With Nazi scalpings, genital mutilation and violent rape scenes appearing in various places throughout Cannes’ Official Competition, this year’s selection undoubtedly contains the most explicit content in recent memory.
But while Lars Von Trier’s "Antichrist" — recently picked up for U.S. distribution by IFC Films — may offer the most infamously extreme image of the festival, he’s a relative newcomer to the art of the gross-out. Only one person from the competition crowd, "Thirst" director Park Chan-Wook, has extensive experience with the art of heavy gore (although "Inglourious Basterds" auteur Quentin Tarantino takes a close second place).
Park, whose "Oldboy" and other earlier features churned stomachs around the world, offers an enjoyably lurid take on the vampire genre.