Probably the most harmful and irresponsible movie ever.

Rating: 1/10 (14 May 1999)

This is hands-down the worst movie I have ever seen. I only sat all the way through it because I kept hoping that there would be something redeeming at the end. Something to justify the intense violence and sick "humor". There was nothing. The ending left me cold and feeling sick. Perhaps that's what Wes Craven wanted. To all the people that "loved" this movie: you really need to ask yourselves what you loved about it. You need to think about it very carefully and do some serious soul-searching. Personally, I actually felt violated after watching it. One of the few movies I've actually regretted watching. There was simply nothing positive to be gained from it. Moreover, I honestly believe that this is one of the most dangerous and irresponsible movies ever made. The studio never should have released it. How anyone could ever voluntarily sit through it more than once will be an eternal mystery to me. The most frightening thing about it was that it was a big hit.
I know people will accuse me of "misunderstanding it" or other such crap, but let's examine the facts: what this movie is really about is greed, abo ve all else. Wes Craven's sick and horrific fascination with intensely graphic images of human guttings and dismemberment is truly shocking. He tries to sugar-coat it's stench with a little humor mixed it. He knows that makes it more palatable. He markets this dangerous mixture to impressionable youth, not caring about the consequences. Not caring that the human mind (especially a young mind) becomes desensitized to violence the more it's exposed to it. He wants this movie to be "cool" and seen over an over. He know he can achieve this by making it extremely violent and horrific. Rebellious youth will flock to it. They do, and he succeeds, not caring who he's harming, as long as he's getting rich. That's practically the definition of evil, if you ask me. To Wes Craven: shame on you!
Maybe I'm just some old-fashioned, backwoods moron who's really uncool and beyond all hope... but will somebody please explain to me what's so entertaining about watching young people getting graphically hacked to pieces by a knife-wielding maniac? Why is this supposed to be funny? Why is this considered by so many people to be "cool"? This attitude embodies everything that is wrong with our society. I'm not a fascist, nor a religious right-wing republican in favor of censorship, but this type of garbage just should NOT be made. It's as simple as that. No good can possibly come from it.
I would never recommend this movie to anyone - even to a mature adult with a strong stomach. Truly horrible!