Cannibal Holocaust

Yes, this film is every bit as brutal and controversial as you’d expect…but it’s also a brilliantly made, stylistic film that’s way ahead of its time and addresses important aspects of morality. After a delightfully polite warning from Shudder this Italian cult classic opens with a lovely scored montage of shaky shots of the Amazon, known by its indigenous inhabitants as the Green Inferno (hence Eli Roth’s title Green Inferno). Alan Yates, Faye Daniels, Jack Anders and Mark had embarked on an expedition to the border of Brazil and Peru to document the jungle tribes. They followed in the footsteps of explorers who never came back, but they laughed at the amateurs. After this new group failed to return within two months, a rescue mission was set up to recover them. Our anthropologist “rescuer” Dr. Monroe teams up with a local roughneck guide and follows the same path as his predecessors marked by the decaying corpse of another jungle guide and Faye’s lighter worn as a charm by a tribesman. Very early scenes of military machine-gunning through forest natives is campy and bloodless such that you’d think you were watching some PG-13 nonsense. But don’t be fooled so soon. Not that I expect a lot of animal lovers to watch this, but you should be warned that real live animals are killed on film—and not even close to mercifully. I felt so badly for that muskrat (about the 19 min mark). Later in the film there is an even more disturbing scene involving decapitating a large turtle and then preparing its still-twitching body. Just brutal, from prying the shell apart to sloppily yanking out its guts. This brutality makes its way to humans as a woman is dragged across the mud completely naked and bound, and forced into some shockingly uncomfortable positions during a sort of torturous rape scene complete with vile genital mutilation. The violence against women in this film is immense. But then, so is the general inhumanity overall. [BLOCK] In the past I’ve praised some actresses for what they physically endure on film: Jo Beth Williams (Poltergeist), Jenny Spain (Deadgirl), Isabelle Adjani (Possession), Elma Begovic (Bite), Linda Blair (The Exorcist), the entire cast of The Descent, Monica Belluci (Irreversible), the women of Martyrs, Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist, Nymphomaniac), Alison Lohman (Drag Me to Hell), Danielle Harris (Halloween), Caroline Williams (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Jane Levy (Evil Dead), the cast of The Human Centipede films, and all actresses from the I Spit on Your Grave films, the women of all other TCM old and new, and Last House on the Left films/remakes/sequels. Clearly Cannibal Holocaust must now be added to this list. This film features abundant male and female full frontal nudity, rape and torture, horrible brutality against women and animals, and cannibalism. It seems that if you are capable of being offended by anything, then this film will have something in it to offend you! And this all happens in the first 30 minutes!!! But wait, what ever happened to the original crew of documentarians? Well, Monroe (and we) get to see their recovered video footage. Speaking of which, was this (most of the second half anyway) one of the original found footage movies? What’s really interesting about this stylistic film is that it’s so far ahead of its time. We see footage from the original documentary crew, then half the movie follows Monroe’s rescue mission and interactions with the tribal people (a mix of normal and docu-reels), and then return to civilization and see the recovered found footage (both as “footage” and as regular scenes) with Monroe’s reactions to them for the second half of the film. When we consider the title, we imagine that we’d have sympathy for the lost crew and whatever horrible fate had befallen them. But it turns out they may have very well earned their undoing. The gore is perhaps a bit more authentic than were used to, apparently consisting largely of whole animal organs in lieu of the standard rubber guts popularized by Romero’s original Zombie Trilogy, the actual brutal executions of some animals (the turtle scene was the worst), and various rape, birth and amputation scenes. As if making a statement of our own acceptance and desensitization to violence and cruelty, disarmingly pleasant music often scores scenes of cruelty and mayhem. Monroe calls the original crew out for their inhumanly soulless actions and the target of our sympathy shifts dramatically. This film has a reputation for being brutal and unsightly. I guess it is, and it especially was for 1980. But how had I never heard of how stylish and unique and ultimately self-realizingly moral it was? This movie is really…well…great. Great in a very non-mainstream, socially unacceptable kind of way, to some. But great, nonetheless! I think this film is excellent!

By one of those lucky accidents in life, I ran into this movie while leisurely browsing online. It immediately brought back childhood memories of me walking inside a video club, and seeing the movie box in the shelves, but my brothers would never let me rent it. The images I saw back then were so powerful that they stuck to my brain to this day, as sure enough, they came back as soon as I got back in touch with this little diddy. When I started reading more about it, my curiosity burst into flames. I just had to watch it. And I am so glad I did. This is not just a stunning work of gore, it’s a masterpiece! Everything about this movie is incredible: from the genius found footage concept idea (the first of its kind! honestly, how cool is that?... take that Blair’s witch!), its intriguing ultimate message, and of course, all the glorious non-stop carnage. Deodato takes no prisoners. This film goes all the way like its publicity says! I found the decision of using Robert Kerman as the leading actor an odd one (but one that in the end, worked). By the late seventies, Kerman had not really done anything of importance except porn (the notorious Debbie Does Dallas at that, one of the most famous movies of that genre), so he was a non-obvious choice, to say the least. I think he does a decent job in this film, in part probably because he’s someone who wouldn’t feel intimidated by its gruesome nature (and definitively would not bother being “groped” by a group of enthusiastic native women). His acting is all you would expect from a porn actor, “stiff” (pun intended) and subpar, but after all it serves the purpose, because this is not a film about great acting, but about great “being” (especially in regard to the cannibals). Filming real native tribes (I doubt they were actual cannibals) appears to many as an unsurmountable challenge. How the hell do you direct natives on film? The answer, surprisingly, is pretty simple, and it’s given by Deodato in the full length commentary. You just ask them and they obey. As simple as that. They do whatever they are told. Apparently, being on camera (whether they understood what it meant or not) was a real treat for the natives, and they all were making fun among themselves thinking these light skin people were crazy! But, free meals and lots of fun, hey who would say no to that?? The extra materials in this DVD are a real treat which makes it a must for real fans. The booklet contains two posters of the movie in different languages and some liner notes. The audio commentary was very revealing, particularly of the personalities of Deodato and Robert Kerman. They ended up being the total opposite of what I expected them to be. You would think of Kerman, as the alpha male porn star, pricky, arrogant, full of himself, but instead here’s this sweet, insecure, slightly depressed quiet little man. On the other hand, I was thinking of Deodato as the humble, professional, introvert director, but he happened to be all what I thought Kerman would be. Blunt, stuck up, and quite a jerk at times. Throughout the commentary audio, you could tell that Robert just couldn’t stand being with that guy. He must hate Deodato with a passion. There was zero chemistry between the two. To make things worst, between Deodato’s broken English and Kerman’s one word per minute speech pace, the commentary was very painful to listen to. Its contents could also have been more interesting. I think there were far better things to discuss than what was included, so tragically, this commentary was a lost opportunity. Now let’s move on to the on-camera interviews. Kerman’s interview produced in me a shock only comparable to watching the movie for the first time. Now it makes sense why there is virtually no interview of him to be found anywhere in the internet. I wonder if he ever gave interviews at all. The conversation starts with Kerman sitting at the weirdest, most uncomfortable angle with respect to the camera, so you can see him most of the time almost from behind. He’s sitting in front of a mirror, so you can see the camera (and Kerman) reflected on the mirror all the time (seriously!?). It’s all so unprofessional that it looks like a 3-year old set the whole thing up. Later, the cameraman moved to another, slightly better angle, revealing that the interview is taking place in a locker room of sorts, where you can see things thrown over the floor everywhere. Kerman’s appearance is thoroughly pathetic, he obviously did not care about his looks at all (I wonder if they even told him this would be a filmed interview, as opposed to just audio). He keeps on sipping his coffee making annoying noises, rubbing his face, and speaking at the aforementioned one word per minute pace. All those years in porn must have eaten half of his brain away! In the end, the interview leaves you with a bitter taste, you can tell that his life nor his acting career went where he wanted them to go. He gives the impression of being a total failure in life. And it looks that he didn’t even like the movie after all! The other interviews were much better. Yorke’s interview was by far the best of the three, giving a structured narrative of the whole filming process, unlike Kerman’s which was a hot mess. The rest of the extra materials in the second DVD are really tasty for a fan of the film. Finally, I want to talk about the music, composed by Riz Ortollani. Part of what makes Cannibal so epic is precisely this soundtrack masterpiece. The main theme and many of the incidental pieces are not the dissonant cheap scares you would think (though there is some dissonance in the sound at some point), but rather some of the sweetest, most melodic music of its time. It may sound funny, but the continuous use of the “pew pew” bite works extremely well and one of the most original ideas for a horror movie soundtrack ever! I guarantee you, it will stick to your head for weeks after you’ve heard it. The extreme contrast of the brutality of the scenes and the ethereal music is part of what makes this movie so powerful and memorable. Deodato himself has said that this approach was borrowed from him by directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone to recreate the overly dramatic effect. I imagine it could also be the inspiration behind the final scene of “The Mission” by Roland Joffe. Deodato is unquestionably a legendary director. He deserves much more praise than he gets. Maybe it’s the kind of movies that he chose to make what relegated him to “cult” director status. However, Cannibal is far from being the B movie garbage that many people think it is. Leaving aside the gruesome gore and the obscenely graphic scenes (not speaking about the infamous animal butchery, of which Deodato does not seem all that regretful in his interview… it looks as if he’s just sorry that he was caught); the theme, rhythm, shock and ultimate message of this movie are all of everlasting value, and this film will always be among the most dreadful, daring, horrendously delicious pieces of degenerate art there will be. And if you want to know who the real cannibal was, his name is Ruggero Deodato!

‘La película más controversial jamás hecha’. Y yo creo que si, incluso si la vemos en la actualidad no podemos dejar de shockearnos. Prohibida o censurada en infinidad de países. El director llegó a la corte porque se llegó a creer que era una película snuff. Se presentaron a los actores para asegurar que seguían con vida. Fue duramente criticada por mostrar la muerte real de varios animales: la tortuga, el changuito, el cerdo y una serpiente y araña. Se considera la precursora del found footage. Y se volvió una pelicula ‘nasty’ de culto. La edición en Blu-ray tiene la película en el disco 1, el material extra en el disco 2 y un cd con el score de la película. Audio en inglés y no tiene subtítulo de ningún tipo. NO contiene audio ni subtítulo en español.

If you are a Collector and Absolutely need this Movie in your Collection, Then Buy this Version of Cannibal Holocaust. It's Perfect, the Cover is Probably the most Popular and when you open this Thing up, You will see 2 Disks. The Disk's covers are Camera Reels. It's like you own the Actual Camera Reels from the Film! Then you will find that the case is clear and You can see from the inside, the girl Impaled on the Pole. Great case. Also I think it will come with the Fold-out poster of the Impaled girl and it will say 'Holocausto Canibal' That's Pretty Awesome. Now the Content, on the First Reel, (Disk 1) Features the Uncut Version of Cannibal Holocaust and the Animal Cruelty-Free Version. Now let me tell you the quality is Freaking Amazing! It's very clear and the Audio is very strong. On the Second Reel, (Disk 2) There is a bunch of Bonus Features to Watch, Such as a Long Documentary on the Making of Cannibal Holocaust and Interviews with Ruggero Deodato (Director), Robert Kerman (Harold Munroe), and Gabriel Yorke (Allan Yates). There is the Original Trailers, The Shooting Script, Select On-Camera Commentary, Audio Commentary with The Director and Robert Kerman and there is a Poster and Still Gallery and Biographies. What more could you ask for! This is a Perfect Version of this Film and Contains Everything. The Film itself is a Classic Horror Film. Its Extremely Powerful the First time you see it and it's so shocking that the Director and Producer were Arrested! Throughout the Film you see very Brutal Rape, Cannibalism, and of course, the REAL Animal Killings. The effects are so good that they Might Not Even be Effects at all... So in Other Words, If you like Amazing, Powerful and Classic Horror Films, this is a Keeper! The Composition by Riz Ortolani is a Masterpiece too, The Beautiful Opening theme sets you in a layed-back mood and takes your shields down. When the Horror starts, the Sinister Music and the Disturbing Images hit you like a 'Shotgun Blast to the Senses!' So go ahead and Sit back with your Buds and a Drink in your hand and Prepare for Extreme Horror!

Well made horror movie, not suitable for everyone

Kannibalen Film im Dokumentarstyle mit teils sehr expliziten Tierfolterszenen ist nicht jedermanns Sache eher für Fans von älteren Kannibalen Filmen aus den 70ern und 80ern! Bild und Tonqualität sind top es gibt aber nur eine englische Tonspur da der Film in Deutschland immer noch auf dem Index steht.

J'adore