"brutal standard" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when describing something that is harsh, severe, or uncompromising. Example: "The military's training program has a brutal standard that only the toughest soldiers can meet."
Terrorism — while almost quaint by today's brutal standards — was increasing.
The burning to death in a locked cage of captured Jordanian pilot Muadh al- Kasasbeh by Islamic State (Isis), a film of which has surfaced online, was barbarous even by its own brutal standards.
They say the violence there, even by the brutal standards of the Syrian civil war, has reached an unprecedented level.
Even by the mafia's brutal standards, the killing of a man smoking a cigarette outside a central Naples bar in broad daylight was shocking in its ruthlessness.
She not only deals with the anger caused by my failures, I also hold her to the same brutal standards as I do myself.
Real and imagined opponents of the Shah, the Shia clergy, and leftists all fell victim to Savak, whose tortures and brutalities were legendary, even by brutal Mideast standards.
Whether things are more brutal than the standard Gallardo is rather like comparing going over Niagara Falls in a barrel to doing the Cresta Run in a Sainsbury's carrier bag.
Accordingly there have been novels in plenty depicting the conflict of (by ordinary standards) brutal genius with uncongenial environment, and Mr. Maugham has followed a recognised convention in this story of an imaginary artist of posthumous greatness.
It remains to be seen whether "The Orphanage" will temper the exceedingly brutal but profitable standards of bloodletting set by the likes of "The Hills Have Eyes" or the various "Texas Chainsaw Massacres," or if it will draw the traditional horror audience away from its gorier fare.
Brutal even by Iraqi standards, their soldiers and officers seemingly answered to no one.
