I wasn’t sure if this one even fit the
theme. But fuck, if Charles Bronson’s Death Wish can be considered
horror, then this crazy ass movie definitely makes the cut. When I
would sneak Caligula out of Dad’s stash, I got the feeling that I was
experiencing something more than porn. Set in Ancient Rome, the movie
deals with a litany of dark themes that continue to haunt humanity to
this day. Our obsession with status, oppression, power, and
perversion, for instance. But since there was a lot of porno shit
going down, I feverishly tried to break my wrist like any
self-respecting teenager.
Fast forward to a couple days ago,
‘mature r’ me throws on Caligula, and find myself terribly tempted to
fast forward to the “good parts”. This was a me thing, promise. I
just wasn’t in the mindset to give this cult classic the attention it
deserves. Still, I was able to pick up on the timeless brutality in
some of the torture scenes as well as the main character’s
frightening evolution...