A
fetish film, sometimes
pornography, in which the slow process of someone being tortured and killed is committed to
video tape. The basic
snuff film has a subject, usually an abductee, who is tortured with various
instruments of
mutilation for most of the
duration of the
film. The
film often ends with the final "snuffing" of the victim in a savage orgy of carnage (sometimes chainsaws are used). By this time he/she may already be disemboweled and the
chest cavity may be fully open (before the
victim is finally snuffed), and the other
participants may commit acts of further
perversion with the
vital organs of the
victim.
The unreleased
Broken movie by
Nine Inch Nails was reported to contain
clips from a
snuff film, prompting
authorities to conduct an
investigation.