‘Squid Game’ isn’t the first: Here are 10 films and shows that depict extreme violence on screen

Love it or hate it. These days, you simply can’t ignore ‘Squid Game’, the Netflix show that charted a path towards global domination. Yet, even as the controversial show about pitting opponents in a life or death series of deadly games tops the streaming charts around the world, there has also been a lot of debate over the violence depicted in the South Korean drama, forcing several schools in the UK to issue warnings to parents to discourage their children from watching ‘Squid Game’. The show may be earning bad rep with schools, parents and child minders, but it definitely isn’t the first to tread a path of showing extreme violence on screen. Here’s a look, with viewer discretion advised:

‘Saw’: The ‘Saw’ film franchise, which spanned nine films and collectively earned more than $1 billion at the box office, set a new benchmark in presenting blood and gore on celluloid. The series also gave us one of Hollywood’s most twisted serial killers, the Jigsaw, who slowly tortured his victims to death by setting deadly traps or ‘games’ as he called them. One could even draw parallels with ‘Squid Game’ as Jigsaw enjoyed his twisted rehabilitation process where he pitted two opponents against each other in a drawn out physical and psychological torture. Perhaps the most difficult scene to watch was ‘The Rack’ in ‘Saw III’, where Jigsaw traps a man in device that slowly twists until it completely breaks his arms and legs. Viewer discretion is advised.

‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’: When it first released in 1974, the Tobe Hooper directorial was banned in several countries following complaints about the level of violence depicted in the slasher film. The movie also gave fans one of its most memorable villains through Leatherface, a deadly member from a family of cannibals that hunts down a group of friends visiting an old family homestead. The remake didn’t hold a patch to the original, which is often credited as a landmark film in kick starting the reign of slasher films in cinema.

‘Hostel’: The ‘Hostel’ trilogy began its corpse-filled journey in 2005, which follows a bunch of gullible students tricked into visiting a hostel in Slovakia where they are gradually tortured to death, much to the thrill of several VIP clients paying for the service. In a plot similar to ‘Squid Game’, perhaps one of the most violent scenes in the franchise is saved for the first ‘Hostel’, where the Dutch Businessman slowly drills holes into the body of one of his victims (played by Derek Richardson).

‘Game of Thrones’: While violence on screen has largely been a ploy used by Hollywood to fuel its slasher genre, HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ threw out the playbook to pen its own rules. Be it the beheading of Ned Stark in season one, the brutal sexual assault of Cersei Lannister by her brother Jamie, or the rape of Sansa Stark by Ramsay Snow, the show’s violent streak had many questioning the makers whether such scenes were added just for the shock value.

‘The Walking Dead’: In 2017, ‘The Walking Dead’ had its knuckles rapped when season six of the show came under fire for crossing a line in depicting violence on screen. The zombie apocalypse got bloodier when Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) appeared on the show with his bat Lucille, plundering his victim over and over again in the finale of the show. Speaking on a panel, ‘Walking Dead’ producer Gale Anne Hurd talked about the issue, saying: “We were able to look at the feedback on the level of violence. We did tone it down for episodes we were still filming for later on in the season. This is not a show that is torture porn.” Fans bed to differ.

‘The Raid’: Several articles and fan sites are dedicated to dissecting the violence depicted in this 2011 Indonesian action thriller, written, directed and edited by the Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans. Iko Uwais plays a member of an elite squad ordered to infiltrate a high-rise building run by a drug lord in the slums of Jakarta. Despite winning critical appraisal, the violence depicted in the film raised the question of whether such movies commanded an audience. The short answer is yes. Which is perhaps why movies such as ‘Fight Club’, ‘John Wick’ and other exist because cinema allows free rein to the filter that reality keeps in check.

‘The Punisher’: In this Marvel show, which made waves when it released in 2017, actor Jon Bernthal plays Marine veteran Frank Castle who turns into a rabid vigilante following the brutal killing of his wife and child. The Netflix series was marked by its intensely violent scenes, features guns, eye-gouging and lots of blood and gore. The show prompted many to ask if the violence was needed. One headline for an article about the issue read: ‘Is ‘The Punisher’ Too Violent For Marvel Fans?’ Compared to its other Marvel shows on the platform, such as ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘Jessica Jones’, ‘The Punisher’ was certainly way more graphic — however, some fans felt it lent itself to the character’s origins.

‘Hannibal’: No other TV series was able to blend brutality and cinematography quite like this show that ran from 2013–2015. It starred Mads Mikkelsen as the titular cannibal and forensic psychiatrist, while Hugh Dancy played the troubled detective who shared a bond with him. The series was visually arresting, despite having gory depictions of Hannibal’s eating habits and graphic images of dead bodies. However, there were some lines that creator Bryan Fuller would not cross: using scenes of sexual assault. “The reason the rape well is so frequently used is because it’s a horrible thing that is real and that it happens,” Fuller told Entertainment Weekly in 2015. “But because it’s so overexploited, it becomes callous.” The movie franchise that show was based on, and which starred Anthony Hopkins, was also considered violent and shocking back in the day — but it doesn’t hold a candle to the more recent iteration in terms of grotesqueness.

‘Spartacus’: When this show released in 2010, it raised the hackles of many thanks to both its graphic sexual content and the brutality that played out on screen. It saw Andy Whitfield take the lead in story inspired by the historical figure Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a slave uprising against the Roman Republic. It came soon after the hit movie ‘300’, that also featured some bloody scenes. ‘Spartacus’, however, took things a step further, with some questioning if THAT much bloodshed was necessary. “There is so much blood in this show that it almost achieves self-parody,” read one article criticising this aspect.

‘Vikings’: It seems there’s a running theme with historical shows; make them as shocking and violent as possible. That was the memo for the 2013 show inspired by the sagas of Nordic hero Ragnar Lothbrok. Most of the blood spilling takes place on the battlefield — there are stabbings, beatings and more — with plenty of nudity and sexual content thrown in to grab the audience’s attention. However, despite all this, it was a popular series that people praised for reference real historical events.