Feel the pain

Re “Snuff takes a holiday,” Opinion, Aug. 19

Kudos to Joe Queenan for pointing out the box office failures of “Captivity” and “Hostel: Part II,” recent cinematic celebrations of torture, depravity, misogyny and all that is base, adolescent and grotesque. While some people complain about such movies, Queenan astutely cites the factor that commercial entertainment will consider before all else: box office. Movies that hurt a studio’s wallet hurt indeed. One can only hope the makers of these (as Queenan calls them) “snuff” films feel the pain.

Elizabeth Kruikshank

New York