Why I Don’t Use the Term “Torture Porn” — And Prefer “Karma Porn” Instead

By Thomas Fenton

Let’s get one thing straight: I’ve worked in the trenches of the horror genre. I’ve seen it evolve, splinter, get vilified, and celebrated again. And along the way, I’ve noticed one term that keeps popping up like a cockroach after the credits roll: “torture porn.”

It’s lazy. It’s dismissive. And frankly, it misses the point entirely.

I don’t use the term “torture porn” — not when I’m writing, not when I’m pitching, and definitely not when I’m describing the kind of horror stories I want to tell. Instead, I use a term that’s more accurate, more honest, and more respectful to the audience: Karma Porn.

What’s Wrong with “Torture Porn”?

“Torture porn” was coined around the mid-2000s as a catch-all to lump together horror films like Saw, Hostel, The Devil’s Rejects, and yes — I Spit on Your Grave 2 — movies that dared to show violence not as spectacle, but as consequence. It was a pejorative from the start, a way for critics to sideline the films and imply they were mindless, exploitative, and somehow morally bankrupt. But here’s the problem: most of those films aren’t about torture. They’re about judgment. They're about consequences. They ask hard questions:What would you do to survive?What are you hiding?What have you done to deserve this? There’s nothing gratuitous about that. In fact, that’s what storytelling is. And horror just happens to be the most honest genre about it.

Why “Karma Porn” Makes More Sense

The best horror — and the kind that critics often slap with the “torture porn” label — isn’t about watching people suffer for fun. It’s about watching people get what’s coming to them, or narrowly escaping it. It’s about moral reckoning.

That’s Karma.

In Saw IV, characters are forced to reckon with their actions — their lies, betrayals, apathy — and are given a twisted shot at redemption.In I Spit on Your Grave 2, the protagonist is brutalized — but she rises, reclaims her agency, and delivers a calculated, furious response. Her revenge is savage, yes, but it’s also earned. That’s not exploitation — that’s the return of power. The violence is not the point; it’s the price. It’s not pornographic. It’s karmic. The term “Karma Porn” reframes the genre in a way that reveals its deeper motivations. It acknowledges that the audience isn’t there just to watch blood fly — they’re there to see justice unfold, even if that justice is jagged, disturbing, or poetic.

It’s not exploitation. It’s catharsis.

Horror as the Great Moral Equalizer

We live in a world where a lot of bad people get away with a lot of terrible things. Horror — especially so-called “torture porn” — often flips that. In these stories, no sin goes unpunished. You cheat, you lie, you hurt someone — it comes back for you, fast and hard.

That’s not indulgence. That’s moral order through chaos. And if we’re being honest, sometimes it feels really good to see that happen. That’s why “Karma Porn” fits. It scratches that itch deep down where we want to believe that actions have consequences, even if the real world doesn’t always deliver.

Final Thoughts

So no, I don’t call it “torture porn.” That’s a phrase invented to belittle filmmakers who had the guts to go dark and ask difficult questions. I call it Karma Porn — because that’s what it is:A world where justice, however brutal, still finds a way.A mirror to our flaws and fears, and sometimes, our need to see balance restored — with a knife, a trap, or a twisted choice.