Mundonarco Execution Videos

Decapitation videos and body horror are not exclusive to the Mexican drug wars. Mediatised mutilation is a common practice in regions that have historically experienced extreme violence. For example, the Islamic State and other jihadist extremist groups like Abu Sayyaf in the Phillipines18 have also released gory footage of executions. The most notable case is the decapitation of the American journalist James Foley, killed by ISIS in 2014.19 Internet execution videos are a leitmotif of global contemporary terrorist and criminal propaganda, and have been used as narrative tools in TV shows such as House of Cards US.20 There are clear stylistic differences between narco videos and ISIS propaganda, however. While narco videos are raw and unaltered, ISIS has employed professional video production techniques to shoot and edit gruesome public executions and other murderous acts. With an audiovisual tempo akin to music videos and Hollywood war cinema, and with aesthetic tropes of documentary, snuff and cinema vérité filmmaking, ISIS has released videos where their enemies are burnt alive, shot by children or drowned while locked in a cage.

Mundonarco Execution Videos