Sentence:  In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the <WSD>grim</WSD> spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  ghastly or sinister