The Joy of Torture is apparently a part of a trilogy of torture films. It's the first one I've seen so I can't compare it to the other three; but it's certainly an interesting and well made film in its own right. The film is divided into three separate short stories and, as the title suggests, they are all about torture. While I did enjoy the film on the whole; I do have to say that I'm glad it was split into three rather than featuring just one long story as there's only really so much that can be done with this idea and the fact that the story changes three times means that the film stays fresh for the duration. The first story focuses on a brother and sister. The brother becomes ill and the pair end up having an incestuous relationship, which leads to her being tortured as incest is against the law. This is a well acted and well filmed little story and the focus is mostly on the drama between the pair. The torture and gore doesn't turn up until the end and the 'romance' between the brother and sister is not exactly heartfelt. Still, it's a decent opener.
The second story focuses on a familiar exploitation location - the Church, and focuses on the love between a nun and a priest, which naturally doesn't go down too well. This is another strong story, although the focus of it is a bit too similar to the first one with it focusing on a forbidden love. The third and final story is undoubtedly the best of the film as it tries to do something a little different from the first two. Rather than tell a story and depict the guilty parties being tortured; this time we focus on a great tattoo artist who decides that he wants to make his masterpiece on the back a young girl. He wants to paint a torture scene and in order to do this, gets himself an invite to a live torture chamber. Before the title credits we get to see a woman have her head cut off and body cut in half; and on the basis of this, I was expecting something really gory and so was a bit disappointed. The only extended scenes of torture happen in the final story and while well done; the film isn't the hardcore exploitation that I was expecting. Still, this is a good film and it's recommended to fans of this sort of stuff.
The second story focuses on a familiar exploitation location - the Church, and focuses on the love between a nun and a priest, which naturally doesn't go down too well. This is another strong story, although the focus of it is a bit too similar to the first one with it focusing on a forbidden love. The third and final story is undoubtedly the best of the film as it tries to do something a little different from the first two. Rather than tell a story and depict the guilty parties being tortured; this time we focus on a great tattoo artist who decides that he wants to make his masterpiece on the back a young girl. He wants to paint a torture scene and in order to do this, gets himself an invite to a live torture chamber. Before the title credits we get to see a woman have her head cut off and body cut in half; and on the basis of this, I was expecting something really gory and so was a bit disappointed. The only extended scenes of torture happen in the final story and while well done; the film isn't the hardcore exploitation that I was expecting. Still, this is a good film and it's recommended to fans of this sort of stuff.