessary level of trauma. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/26 "2025-06-22T02:28:26Z")
Yep. (To the title question.) Reading one person here say that the torture scenes in Dept Q were too much for them made me start watching the show. The darker the better. I love all that stuff. (No animal cruelty though, specifically dogs. I won’t watch that.) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/27 "2025-06-22T15:10:16Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Written fiction is okay with me. I don’t like the gory sadism on the movie screen. Same here, my tolerance for explicit violence in writing is much higher than on screen. Which brings something else up; that there’s a difference between a villain _being_ a “brutal sadistic criminal” and explicitly _showing_ the brutality. It’s perfectly possible to have an antagonist do extremely nasty things to people without splashing it all over the screen in a closeup. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/28 "2025-06-22T15:53:21Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > . Quote a lot of them feature brutal, sadistic killers Though they are all pretty much “pantomime villains” I have never been remotely disturbed by even the most sadistic bond villain. As I’ve got older (and had kids which I assume it relates to) my tolerance for “dark” content has gone wayyyy down. I would not go near the kind of movie described in the OP. Even before that, when I did watch horror movies, I never had much time for slasher or serial killer movies (Silence of the Lambs excluded because it’s such a good movie). There’s a really evil guy doing horrible things to people, ok sure that’s a thing that happens, why would I watch a movie about that? ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/29 "2025-06-22T16:21:54Z")
To answer the original question, my answer is NO. We have too many sadistic, brutal criminals in real life that I don’t care to see them as entertainment, or support giving them any new ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/30 "2025-06-22T16:29:59Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > The darker the better. I love all that stuff. Thanks for the honest response. I know these boards skew, but given how popular such stuff is, I’m surprised more folk haven’t agreed with you. Are you willing to explain why you enjoy such material? What thoughts an emotions it brings out in you? Can you explain why you enjoy something VERY dark over something similar that is less dark? I have no desire to criticize. I simply wish to understand. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Which brings something else up; that there’s a difference between a villain _being_ a “brutal sadistic criminal” and explicitly _showing_ the brutality. I get that. But I’m not sure how it adds to the story if, instead of a serial rapist/killer - possibly even of children, the killer rips his victims’ eyes out and mutilates their genitals before finishing them off. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/31 "2025-06-22T16:31:25Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > There’s a really evil guy doing horrible things to people, ok sure that’s a thing that happens, why would I watch a movie about that? To each their own tastes and all that, but that’s why I think the slasher movies are enjoyable. It’s because that’s a thing that **doesn’t** happen in real life. There are no real life versions of Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, etc. That’s what makes those kinds of movies, as opposed to true crime, or horror that involves political themes (things like _The Purge_), or movies that feature a fictionalized version of Donald Trump or even just some generic fascist leader, easier to enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/32 "2025-06-22T16:31:39Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But it strikes me as odd that really brutal rape, torture, mutilation, and murder is presented as “entertainment.” I feel the same. I love stylized, fast-paced violence, beautiful combat sequences like the _John Wick_ series or _Kill Bill,_ and I enjoy a good psychological thriller. But I can’t do the sort of intimate human cruelty that torture entails. It’s very triggering. Serial killers are right out. And certain Tarantino movies. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be physical torture to be upsetting. All it requires is someone powerful being cruel to someone powerless, and I cannot. Torture horrifies me, I’ve lost sleep thinking about people who have been tortured. I’m not great with sexual assault either. I enjoyed the _Homicide Hunter_ series because it doesn’t sensationalize violence and the investigator it centers on, Joe Kenda, is very candid about how doing the job strained his marriage and traumatized him beyond repair. He had released a longer special on Max/HBO and I was super pumped until I saw it was his one serial killer case. So that’s out. He said making the show was therapeutic for him, when conventional therapy failed him. And I think writing the book was good for him too. Interestingly, my threshold for books is much higher, although often the stuff in books strains credulity. I read the first Reacher novel out of curiosity and the bad guys were so over the top and the punishment so extreme I really thought it was funny, actually. I do find it’s easier for me to handle that stuff if it’s way out there. ETA: I also write violence, including sexual assault, and torture scenes in my own books! Figure that one out. I guess because I have complete control it’s a sort of facing my fear exercise. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/33 "2025-06-22T16:40:21Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Interestingly, my threshold for books is much higher, although often the stuff in books strains credulity. I read the first Reacher novel out of curiosity and the bad guys were so over the top and the punishment so extreme I really thought it was funny, actually. I do find it’s easier for me to handle that stuff if it’s way out there. Exactly! For me at least, villains like Freddy Krueger are so over the top that they no longer trigger. That’s a good way of putting it. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/34 "2025-06-22T16:46:04Z")
I don’t think I would be bothered by a slasher movie like that, personally, but the genre doesn’t really appeal to me, either. A gory death is fine if it’s over quick. This has confused some people about what I can and cannot handle in movies. I convinced my uncle to finally watch _The Raid: Redemption_ which is a very, very brutal movie and possibly one of the best movies ever made for the sheer elegance of its storytelling through pure action. He was like, “Holy shit, this is amazing! Wait, _you_ can handle this?” Admittedly it’s right at my personal threshold, but yeah. There are some cringe moments but they mostly involve just a few seconds of gore and then you move onto the next thug. For me, the issue is not violence. It’s _cruelty._ ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/35 "2025-06-22T16:48:05Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Are you willing to explain why you enjoy such material? What thoughts an emotions it brings out in you? Can you explain why you enjoy something VERY dark over something similar that is less dark? To be honest I’m not entirely sure why I like that stuff. I want to see how far the boundaries can be pushed maybe? To see just how fucked up humanity can get? I guess I like feeling disturbed and grossed out when I know it’s not real. Those types of films have never given me nightmares. I can feel for the people in the film but it just doesn’t bother me on any deeper level. Ever since I was a child my favorite movies and books have always been horror and psychological thrillers. When I was 9 my favorite film was **Psycho** and I would read tons of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. I was really interested in special effects makeup and had a subscription to Fangoria so stuff like the **Terrifier** series is entertaining to me because I’m impressed with the practical effects. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/36 "2025-06-22T16:48:33Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > He didn’t torture them. He’d restrain them while they were unconsconsious. They’d awaken Saran-wrapped to the table to see photos of their victims above them so they’d know why they were there, then Dexter would give them a mighty stab to the heart, off-camera. The anticipation was what made it so horrible, but really, very little was shown. Seriously?! I turned that off in the middle of the first kill because I assumed that guy was gonna be turned and that the whole show was a torture fest. Does it show torture at all? ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/37 "2025-06-22T16:49:31Z")
I cannot watch anything with sadistic, brutal criminals acting out. I just don’t find it entertaining. My tolerance for the written genre is similar. This probably why I don’t watch much television or view many movies these days. That said, I have watched some of these kinds of programs/movies in the past but had to cover my eyes of skip ahead which is just not entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/38 "2025-06-22T16:56:06Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Yet a show like SVU is (IIRC) quite successful, garnering many awards. I watched a lot of SVU and the appeal to me, frankly, was watching people, law enforcement especially, who actually gave a shit about sexual assault victims. For many, it’s a wish fulfillment show for trauma survivors. The victims are believed, the criminals get justice. I don’t know if that was intended but it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/39 "2025-06-22T17:01:49Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > As I’ve got older (and had kids which I assume it relates to) my tolerance for “dark” content has gone wayyyy down. I don’t have kids, but I also have noticed I’m much less tolerant of “dark” content than I used to be. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954/40 "2025-06-22T17:12:51Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I turned that off in the middle of the first kill because I assumed that guy was gonna be turned and that the whole show was a torture fest. Does it show torture at all? Well, I have a notoriously bad memory, so take this with a grain of salt, but I can’t recall Dexter ever torturing anyone. He just dispatches them with an off-screen stab. He’s supposedly a dispassionate pragmatist who is only interested in the actual kill. However, I can’t swear that the evil baddies that he “has” to kill because the system screwed up didn’t torture their victims, as I wasn’t looking for it at the time. I actually dislike most onscreen gore if it’s shown in a realistic manner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-thrillers-with-really-sadistic-brutal-criminals/1019954.md?page=3)