I admire the director Cronenberg and like most of his works, but A History of Violence is not about violence, it is exploitation of violence in sick, disgusting manner. There is something wrong with the way of handling violence and sex of this film. Even the sex scenes between the couple is somehow different, crude and nasty. In real life, it is OK maybe, but the question is what is the point? If it is to show us the passion between them, there are lots of ways to do that. I think this movie is an example of violence porn. The movie starts out well with a powerful opening scene, good atmosphere like a modern Western, amazing villains, but then it turns into a nasty B movie in the end. I love B movies from 90s and 80s especially, but it doesn't fit here. The cinematography here is very well done, Ed Harris was the real star of the movie for me. However, our anti hero and his origin story don't work because of all those sickness and sadism and it is like the movie glorifies his nasty actions and probably want us to accept his acts and root for him. The story with memory loss or secret identity themes make no sense here. Sorry, but this movie is not Total Recall which is a real masterpiece. The man who appears in the final act doesn't add anything to the story in spite of that great actor who was wasted here. The final act that reminds you a bad B movie is another violence porn, softer this time. Our anti hero is not another manly man unfortunately. His violent actions cause some sick and sadistic moments, so what would you do if your anti hero is a hateful man? I was with Ed Harris's character though. By the way, I disagree with the idea that A History of Violence is a deep or thought provoking film. This film is no Shakespeare, it is like a violent action movie for video with some great actors and good cinematography. I enjoyed some parts, but overall I was disgusted. One final word, I think Eastern Promises is a better film.