Self mutilation

Self mutilation is the conscious act of an individual to commit grievous bodily harm to themselves. Some individuals do this out of a sense of sado-masochism, deriving phsyical, spiritual and even sexual gratification from such acts.

Examples of self mutilation
The most notable examples of self mutilation come from the Saw film series. The premise of the movies focuses on a serial kidnapper named John Kramer, aka, the Jigsaw killer - a man who abducts individuals whom he believes have wasted their lives and places them inside of elaborate traps. In order to escape however, these would-be victims must be willing to commit severe acts of self mutilation. Those who succeed in escaping from the traps (within a pre-arranged time limit) are deemd worthy of life by Jigsaw and are set free. Most of his victims however, fail to muster the intestinal fortitude to escape and die by their own hands.

One of the more bizarre examples of self mutilation can be found in the 2009 Japanese horror film Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. In the movie, a clique of high school teenagers form a social group predicated upon slashing open their own wrists for pleasure.