What is Splatterpunk Horror?

I always forget that splatterpunk horror is a thing. It’s a genre that stands for extreme, graphic violence, that is meant to test the viewer to see how much they can handle when it comes to huge amounts of gore.

I know this kind of horror isn’t really meant for everyone. In my opinion, I only like the genre, if there is a good story behind the gore factor.

I can’t stand it when shock moments occur out of nowhere without reason whatsoever. I think that gore should be included to progress the story, not try to gross out the viewer as much as possible.

One good example is the horror franchise, Terrifier.

Director Damien Leone created Art the Clown, a terrifying entity that kills his victims in the most gruesome ways. All three films in the franchise are pretty gnarly, none of the movies hold back on the brutality of the kills.

I think the first film was definitely meant to be a splatterpunk film only. There is a lack of story, and the viewer is meant to be grossed out while Art goes around killing random victims in the worst ways imaginable that he comes across in an abandoned building.

Then the next two films in the franchise turn into a splatterpunk with a story. The storytelling was actually quite enjoyable, and the shocking gory moments didn’t take away from the plot.

The sequel of Terrifier 2 was one of my favorite splatterpunk films ever made. Despite the mystery and unanswered questions sprinkled throughout the film, it has a good balance of gore and story. We get our final girl named Sienna, for the first time, and we get a fantastic battle royale toward the end of the film, with Sienna vs. Art the Clown.

I loved the humanity Sienna added to the Terrifier franchise too.

We get the perspective of someone who is letting the audience know that Art the Clown is a pure evil menace, that must be stopped before he claims more victims. Terrifier is one of the great splatterpunk stories that any horror fan would love.

I think another good example is definitely The Evil Dead franchise. The entire franchise, (except for Army of Darkness, due to the lack of gore), includes a variety of gory moments with amazing standalone stories portrayed in each film. The first film would 100% be considered a splatterpunk film, since I think it's probably the one with the most gritty look in the franchise.

For those who haven't seen the original Evil Dead that started off the whole franchise...wow, this film is one of the introductions to a franchise in horror. The story is quite simple, but so damn effective when it comes to the horror that takes place in the film. We follow the story of a group of people who end up waking up the demons, who start to cause violence, chaos, and possessing many members of the group.

The remaining survivor or final boy, Ash, is forced to confront these demons and find a way to take them down for good. It's insane with how bold this film was when it came to the gore. Upon release, this film was banned and was considered controversial, since the director did not give a damn with how far he went with the gore. He created a cult classic, that many horror fans now love today.

Splatterpunk horror can be good, but without a good story, I find myself no longer interested in this genre. It’s pretty tough for me to like splatterpunk media, but with the right execution, it can be memorable.

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn