“It just meant the scene worked”: Quentin Tarantino Couldn’t Give a Lesser Damn If 1 Disgusting ‘Reservoir Dogs’ Scene Made People Walk Out of Theaters

If one is looking for a real-life depiction of the human experience, one should look no further than Quentin Tarantino. From Pulp Fiction to Django Unchained, Inglorious Bastards, and even Kill Bill, the director showcases an odd mix between raw, realistic characters, and films that are love letters to Hollywood. Being the perfect balance of the two, he certainly knows a thing or two about striking feelings from his audience.

There is no better example of his talents than his 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs. Being the first in his line of masterpieces, the film was the industry’s first introduction to the beautiful worlds that Tarantino creates and the first to shock its audience in every way possible.

While a majority of the conversation around the film was about its story, there was one specific scene that ended up being a little too gory for some viewers.

Reservoir Dogs and Tortured Cops

Reservoir Dogs was an iconic film for many reasons. While the storytelling and character writing were certainly excellent in every way possible, there was one scene that was painfully realistic. At one point during the runtime of the movie, Mr. Blonde, played by Michael Madsen, tortured a police officer in the most guttural ways possible.

While the scene was certainly not the goriest or darkest scene to feature in a film, there was something about it that made it especially disturbing. From the camera work to the acting, even Mr. Blonde’s utter lack of care brought a level of reality to the sequence that made it difficult to watch for many.

So much so, that many audience members famously walked out of the theater because they could not take the torture anymore. It was not just those with a weak stomach, as in the book, Quentin Tarantino: Interviews, it was revealed that horror legend, Wes Craven, best known for films like Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street, could not stomach it.

Craven, along with horror special-effects artist, Rick Baker, had to walk out of the theater due to their horror at the realness of the scene.

Quentin Tarantino Was Impressed With His Capabilities

In the book, Quentin Tarantino also revealed his thoughts on people walking out of the theater in the middle of his movie playing. While many would be very upset and sad about people not finishing a film they worked extremely hard on, the same was not the case for the Pulp Fiction director. In fact, he seemed to look at it as more of a compliment.

It never bothered me when people walked out. It just meant the scene worked,

The director started off by saying that he was not offended that people ended up walking out of the theater during their screenings of Reservoir Dogs. Rather than be upset by it, he mentioned that he found it to be quite impressive that he was able to elicit such a strong reaction from his audience. If the scene was not realistic, audiences would not have wanted to leave the theater.

Go to a video store, and nine out of ten films in the action section are more graphic than mine. But I’m not interested in making a cartoon. I’m interested in making the violence real.

He pointed out that there are films that are a lot more graphic than his own. However, they do not bring about such reactions. Rather than making a caricature or a joke out of gore, he decided to portray it in the most raw and realistic way possible.

The fact that it was able to make people as horrified as it did only means that he achieved what he sought to do.

 

Reservoir Dogs is available for streaming on Lionsgate Play.