There's a super interesting text called Splatter Capital by Mark Steven that talks about this! The author explores horror films and how they track as cultural touchstones for the rot of neoliberal capitalism. The last section of the book focuses on torture porn (examples discussed include Hostel, Human Centipede, Saw, etc) as part of the de-industrialization of the US, outsourcing labor, globalization, etc. honestly I'm drawing a blank cause it's been a while, but it was solid analysis.
Highly recommend!
that's so fucking pog, I love it :trans-ferret: