Some movies can make eloquent use of graphic on-screen violence to generate tension. John Carpenter's
The Thing, for instance, is one of my all-time favorite horror movies because of how well it utilizes on-screen depictions of the titular monster destroying the people trapped at a polar outpost. By contrast, there are also masterful examples of creating tension through keeping such elements off-screen, with Lynne Ramsey's work being an especially good example of this. Neither approach is inherently better, it just depends on what kind of story you're planning to tell. The latter method is utilized for Hiroshi Teshigahara's
Woman in the Dunes and in the hands of this gifted filmmaker, it really comes off splendidly.
