Wolf Creek wasn't the only violent movie which turned the stomach of the late, great movie critic Roger Ebert - after watching Gaspar Noe's Irreversible he described it as "a movie so violent and cruel that most people will find it unwatchable." It's a statement with more than a ring of truth - while Irreversible doesn't feature violence as a constant on-screen presence what moments of violence it does contain are some of the most shocking in the history of cinema. Starting with a man being beaten to death with a fire extinguisher in a seedy S&M nightclub the narrative winds backwards Memento-style to show the rape which led to this act of vengeance. Noe goes for shocks, but in no way can Irreversible be viewed as exploitation - here the violence may be outrageous but few would argue that it is in any way titillating.
