Jan 04 2009
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
One I can finally cross off my list…
THE PLOT
Cannibal Holocaust takes a documentary approach. A group of filmmakers travel to the jungle in the hopes of creating a documentary. When they never return, a second group travels into the wilderness and retrieves the footage the group shot after befriending the natives. Back in the States the footage is finally revealed and we learn the strange fate of the first documentary filmmakers. The new filmmakers are convinced that it will make the perfect documentary, that is until they’re subjected to the last scenes captured on tape…
FUN TRIVIA
The movie itself has been banned in numerous countries due to its graphic nature. At times the director was even called in to defend the movie and was also forced to locate the stars. According to Deodato, the Italian courts believed it was actually a snuff film and he had to track down the actors. Deodato has made his main four actors sign agreements that they’d step out of the limelight for a year after the film’s release, but had to make them appear in court after he was charged with their murders.
THOUGHTS/OPINIONS
Why haven’t I seen this movie before? Probably because so many people have recommended it to me over the years that there was no way it could ever hold up.
It’s one of those movies where you see it and wonder how anyone ever thought it was real in the first place. Considering how much I’ve heard about it over the years, it wasn’t possible for me to take it completely real, but to know exactly what I was getting into.
I’m going to admit that there were a few scenes that got to me. The animal killings didn’t bother me at all, which is very strange given my personal feelings about animal cruelty. However the amputation/cauterization scene did make me a little squeamish. Yes the impalement was gross, but far more disturbing was the forced birth/murder of the pregnant woman. If you really wanted to make me vomit, you could just force me to watch that scene over and over again.
I also found myself fairly disturbed by the Americans in the movie, particularly the way they treated the natives. It’s no wonder that they suffered their fate the way they did, I probably couldn’t spend three hours alone with them myself!
You know what? This is a better film than I thought it would be. I went in with pretty high expectations and they were met for the most part. I’m not sure if I’ll be watching it again anytime soon, but I did like it or at least as much as you can like a movie like this.
I’ve watched up to the turtle being killed and a few other scenes. I’ve got to sit down and finish it.
This one is still on my “see eventually” list. . .
Glad to hear it lives up to its expectations.
I’m with you on the scenes that disturb …and don’t. The animal cruelty thing has been all over this film, and Deodata has said in interviews that it’s really gotten to him over the years. But honestly, the average burger-cow meets a nastier end than what we see in this movie. The human mutilation scenes, fake though they are, hold a lot more punch.
If you can stomach the best cannibal film ever, check out these too. I made a list of the best with trailers.
Top 5 Cannibal Movies of All Time”>
I’ve read some of the interviews with him and he did seem pretty disappointed with him. I thought it was bad because I actually didn’t realize the first time watching it that they actually killed them.
i agree with you about the disturbing scenes. I have seen some awful stuff in other horror movies and I wouldn’t blink an eye, but somehow when it looks so real, it can get to you. As for the animal cruelty scene, that did disgust me. I have no tolerance for that at all. I can watch a man getting his guts pulled out and it wouldn’t affect me at all, but show me an animal being killed and I do find it hard to watch. This movie was interesting in that it was one of the
first ‘documentary’ horrors. It looks so real that it is hard to believe that this isn’t actually happening.