The Texas Chainsaw Massacre changed the face of horror films with what has become one of the most iconic scenes in the genre. The dinner table torture of Sally by a bunch of deranged freaks has inspired numerous copycat scenes in backwoods horror films over the decades.
Going beyond that original concept, films have now made “round table” torture the entire plot of movies in various setting and situations. Motivations and circumstances vary, but the basic premise is that people end up at the mercy of a sadist or two, tied up, and subjected to unthinkable cruelty.
Have you seen these 10 contemporary “table torture” films?
- AMONG FRIENDS (2012): Horror darling Danielle Harris directs this film, in which a group of friends gets together for a murder mystery party. They end up paralyzed at the dinner table, forced to reveal their dirty secrets, or else. Keep an eye out for Danielle donning her old clown costume from the Halloween franchise. My blog here.
- BLEEDING HEARTS (2013): A bunch of hot babes ties up chauvinistic men on a theater stage and tortures them while sexually tantalizing them. Blog here.
- FARM HOUSE (2008): A couple trying to start a new life after the death of their baby ends up at the farm house of a psycho couple. Blog here.
- THE FINAL (2010): Bullied high school students armed with guns crash a house party full of the popular kids. Let the torture begin! My blog here.
- GRAVY (2015): On Halloween night, three cannibals plan to make the inhabitants of a Mexican restaurant the main course. Blog here.
- INHUMAN RESOURCES (2012): Another torturous day at the office when the crazy boss calls a mandatory meeting. I blog about the film here.
- THE LOVED ONES (2009): Some crazy bitch asks a guy with a girlfriend to the prom. When he rejects her, she and her dad kidnap him and throw a very intimate—and insane—prom at their house. Blog here.
- TRUTH OR DIE (2012): Friends go to a cabin in the woods…and one of them goes backwoods crazy! Blog here.
- WOULD YOU RATHER (2012): Horror icon Jeffrey Combs seems to be handing out job opportunities left and right. When he gets all the candidates around the table, he explains what’s required of them to get a paycheck; torture the competition. Blog here.
- A NASTY PIECE OF WORK (2019): The Hulu Into the Dark series offers up a Christmas party that turns into a battle to the death. My blog here.
