Click here for the review of Salo (1975)

Wrote this as a preemptive strike, since some contest winner was going to eventually request it...

Here's the film broken down to one sentence for me. I can get the metaphor Pasolini was going for, but it's lost in the monotony.

Great review. I agree with just about everything you wrote. This and "Caligula" are right at the top of my "Worst Movies of All-Time" list.

Still... you have to admit that the Criterion people put a lot of time and effort into preserving/restoring this movie. The Blu-ray is unwatched by me, yet occupies a prominent position on my shelf among the other Criterions.

Thanks for your willingness to take this bullet for us. Hopefully if/when I finally win one of these things, I'll give you something far more pleasurable to review!

Holy Synchronicity, Batman!

I'm just getting into The Cinema Snob, and just before I strolled onto Reelviews, I was watching the Snob's review of Salo!

Thanks to you two, I probably won't be watching this anytime soon.


If I wanted a pretentious and violent satire of mindless consumerism, I'd read/watch American Psycho.

Ahhhh bless you J.B.

This is my go-to title for worst movie I've ever seen. You forgot to mention, by the way, how awkwardly the work of De Sade is applied to the modern setting. Reminded me of when Fellini tried to film Satyricon -- some things aren't meant to be adapted to the screen.

One thing I noticed about Salo is how much Dogtooth pulled from it. Although their purposes are completely different, I think both aim for humor in really aberrant places. Unlike Dogtooth, though, which is consistently funny despite its subject matter, Salo has moments where all you want to do is turn away. Like, it's funny when the guy goes to the middle of the room to lay a turd. It's not funny when the girl is forced to eat it. In fact, it's awful. I'm probably one of the only ones on the board who likes the film and believe me I won't take it with me to my grave, but I think there's enough artistic merit to warrant viewings independent of finding out how shocking it is.

I've been a longtime champion of Salo; what I should do in this forum is write a long defense of the film. It'll take a while (especially given the hours I work), but I do think that the film is a worthy artistic endeavor, though its audience is small.

I didn't think I'd want to watch this. Now I'm certain.
Since you've been in a bit of a masochistic mood lately, when are you reviewing A Serbian Film?