7. The Passion of the Christ
In 2004, a drunken lunatic, Mel Gibson, released the apex of the torture porn genre with his religious propaganda piece The Passion of The Christ. Before its hit theatres, the film garnered controversy for its perceived anti-Semitism. The Department of Inter-religious Affairs of the Anti-Defamation League went so far as to call it "one of the most troublesome texts, relative to anti-Semitic potential, that any of us had seen in twenty-five years". Their fears seemed to be vindicated when Gibson later made well-publicized anti-Semitic remarks while under the influence and by the anti-Semitic undertones in the film, which include demonic Jewish children tormenting Judas until he commits suicide. Anti-Semitism aside, the film's depiction of the Romans' torture of Jesus Christ in his final hours remains some of the goriest moments ever captured on film. The Passion of The Christ will no doubt continue to inspire controversy as long as copies of the film exist.